Jean Amaral Wins National Award for OER Leadership at BMCC

Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC/CUNY) Open Knowledge Librarian Jean Amaral has won the Elton B. Stephens Company (EBSCO) Community College Learning Resources Leadership Award, and a $750 grant.

Sponsored by the Association of College & Research Libraries(ACRL) and EBSCO Information Services, the award recognizes Amaral’s leadership in developing BMCC’s Open Educational Resources (OER)/Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) and Open Pedagogy Programs — which have saved an estimated 50,000 students over $6 million in four years.

“Since proposing the OER/ZTC Initiative in Fall 2014, I have had the honor and privilege to guide over 240 faculty in redesigning courses with OER and other no-cost materials,” Amaral says. “The training workshops cover learner-centered practices and culturally sustaining pedagogies, open licensing, copyright, fair use and educational technology, among other topics. The participating faculty have made this program a success, and I am proud and grateful that their efforts have saved our students an estimated $6 million dollars.”

OER and open pedagogy transform teaching and learning

More than 70 of the faculty who have participated in the OER/ZTC initiative at BMCC have also completed the open-pedagogy seminar Armaral co-designed with colleagues in the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Scholarship(CETLS) and E-Learning.

Armaral says both OER and open pedagogy have the potential to transform teaching and learning with their focus on access, equity, student agency, and faculty and students co-creating learning experiences.

Amaral’s other efforts in support of open knowledge and open pedagogy at BMCC include hosting Wikipedia edit-a-thons on campus in collaboration with other CUNY librarians and working closely with faculty interested in Wikipedia editing assignments.

She has also sought and received funds to create a podcast/audio recording booth for students, staff and faculty in the BMCC Library and worked with students to build a zine collection. Faculty are now creating podcast and zine assignments, providing opportunities for students to share their knowledge and creativity with the campus community and beyond.

Related articles:

OER/ZTC Courses Are Saving BMCC Students Thousands of Dollars and Energizing Pedagogy (2019)

BMCC Now Offers Textbook-Free Criminal Justice Degree (2018)

BMCC Leading the Way in CUNY OER Effort (2017)

BMCC Joins Nationwide Initiative to Create Open Educational Resource (OER) Degree Programs (2016)