2026 Colorado OER Conference

This presentation introduces a collection of open education resources developed by faculty at the University of Northern Colorado through the COOLER (Community Collaboration and Learning for Climate Resilience) program, aimed at building a learning ecosystem around climate change resilience in Northern Colorado. This initiative addresses the urgent need for instructor preparation and equitable student access to climate change education, including climate change impacts, mitigation strategies, and solutions. Through a funded (2024-2025) Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDHE) Colorado Open Educational Resources (OER) Grant, COOLER faculty created and published climate-change related curricular pieces across disciplines, ranging from the arts to climate science. These resources are housed in UNCOpen and OER Commons under Creative Commons licenses. To ensure high quality and accessibility, faculty collaborated with our Instructional Design and Development (IDD) team, applying Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and OER best practices.

Our collection showcases the intersection of climate resilience with diverse fields, including:
-Psychology
-Environmental Earth Science
-Biochemistry
-Fire and Drought in Watershed Management
-Exercise Science
-Media Literacy Through Science
-The Music Industry
-Craftivism
-Ski Industry (A Business Perspective)
-Data Science and Statistics
-Qualitative Anthropology and Cultural Change
-Urban Heat
-Climate Resilience and Your Career

We will highlight specific materials from the collection, demonstrating how interdisciplinary OER can support education for climate resilience.

Students inspired by their experiences in OER classrooms created the MSU Denver OER Club in Fall 2025 to advocate for the use of OER by students, gain insight into students’ perception of OER, create events that highlight the benefits of OER, and reflect their appreciate for instructors utilizing OER in their courses, departments, and colleges.
OER Club officers Levi Chee, President; Mallory Reiswig, Vice President; Julia Ragan, Treasurer, and Alana Henley, Secretary, will provide their perspectives on the impacts their collaborative efforts have across the institution. They will describe the strategies they employ to increase student awareness for OER in MSU Denver courses through student-centered events that raise awareness of what OER is, identify ways to find course markings, and share student-specific strategies to advocate for OER use. They will share experiences on how student-to-student interactions influence choices of instructor, class, and course materials. Brian Healy will speak about the role of building and maintaining students’ enthusiastic interest in club events and activities.

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.