CARLI is pleased to announce the final round of its sub-grant application for the creation of Open Educational Resources (OER) for Illinois SCOERs (Support for Creation of Open Educational Resources.) This project is fully funded by a $2 million grant to the University of Illinois System/CARLI, from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) in the U.S. Department of Education.
In this final round, CARLI will award a minimum of five new sub-grants as part of Illinois SCOERs. Each applicant team may request up to $75,000. Additionally, previous awardees may request up to $15,000 in additional funds. Requirements have opened up for this round of funding. Instructors of courses already using an open textbook may apply to create original ancillary materials.
The CARLI staff also host a weekly Office Hour on Thursdays from 3-4pm to answer all your OER and Illinois SCOERs questions. CARLI recommends that interested parties fill out the Illinois SCOERs Intent to Apply form prior to January 15, 2023. The submission deadline for the completed application packet, including all requested documents, is February 28, 2023, at 5pm.
This grant for the creation of Open Educational Resource is being managed by CARLI and the University of Illinois System. llinois SCOERs will provide access to open textbooks and personalized learning tools for entry-level courses in high-demand health care and human development career paths.
The University of Illinois Springfield received funding for the creation of an open textboo in the first round of this grant. Dr. Diana Zaleski from UIS was funded for a project entitled “The Psychology of Exceptional Children.”
Round 1 of the grant was focused on OER resources related to “The Human Condition: Care, Development, and Lifespan.” Project participants in Round 1 will create a nine open textbooks paired with ancillary materials for teachers and students. Out of these nine funded textbooks is one from the University of Illinois Springfield which was was granted to develop an open educational resource (OER) textbook that will be used in undergraduate exceptional child courses. To date, there are no OER textbooks dealing with issues concerning the development, psychology, or education of children with exceptionalities. More information on the UIS grant recipient project can be found under the Round One Illinois SCOERs Subgrant Awardees Abstracts below.
As background, the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) in the U.S. Department of Education awarded a $1.08 million grant to the University of Illinois System/CARLI for Illinois SCOERs (Support for Creation of Open Educational Resources). Illinois SCOERs activities begin September 1, 2021 and extend to August 31, 2024. In May 2022, CARLI was notified that approximately $1 million in additional funds will be awarded to CARLI in calendar year 2022 from FIPSE and the Open Textbooks Pilot grant.
Applications for the second round of this grant closed on November 1, 2022 with the theme of “The Human Condition: Care, Development, and Lifespan,” but other large enrollment courses that fall within other subject areas were also considered. Awards have not yet been announced.