Three New Open e-Textbooks Series Added to the NCLOR OER Collection

Today, fifty-one new open e-textbooks were added to the open educational resources collection available within the NCLOR. The e-textbooks have been created by The University of Wisconsin, The University of Minnesota, and Oregon State University. The textbooks were created under a creative commons license and are free and open to use.

The subject included in this addition are: Accounting, Biochemistry and molecular biology, Biological and life sciences, Business administration, Change management, Climatology, Communication & Media, Cultural studies, Economics, Educational technology, Finance, Fisheries and wildlife sciences, Geography , Geology, Government, Human relations, Human resources, Information systems, Law, Linear Algebra, Marketing, Materials science, Organizational development, Physiology, Psychology, Social science, Sustainable agriculture, Technology and civilization, Web technologies, and Writing. 

The University of Minnesota collection of Open Textbook collection states its mission as “promoting access to higher education and collaborating to advance knowledge benefiting communities, the state, and world.”

The some of open textbooks available from The University of Minnesota are:

• Principles of Economics
• Principles of Macroeconomics
• Principles of Management
• A full list of available titles can be found here: University of Minnesota Libraries Open Textbooks

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The Open Oregon State collection is an part of OSU’s open educational resource initiative.

The some of open textbooks available from Open Oregon State are:

• Introduction to Permaculture
• The Joy of Cryptography
• Introduction to Climate Science
• A full list of available titles can be found here: Oregon State Open Text

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University of Wisconsin – Madison has made small set of open textbook available for use.

The some of open textbooks available from University of Wisconsin – Madison are:

• 13 Principles of Good Learning in Games – Applied to Teaching
• Creators, Collectors & Communities – Making Ethnic Identity Through Objects
• Developing Your Web Presence
• A full list of available titles can be found here: University of Wisconsin Pressbooks

The works listed above are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License.

The NCCCS courses that these resources may supplement are; ACA-111, ACC-120, AGR-139, AGR-300, BIO-165, BIO-175, BUS-110, BUS-137, BUS-153, BUS-237, BUS-255, BUS-260, CHM-130, CJC-131, COM-150, CSC-211, ECO-151, ECO-252, EDU-271, ENG-011, FWL-142, GEL-120, GEO-111, GEO-130, GIS-121, LIB-112, MAT-280, MEC-265, MKT-120, POL-120, PSY-150, PSY-237, SOC-210, and WEB-210.

To access these resources, you can do any of the following:

• Since these resources are open, you can access the series via Guest Access here: Oregon State Open Textbooks , University of Minnesota Open Textbooks ,  University of Wisconsin Pressbooks.
• Also you may log into the NCLOR and click on the More button on the left menu bar. Then click the Resource Series link and click the series of your choice.
• If you are K-14 faculty, you can add the links to the resources directly to your LMS based course. (learn how)

 

V-Scope Explorer Resource Series updated in the NCLOR

Open to NCCCS Faculty Only

The V-Scope Explorer resource series from Science Learning Resources has been updated in the NCLOR.  The Multicellular Plants, Multicellular Animals, Single Cell Organisms applications have now been combined into one application titled ” Basic Biology”. The Basic Biology and the already available Anatomy/Physiology simulation both have new activity guides. A link to these guides has been included in on every slide in the set.  V-Scope Explorer™ Microscope  is a simulated experience of using a real microscope. These simulations add a new dimension to the lab experience and can supplement textbook and classroom sessions by learning through this virtual lab.

Note: This resource series is purchased content and only available to North Carolina Community College System faculty.

Play the video below to get a brief introduction to V-Scope Explorer.

V-Scope Explorer Introduction Video by Dr. Gary Duncan, Science Learning Resources

The NCCCS courses that could be enhanced by using these resources are: BIO090, BIO092, BIO100, BIO110, BIO111,  and BIO112.

To access the V-Scope Explorer series you can:

1. log into the NCLOR  or through your institution’s learning management system
2. navigate to the Browse by Resource Series area
3. click on the V-Scope Explorer (Virtual Microscope) series.

