Some academic fields have a wealth of resources that are available online for free, but are not openly licensed. These resources can be leveraged for course materials and for development of open textbooks and open educational resources (OER) through open annotated bibliographies. In this case study I present my selection of assigned reading material for a college course on soil and water conservation. Potential options included three commercial textbooks or an assortment of alternative reading assignments in place of a conventional textbook. I chose to use alternative reading assignments, which include extension publications, government reports, and other similar free and credible resources available online. This led to the creation of Soil and Water Conservation: An Annotated Bibliography. An overview of the annotated bibliography development, content, and classroom use is presented. Soil and Water Conservation: An Annotated Bibliography serves as an example of an alternative approach for developing open textbooks and OER that enhance education while leveraging existing resources that may or may not be openly licensed. Further information is available in the case study recently published in the journal, Natural Sciences Education (Moorberg, 2020). Questions and answers related to this case study will be facilitated throughout the conference via email and Twitter using the hashtag #OpenSoilWaterCon and my Twitter handle, @ColbyDigsSoil.
Learning Outcomes: Audience members will 1) review the development and implementation of an open annotated bibliography, 2) learn the advantages of using open annotated bibliographies, 3) understand how to use open annotated bibliographies to facilitate effective student-led discussions, and 4) observe an example of using OER-enabled pedagogy to collaborate with students on textbook development.
