[vc_row type=”vc_default” full_width=”stretch_row” css=”.vc_custom_1608059712904{padding-top: 12% !important;padding-bottom: 16% !important;background-image: url(https://corpsite.testing.lyryx.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/OER_Champions_Announcement_Banner-1.png?id=4938) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}”][vc_column][ultimate_heading main_heading=”2019 Champion” main_heading_color=”#07314e” spacer=”line_with_icon” spacer_position=”middle” line_height=”3″ line_color=”#07314e” icon_type=”custom” icon_img=”id^5155|url^https://corpsite.testing.lyryx.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/X-01.png|caption^null|alt^null|title^X-01|description^null” img_width=”48″ main_heading_font_family=”font_family:Open Sans|font_call:Open+Sans” main_heading_style=”font-weight:bold;” margin_design_tab_text=”” line_width=”150″][/ultimate_heading][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Congratulations Dr. Tilly Jensen!!

Congratulations to Dr. Tilly Jensen for being selected as the Lyryx OER Champion of 2019. Lyryx presented the Faculty of Business at Athabasca University with an award of $1,500 to help further fund OER initiatives. Dr. Jensen acquired the most votes from Lyryx authors because of her significant contribution to the advocacy and advancement of OER!

Read Dr. Jensen’s story and that of the other impactful OER Champions below.[/vc_column_text][vc_text_separator title=”” i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-trophy” i_color=”custom” i_size=”lg” color=”custom” border_width=”2″ add_icon=”true” i_custom_color=”#e2970a” accent_color=”#e2970a”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]

Dr. Tilly Jensen

Nominator: Suzanne Kyle

Institution: Athabasca University

Position: Course Professor

Course(s) using OER: ACCT253/351/352

OER Story:[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”3321″ img_size=”full”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Currently, all three of Tilly’s courses have OERs in place and are actively running. Tilly has worked diligently with the province and all other stakeholders, first to secure the level of funding needed, without which the OERs would never have been written. Second, she also provided countless hours of mentoring to the OER authors, and to other Athabasca University staff. Since Tilly is a respected and experienced author herself, she was in a unique position to take the lead for these OERs, to liaise with all the stakeholders, including Department of Education, and take this process from funding acquisition, to production to rollout for all three of her 3rd-level university courses. During that time, she took the lead to navigate the many roadblocks and to resolve the myriad of issues arising throughout the OER process so that the OER project would reach fruition, which they have. This took a lot of effort in addition to her other duties with Athabasca University. One last and very important point, Tilly is a staunch supporter and is truly passionate about the creation of OERs and three newly created OERs to add to the OER community is proof of that passion.[/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”custom” el_width=”80″ accent_color=”#e2970a”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]

Suzy De Mey

Institution: Sacramento City College

Position: Assistant Professor of Accounting

Course(s) using OER: ACCT 301 – Financial Accounting

OER Story:.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”3274″ img_size=”full”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]My name is Suzy De Mey and I am an Accounting Professor at Sacramento City College. Many years ago, I volunteered at the Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services (SFBFS). SFBFS is a local Sacramento non-profit that serves individuals and families in need by providing free emergency goods and services to 157,000 each month. Their mission is to alleviate their immediate pain and problems and move them toward self-sufficiency and financial independence. When I went through the volunteer orientation, I learned about a new family services building that had just been built across the street. I was able to get a tour of this building and learned that it was full of amazing classrooms! Some classrooms had just desks and some were computer labs so that each student had computer access. They were currently going to hold English as a Second Language (ESL) classes and classes for students to get their General Education Development (GED). I wanted to take this a step further. Over the last couple of years, I worked with Sacramento City College and the SFBFS in a joint effort to bring free education to the local community where it is greatly needed.

Last Spring 2018, I began teaching college level courses at SFBFS. Fortunately, through the California Promise Grant, most students were able to have their tuition fees waived. However, the textbooks, which can be a huge cost, were still an obstacle to overcome. After doing research into Open Educational Resources (OER), I found a great textbook I could used to teach my ACCT 301 – Financial Accounting out of. It was FREE! The best part was that it came with Lyryx, the online homework that was also free for students to use if they used it in our SFBFS computer lab. Students loved having the freedom to purchase the access if they wanted to work on their homework from home.

After some marketing events last summer, my class doubled in size and the OER with Lyryx was a success! Going forward, I will now be incorporating OER into all of the classes I teach.

Thank you![/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”custom” el_width=”80″ accent_color=”#e2970a”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]

Leslie Molnar

Institution: College of the Rockies

Position: University Studies Mathematics Instructor

Course(s) using OER: Calculus 1 and Calculus 2

OER Story:[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”3298″ img_size=”full”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]As a project in scholarly teaching, I created online Calculus 1 and Calculus 2 courses in a gamified format. The courses are framed in the overarching format of a pirate quest to retrieve sunken emeralds. It is a mastery based course so incorporating the OER plus the Lyryx assignments (online homework) worked very well to help students master the actual content of the course. Students really appreciate not having to buy a $200 textbook. They also really like the way Lyryx generates a similar question, with different numbers. Students learn the material very well this way.[/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”custom” el_width=”80″ accent_color=”#e2970a”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Carolyn Nelson

Institution: Coffeyville Community College

Position: Accounting and Business Instructor

Course(s) using OER: BUSN 171 – Financial Accounting

OER Story:[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Coffeyville Community College strives to provide a quality, affordable education for each of our students. Lyryx OER text for Financial Accounting is very well organized and contains materials that align with our learning objectives. The bonus was the homework system. The homework labs are easy to set up and allow for customization of questions. Students may practice recording and report accounting transactions until they have a strong understanding of the concepts. The labs also test students’ analytical abilities to interpret financial statement information.

CCC has experienced an increase in our Financial Accounting course enrollment. I attribute the added enthusiasm for this course to the Lyryx text and software. It provides the knowledge and immediate feedback students are seeking at a lower cost through the textbook/software option.

I look forward to implementing other features of the software for testing and projects.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]