BozemanScience Video Series added to the NCLOR

Over three hundred new science videos have been added to the NCLOR’s Open Educational Resource collection. BozemanScience is a video series maintained by Paul Andersen a Bozeman Montana High School teacher who has been teaching high school science for the last nineteen years, and teaching science on YouTube for the last 3 years. Anderson was the 2011 Montana Teacher of the Year.   He has created hundreds of science videos that have been viewed millions of times by students and teachers around the world. Paul was recently selected as a YouTube Edu Guru. He has presented  at TEDx Talk on classroom game design and been called the next Sal Khan.

The topics included in the BozemanScience Series are: Anatomy and Physiology, AP Biology, Biology, AP Chemistry, Chemistry, AP Physics, Earth Science and Physics have been added to the collection.

(Beginner’s Guide – Balancing Equations video by Paul Andersen from Unit 5: Chemical Reactions, Chemistry course.)

The suggested NCCCS courses these resources may benefit are: BIO090, BIO100, BIO163, BIO165, CHM081, CHM082, CHM092, CHM121, PHY080, PHY090, PHY101, PHY102, ENV110, and MAT151.

To access this series, you can do any of the following:

• Log into the NCLOR and click on “Browse by Resource Series” and then the BozemanScience series.
• If you are NCCCS faculty, you can add the links to the resources directly to your LMS based course. (learn how)
• Simply, click BozemanScience to view the series as a guest.

Intelecom Resource Series Added to the Repository

The INTELECOM Online Resources Network is a hosted and supported digital repository and subscription database of academic video clips – streamed on demand – for use in support of online, hybrid and face-to-face classes. The NCLOR staff has recently added 17 free videos representing a sample of the INTELECOM content collection. The subjects included in this series are: Adult Basic Education, Anatomy & Physiology, Biological Sciences, Business, Environmental Studies, Health, History, Mathematics, Nursing, Oceanography, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, and Sociology.

Series Example: “DNA Structure and Replication”, BioMEDIA ASSOCIATES

Series Example: DNA Structure and Replication – How Cells Reproduce, BioMEDIA ASSOCIATES

The suggested NCCCS courses these resources may benefit are: BTC270, BIO150, BIO250, MSC160, PHS130,EVN110, EDT110, CHM081, CHM082, CHM090, CHM092, SGD3200, CET242,SOC210, POL220, PHI210, PHI215, NUR133, HRD3001, HRD3004, DMA040, DMA070, HEA110, ECO101,HIS131, HIS237 EGY2002, ENV214, WAT150, WAT110, BUS153, and BUS110.

To access this series, you can do any of the following:

• Log into the NCLOR and click on “Browse by Resource Series” and then the Intelecom series.
• If you are NCCCS faculty, you can add the links to the resources directly to your LMS based course. (learn how)
• Simply, click Intelecom Resource Series to view the series as a guest.

SBCTC Open Course Library Phase II Courses added to NCLOR

The Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) has updated the Open Course Library, which is a collection of expertly developed educational materials for 81 of the state’s highest-enrolled college courses. The materials are freely available online under an open license for use by the state’s 34 public community and technical colleges, four-year colleges and universities, and anyone else worldwide. The subjects included in this update  are: Business, Communications, English, Fine Arts, Humanities, Mathematics,  and Science.

This resource series contains the IMS Common Cartridge files of the Open Course Library catalog. These files are compatible with many learning management systems (LMS) and contain all of the course content including syllabi, course activities, readings, and assessments. Some courses have content available via Google Docs which enables users to download the course resources directly to their Google account.

