2026 Colorado OER Conference

Specialized catheters are critical life-saving tools that allow clinicians to monitor heart performance and blood flow. While clinicians are not often called upon to utilize pulmonary artery catheters (Swan-Ganz catheter) or hemodialysis catheters, they must be able to deploy them both with speed and precision when needed. A Swan-Ganz catheter is utilized when the heart’s left side pressure needs to be measured from its right side. A hemodialysis catheter allows for dialysis to filter a patient’s blood when other methods cannot be used or when dialysis is only needed temporarily. Simulators can help clinicians prepare for life-or-death circumstances where every second counts and there is little to no tolerance for mistakes.

Pulmonary artery catheter simulators do exist but are difficult to acquire and can range from $1,732 to $14,990 in price. Simulators for hemodialysis do not currently exist.

In keeping with this year’s themes of adaptation and resilience, UC Health nurses and CU Anschutz researchers have collaborated to create innovative simulators which are built/3D printed from open access resources and will be posted on the CU Anschutz OER Anatomy Hub under Creative Commons licenses. These simulators will be used in UC Health to train clinicians on proper procedures for using these catheters. Other organizations will be able to 3D print and build them using a provided material list with step-by-step instructions. Attendees will gain understanding of the Swan-Ganz catheter and hemodialysis simulators, where to find their assembly files and instructions, and how they can implement them in their respective departments.

This roundtable will consider how Open Educational Resources (OER) can support the development of flexible, skills-focused credentials that respond to evolving learner and institutional needs. As higher education continues to adapt to rapid labor market changes, OER offers a sustainable way to update learning materials, align programs with emerging fields, and remove cost barriers that often limit student participation and success.

Participants will explore how open resources can help institutions design more responsive curricula and expand equitable access to skills-based learning opportunities. Building on work by DOERS (Driving OER Sustainability for Student Success), this discussion aligns with Colorado’s goals to promote affordable learning and strengthen pathways from education to employment.

The rapid growth of Colorado’s aerospace industry has increased the demand for a skilled and diverse workforce, while access to introductory aerospace education remains uneven across K-12 and early-college pathways. This presentation describes a collaborative initiative that addresses this gap. The OER resource Principles of Aerospace Engineering is being developed through a collaboration among two local K-12 schools, Pikes Peak State College, and the University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS). The final product will be a modular, openly licensed textbook and activity suite designed for high school and early college learners.

The project is funded by a grant from the Colorado Department of Higher Education. It brings together faculty, instructional designers, and students to co-create a shared curricular resource aligned across K-12 and higher education. Rather than treating OER as a single course artifact, this initiative provides open content as a connective infrastructure that supports curriculum development, reduces duplication of effort, and strengthens transitions across K-12 audience and into post-secondary STEM programs. This session highlights strategies for cross-institutional collaboration, student involvement, and alignment with workforce-relevant learning outcomes. It also addresses practical considerations such as licensing sustainability, and faculty adaptation.

This interactive session will engage attendees through guided reflection and discussion focused on identifying transferable collaboration models and implementation strategies. Participants will leave with concrete ideas for leveraging OER to build resilient, innovative, and collaborative learning opportunities that expand access and opportunity across educational systems.