Meet our 2023 OER Faculty Fellows!

As our OE Week ’24 coverage continues, let’s take a look at Touro’s OER Faculty Fellowship!

The Library’s Open Educational Resources (OER) Faculty Fellowship helps guide faculty through the process of selecting, adapting, or creating OER for use in their classes, instead of using expensive commercial textbooks. This fellowship has been the primary driver of OER use at Touro University for the past three years.

In January, we officially closed the book on our 2023 fellowship. This was an exciting year for the fellowship, as we had 9 faculty fellows, our largest cohort yet! This cohort includes faculty from Touro University New York’s undergraduate and graduate programs, Touro Law Center, Touro University Nevada, Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, and Touro’s Physician Assistant program. Their completed OER projects will all be published on Touro Scholar’s Open Touro-created resources page.

Congratulations to the 9 OER Fellows from 2023 for completing the 6-month fellowship and developing OER for use in their classes!

Meet our 2023 cohort of OER Faculty Fellows below:

It’s Open Education Week 2024!

It’s that time of year again… Open Education Week! This week, all week, schools and organizations all over the world are taking the opportunity to share the latest developments & achievements in Open Education.

Indigenous Peoples Day vs. Columbus Day: Why the Change?

This year, the contentious public holiday will fall on October 9, but what makes it controversial in the first place?

A Brief History of Columbus Day

U.S. Soldiers in Columbus Day Parade, c.a. 1910-1915
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [2014690868]

As most of us were taught in school, in 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue on the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria and discovered the Americas. An Italian, Christopher Columbus worked for Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand II of Spain. He was searching for a nautical path to China but discovered an entire continent instead. Columbus brought new wealth and resources back to Spain, opening the Americas to European conquest.

Library Resources at Your Fingertips!

Photo from fauxels on Pexels

Through the Touro Library website, you have access to many research tools. No matter whether you prefer to learn via articles or videos, we have options for you. All of these resources can be found under the “Find” banner at the top of the Touro Library home page, or via the Databases pages. Simply select from the dropdown list. For further information, visit this LibGuide on online learning or reach out to a librarian.

New Book Arrivals at Lander College for Women!

For starters, we officially have the complete set of Living Emunah! Each of the six volumes guides its readers through life’s struggles and finding happiness and tranquility in everyday life. Based on the teachings of Rabbi David Ashear’s “Daily Emunah”, each volume contains short stories which include lessons from the Gemara and Rabbinical teachings that are used as guidance to strengthen Judaism through Emumah. 

We also obtained two books from Rav Miller Avigdor—Rav Miller Avigdor on Tefillah and Rav Miller Avigdor on Olam Habah. Tefillah will help readers find a deeper connection to the words we said while davening and Olam Habah brings forth the significance and meaning of the world to come.

Did you know that there is more than one way to measure a K’zayis? It’s not just a measure of volume, according to Halachos of K’Zayis. A K’zayis is seven animal crackers, specifically the elephant and the horse. It is ten wiggly gummy worms, ¼ of a cup of Cheerios, and three thin slices of salami. Rav Yisroel Pinchos Bodner (with assistance from Rabbi Yosef Sayagh and Moshe Bodner) brings forth a pictural guide of what a K’Zayis is for common foods in order to make a Bracha. This book is not only insightful, but also a fun way to learn about K’Zayis, including Shabbas, Yom Tov, and Pesach guides. 

Last but not least is Rebbetzin Kanievsky: A Mother to All. It is almost impossible to describe her life’s work in one biography, yet Naftali and Naomi Weinberger (with Nina Indig) did an excellent job of recording her family history, along with inspirational stories, and how she dealt with life’s challenges. In addition, the Appendix includes Rebbetzin Kanievsky’s water challah recipe, Tehillim for pregnancy and childbirth, and a prayer to ward off the ayin hara. This is perfect for those not only looking for inspiration but to learn about an incredible Rebbetzin and her everlasting impact on Judaism.

Please contact library staff at the Lander College for Women for any questions in regard to these new titles at 212-287-3530.

Blog post contributed by Alexandra Weinstein, Librarian at LCW.

Apply now! 2023 OER Faculty Fellowship

It’s that time of year again!

The Touro University Libraries, in collaboration with The Office of the Provost, is pleased to announce the Touro University Open Educational Resources (OER) Faculty Fellowship 2023.

This fellowship is intended to support faculty to develop OER for use in their courses. All full-time faculty, across all Touro University departments and campuses, with anticipated teaching responsibilities for the 2023-2024 academic year are eligible to apply. The fellowship period will be from July 2023 to December 2023. The deadline for submission is June 16, 2023. We strongly encourage interested faculty to contact Kirk Snyder (OER & Instruction Librarian) before submitting an application. Apply here! 

Fellows receive a stipend of $500 for their full participation in the fellowship program and finished OER to be used in their course within the next calendar year. The fellowship period is six months long. 

Participants will: 

• Develop an open educational resource for a specific course; completing the work by the end of the fellowship and publishing the finished work via Touro Scholar 
• Retain copyright to their materials and all resources will be released under a Creative Commons license allowing derivatives 
• Use their OER project materials in their course within the next calendar year
• Attend meetings with the OER librarian as needed and meetings with the cohort of OER Fellows monthly, during the fellowship term; these meetings will be held via Zoom 
• Complete trainings and short assessments during the fellowship term 
• Present their work to the campus at a to-be-determined event/date 
• Engage in OER advocacy efforts at Touro, as an OER ambassador during the fellowship term and beyond 
• Receive faculty development digital badges

Eligibility: 

• Any full-time faculty member in the Touro University System with anticipated teaching responsibilities for the following academic year.

Apply by June 16th to be considered for the fellowship, and please share this great opportunity with colleagues across Touro far and wide!

[post contributed by Kirk Snyder, OER & Instruction Librarian, Cross River Campus]

Open Education Week 2023

March 6-10th, is Open Education Week!

It’s that time of year again, where the global education community comes together to highlight open educational practices. It’s all about celebrating successes, highlighting innovations, and sharing resources! This whole week, on the blog, we will be shining a light on what’s happening with open education at Touro. In addition to our posts, you can check out the official Open Education Week website to see what others around the country (and world!) are doing, find open resources you can use, and learn more about open education.

Textbook Heroes: David Nussbaum

Assistant Professor David Nussbaum

Welcome to our series recognizing champions of free and affordable course materials at Touro! These “Textbook Heroes” have made a difference in the lives of our students by lowering the cost of their degrees. Do you know someone who fits the bill? Nominate them (or yourself) by contacting the Libraries.

Who are you? Tell us more about you and the course you teach.

I’m David Nussbaum, an assistant professor at Touro in the Speech and Communications department.

Faculty Orientation to Library Services: A New Video Resource!

Fall Semester is here and, after all the holidays of September had us mostly away from our work and studies, things are starting to get into full swing at Touro. So, now is the perfect time to announce that we have a fantastic new resource to help introduce faculty to, or remind them of, all the services our Libraries offer.

Touro College Libraries Instructional Support Checklist

Photo by Olia Danilevich from Pexels

Do you have readings you’d like to make available to your students online? 

Sharing in Canvas: If you are sharing a journal article or book chapter from outside of the Touro College Libraries databases with your class this semester, you may need to get copyright clearance to include the material in your Canvas course. This applies to electronic and scanned materials. The Libraries are available to assist you with determining whether you need to secure copyright clearance, and, if you do, with requesting permission to share. Please contact Marina Zilberman for more information.