Emory faculty and instructors eager to expand their use of open educational resources (OERs) in support of student learning can apply for funding to make it happen with mini-grants now being offered through Emory Libraries and Information Technologies (LITS).

Provided under the Emory Open Education Initiative, (EOEI), the mini-grants of $1,000 each may be used to create or compile OERs, library materials, or faculty-generated content that will be used in courses taught this fall in lieu of a textbook.

The goal is to find better and less costly ways for faculty to deliver instructional content and to support assessment of whether learning objectives were met by using the content, according to Lisa Macklin, director, Scholarly Communications Office, which administers EOEI.

The mini-grants offer support from multiple areas of LITS, including the Scholarship Communications Office, Emory Center for Digital Scholarship, and the libraries. Support may include assistance from librarians and technologists to create and identify appropriate OERs, library materials, and assessment methods.

OERs are teaching and learning materials freely shared online and freely available for everyone to use, whether instructor, student or self-learner.

A maximum of 10 mini-grants will be awarded for fall 2014 classes. The mini-grants are open to all full-time faculty, both tenure and lecture track, and are available to both individual faculty members and faculty working as teams. Only one application per faculty member or team will be considered.

Applicants must have their own Smartkey account or be connected to a department that has a Smartkey account. To apply, complete the form found at Emory Open Education Initiative Online Application by March 31.

For more information on OERs and the Emory Open Education Initiative, visit http://guides.main.library.edu/OERS.