The Louisiana Library Network (LOUIS) and the Louisiana Board of Regents are pleased to announce their selection for a $2 million award for the Open Textbooks Pilot Program from the Department of Education. Associate Commissioner and Executive Director for LOUIS, Dr. Teri Oaks Gallaway, who will serve as the Principal Investigator for the grant, explained, “This project engages instructors of dual enrollment across Louisiana in the curation and creation of OER for 25 of the state’s general education courses. Annually these courses have enrollments topping 20,000 for high school students and 250,000 statewide. Not only does this reduce the cost of higher education, but it eliminates an early barrier to participation in post-secondary education”.
The grant will fund LOUIS’ Interactive OER for Dual Enrollment project, which supports the extension of access to high-quality post-secondary opportunities to high school students across Louisiana and beyond. This project, funded by Congress in the 2020 Fiscal Year omnibus spending bill, features a collaboration between educational systems in Louisiana, the library community, Pressbooks technology partner, and workforce representatives. It will enable and enhance the delivery of open educational resources (OER) and interactive quiz and assessment elements for priority dual enrollment courses in Louisiana and nationally. Developed OER course materials will be released under a license that permits their free use, reuse, modification and sharing with others.
Dr. Waneen Dorsey (LBRN PI), Grambling State University, has been appointed to develop CBIO 1033, General Biology I (Science Majors) and CBIO 1034, General Biology I Lecture + Lab (Science Majors) coursework for the grant.