HOUSTON – (Feb. 10, 2022) – OpenStax, Rice University’s educational technology initiative, and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) will host a free, virtual event for Texas educators to create and revise open educational resources (OER) Feb. 17 and 18.
OpenStax has hosted Creator Fest, a conference for college and university educators, staff and administrators from around the world to collaboratively build such OER as syllabi, lesson plans and quizzes, since 2018. This year, it’s partnered with the THECB to host a regional version.
Creator Fest: OERTX Edition will take place online over two days and will center on the THECB’s online repository for OER, called OERTX. The event will feature presentations, panel discussions and networking activities focused on providing more free, openly licensed teaching and learning materials to students and educators.
“Partnering with OpenStax on this event is a great opportunity for OER advocates in Texas to expand our offerings, demonstrate the value of these resources and collaborate with educators,” said Michelle Singh, assistant commissioner of digital learning for the THECB. “OERTX has played a significant role in increasing awareness and advancing the use of open educational resources across Texas, and we’re excited to be able to build on that in this collaboration through Creator Fest.”
In addition to the conference sessions, there will be two series of workshops -- one for OER creators who want to receive feedback on and revise resources they’ve already created, and another for OER beginners who want to create new resources.
“We’re excited to bring back our annual hack-a-thon style event in collaboration with the THECB in 2022,” said Daniel Williamson, managing director of OpenStax. “Creator Fest is a truly unique event because it provides educators with the knowledge, support and focused time to build the resources their students need in the classroom.”
Creator Fest: OERTX Edition is open to all Texas educators, staff, administrators and OER advocates. To learn more and register, visit openstax.org/creator-fest.