All of the course titles included in this series are:

American Government, American Literature I, American Sign Language I, American Sign Language II, American Sign Language III, Art Appreciation, Biology I, Biology II, Biology III, Business Calculus, Business Law, Calculus I, Calculus II, Calculus III, College Success Course, Cultural Anthropology, Elementary Algebra, Engineering Physics I, English Composition I, English Composition II, French I, French II, French III, General Biology with Lab, General Chemistry with Lab I, General Chemistry with Lab II, General Chemistry with Lab III, General Psychology, Health for Adult Living, Human Anatomy and Physiology 1&2, Intermediate Algebra, Interpersonal Communication, Intro to Communication, Intro to Drama, Intro to Humanities, Intro to Mass Media, Intro to Political Science, Intro to Sociology, Introduction To Astronomy, Introduction To Business, Introduction to Chemistry (Inorganic), Introduction To Literature I, Introduction To Logic, Introduction To Oceanography, Introduction To Philosophy, Introduction to Physical Geology, Introduction to Statistics, Lifespan Psychology, Macroeconomics, Math in Society, Microbiology, Microeconomics, Music Appreciation, Nutrition, Pacific NW History, Physical Anthropology, Physics: Non Science Majors, Precalculus I, Precalculus II, Pre-College English, Principles of Accounting I, Principles of Accounting II, Principles of Accounting III, Public Speaking, Research for the 21st Century, Small Group Communication, Social Problems, Spanish I, Spanish II, Spanish III, Survey of Anthropology, Survey of Biology, Survey of Environmental Science, Symbolic Logic, Technical Writing, US History I, US History II, US History III, Western Civilization, Women in US History, and World Civilizations I.

Creative Commons License
This content is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License which means that you are free to reuse the course in its entirety, edit it and use a your own modified version, or pick out only pieces which can be incorporated into your own course, as long as you credit the original author for their work.

The NCCCS courses that could be enhanced by using these resources are:

ACC111, ACC115, ACC118, ACC119, ACC120, ACC221, ACC3107, ANT210, ANT220, ANT230, ART111, ASL111, ASL112, ASL211, ASL221, ASL222, AST151, BIO100, BIO106, BIO110, BIO111, BIO112, BIO155, BIO160, BIO163, BUS110, BUS115, BUS116, BUS121, CHM115A, CHM121A, CHM131, CHM131A, CHM151, COM110, COM120, COM150, COM160, COM231, COM3709, ECO251, ECO252, EGR150, EGR220, ENG090, ENG110, ENG111, ENG116, ENG131, ENG132, ENG138, ENG231, ENV110, FLI3714, FLI3717, FRE111, FRE112, FRE211, FRE212, FRE221, GEL120, HEA110, HIS111, HIS121, HIS122, HIS131, HIS132, HIS162, HIS165, HIS232, HUM211, LIB210, MAT070, MAT080, MAT101, MAT151, MAT171, MAT172, MAT210, MAT223, MAT271, MAT272, MAT273, MSC160, MUS110, PHI210, PHI216, PHI230, PHY080, PHY090, POL110, POL120, PSY110, PSY150, SOC210, SOC220, SPA110, SPA111, SPA211, SPA212, SPA241,and SPA242.

To access this series, you can do any of the following:

• Log into the NCLOR and click on “Browse by Resource Series” and then the Open Course Library series.
• If you are NCCCS faculty, you can add the links to the resources directly to your LMS based course. (learn how)
• Simply, click here to view the series as a guest.

SBCTC Open Course Library Courses added to NCLOR

The Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) has created the Open Course Library, which is a collection of expertly developed educational materials for 42 of the state’s highest-enrolled college courses. The materials cost $30 or less per student and are freely available online under an open license for use by the state’s 34 public community and technical colleges, four-year colleges and universities, and anyone else worldwide. The subjects included in this resource series are: Business, Communications, English, Fine Arts, Humanities, Mathematics,  and Science.

This resource series contains the IMS Common Cartridge files of the Open Course Library catalog. These files are compatible with many learning management systems (LMS) and contain all of the course content including syllabi, course activities, readings, and assessments.

IMS Common Cartridge files are usually loaded to the LMS by the system administrator but you can view the course content by entering the WashingtonOnline (WAOL) system with the guest account here: https://sites.google.com/a/sbctc.edu/opencourselibrary/courses/phase-1-courses

Creative Commons License
This content is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which means that you are free to reuse the course in its entirety, edit it and use a your own modified version, or pick out only pieces which can be incorporated into your own course, as long as you credit the original author for their work.

The NCCCS courses that could be enhanced by using these resources are: ACC119 ,ACC120 , ACC3107 ,ACC111 ,ACC115 ,ACC118 , ANT220 , ANT230 , ART111 ,BIO106 ,BIO163 ,BIO111.BUS110 ,CHM131 ,CHM151 ,COM231 ,ECO251 ,ECO252 ,EGR150 ,EGR220 ,ENG110 ,ENG090 ,ENG111 ,ENG116 ,ENG131 ,ENG138 ,GEL120 ,HIS131 ,HIS132 ,HIS232 ,HIS165 ,LIB210 ,MAT080 ,MAT070 ,MAT151 ,MAT171 ,MAT172 ,MAT271 ,MAT272 ,MAT273 ,MSC160 ,MUS110 ,PHI210 ,PHI216 ,PHI230 ,PSY110 ,and PSY150.

To access this series, you can do any of the following:

• Log into the NCLOR and click on “Browse by Resource Series” and then the Open Course Library series.
• If you are NCCCS faculty, you can add the links to the resources directly to your LMS based course. (learn how)
• Simply, click here to view the series as a guest.

Anatomy and Physiology Slides Added to V-Scope Explorer Series

A new set of 53 anatomy and physiology slides have been added to the NCLOR V-Scope Explorer Resource Series. This new virtual microscope slide set is the latest addition to the outstanding resources available from Dr. Gary Duncan at V-Scope Explorer. The anatomy and physiology slides include a variety of specimens such as epithelial, connective, muscle and bone tissues as well as human blood examples.

Here is a short introduction video on how to use the V-Scope Explorer:

The Anatomy and Physiology slides join the Multicellular Plants, Multicellular Animals,  and Single Cell Organisms slide sets which are already available in the NCLOR.
The V-Scope Explore Series is ONLY available to the North Carolina Community College System Faculty.

To access the V-Scope Explorer series you can:

1. log into the NCLOR  or through your institution’s learning management system
2. navigate to the Browse by Resource Series area
3. click on the V-Scope Explorer series.

Virtual Microscope Explorer Resource Series updated in the NCLOR.

The Virtual Microscope Explorer resource series has been updated and renamed to V-Scope Explorer.  There are 43 slides included in three different microscope simulations; Multicellular Plants, Multicellular Animals, Single Cell Organisms.  The simulation slide images and videos that have been chosen can be used for learning: biology, anatomy, forensics and botany.  This update also includes a software change that gives ability to view the simulations with a larger range of web browsers.

Note: This resource series is purchased content and only available to North Carolina Community College System faculty.

To access the V-Scope Explorer series you can:

1. log into the NCLOR  < www.explorethelor.org > or through your institution’s learning management system
2. navigate to the Browse by Resource Series area
3. click on the V-Scope Explorer series.

New STEM related Resource Series from Wisc-Online added to the NCLOR

A new science, technology, engineering and math related resource series from Wisc-Online has been added to the NCLOR. Over 1000 learning objects  that include subjects ranging from Anatomy and Physiology to Technical Physics are available in this series. There is also a large collection of Health related learning objects as well. The learning objects in this series have been designed and developed by a team of instructional designers, editors, technicians, and student interns from the Wisconsin Technical College System.

To access this resource series:

1. log into the NCLOR  < www.explorethelor.org > or through your institution’s learning management system (LMS)
2. navigate to the Browse by Resource Series area
3. click on the Wisc-Online series.

Virtual Microscope

Virtual Microscope is working on a solution to allow a seamless pass through from the NCLOR to their collection of slides.  This will eliminate the need for another password to be entered once the site is reached.  We hope to have this in place by early April.