Author: t686g824@wichita.edu

Are you using open/alternative textbooks or materials in your course?

Open-source textbooks have been found to increase both engagement and satisfaction for students, while lowering their financial burden. At WSU, you can have your course designated as either OAT-Z (zero cost) or OAT-L (low cost of $50 or less) under the Open/Alternative Textbook Initiative, which gives your course visibility to students in the schedule as an OAT course.

Open-source course materials include:

• Open-access textbook
• Library resources
• Open educational materials
• Multimedia resources
• Faculty-authored materials

For more information on OAT courses and materials, visit the Open/Alternative Textbook Initiative website, where you can also access the OAT course designation request forms.

The deadline to submit OAT designation request forms for fall 2026 is Feb. 15.

Fix Your Content Day is an international accessibility competition among Blackboard institutions. Institutions demonstrating the most significant improvements in their Ally Dials will achieve top rankings. Wichita State secured second place last year. To help WSU reach first place, review your red dials in Blackboard today and implement the recommended enhancements.

Need more information on improving your Ally Dials? Visit the links below:

• Instructor Feedback Panel
• Tag a PDF
• Add Image Descriptions
• Scanned PDFs
• Add Headings to a Document
• Add Headers to Document Data Tables
• Fix Text Contrast
• Set the Correct Document Language
• Fix Broken Links

Email OIR@wichita.edu for more assistance

Are you ready to improve digital course accessibility and make a real impact? Join Faculty Advancement, Retention, and Excellence (FARE) and the Office of Instructional Resources (OIR) for Blackboard Anthology’s Fix Your Content Day — a worldwide event where instructors work together to enhance course materials using Anthology Ally’s color-coded dials. Every improvement made on Nov. 17 and 18 counts toward Wichita State’s goal to climb the leaderboard. Last year, WSU finished second in the world, and with your help, WSU can reach the top.

OIR’s Ally experts will be available from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 17 in 142 Rhatigan Student Center, Harvest Room. Instructors are welcome to drop in at any time for personalized support. Don’t forget to register for a free boxed lunch.

Let’s make the digital learning environment more inclusive for everyone. Watch Wichita State soar on the FYCD leaderboard and be part of the change. View the links below or email OIR@wichita.edu for more information.

• View content accessibility score
• Improve content accessibility

Wichita State’s Open/Alternative Textbook (OAT) Committee would like to congratulate:

• Amy Drassen Ham
• Anastasia Smith
• Andrea E. Banke
• Carolyn Speer

On their successful creation and approval of 10 new OAT-Z (zero-cost) and OAT-L (low cost of under $50) courses and on their commitment to making higher education within reach for more students.

If you would like more information on OAT courses, visit the Open/Alternative Textbook Initiative website, where you can also access the OAT course designation request forms.

The deadline to submit OAT designation request forms for fall 2026 is Feb. 15, 2026.

Are you using open/alternative textbooks (OAT) or materials in your course?

Open-source textbooks have been found to increase both engagement and satisfaction for students, while lowering their financial burden. At WSU, you can have your course designated as either OAT-Z (zero cost) or OAT-L (low cost of $50 or less) under the Open/Alternative Textbook Initiative, which gives your course visibility to students in the schedule as an OAT course.

Open-source course materials include:

• Open-access textbook
• Library resources
• Open educational materials
• Multimedia resources
• Faculty-authored materials

For more information on OAT courses and materials, visit the Open/Alternative Textbook Initiative website, where you can also access the OAT course designation request forms.

Deadline to submit OAT designation request forms for spring is Tuesday, Sept. 30.

Wichita State’s Open/Alternative Textbook (OAT) Committee would like to congratulate:

• Samantha Corcoran
• Trevor R. Nelson

For their successful creation and approval of new OAT-Z (zero-cost) courses for fall 2025 and on their commitment to making higher education within reach for more students.

If you would like more information on OAT courses, visit the Open/Alternative Textbook Initiative, where you can also access the OAT course designation request forms.

The deadline to submit OAT designation request forms for spring 2026 is Sept. 30, 2025.

If you are using or would like to use open/alternative texts (OAT) in your course, fill out the OAT-Z (zero cost) form or OAT-L ($50 or less) form. The deadline to submit a form for the fall semester is Saturday, Feb. 15. Students will be able to see your OAT designation in the schedule.

For more information on OAT courses and materials, visit the Open/Alternative Textbook Initiative webpage.

If you are using or would like to use open/alternative texts (OAT) in your course, fill out the OAT-Z (zero cost) form or OAT-L ($50 or less) form. The deadline to submit a form for the fall semester is Saturday, Feb. 15. Students will be able to see your OAT designation in the schedule.

According to a study published in “Psychology Learning & Teaching,” open-source textbooks have been found to increase both engagement and satisfaction for students, while lowering their financial burden.  

Open-source course materials include:

• Open-access textbook
• Library resources
• Open educational materials
• Multimedia resources
• Faculty-authored materials

For more information on OAT courses and materials, visit the Open/Alternative Textbook Initiative webpage.

Wichita State’s Open/Alternative Textbook (OAT) Committee would like to congratulate:

• Moriah Beck
• Susan Castro
• Crystal Dozier
• Doug English
• Linda Grossman
• LaDonna Hale
• Matthew Howland
• James S. Johnson-Schwartz
• Alyssa Lynne-Joseph
• Mindy McKinley
• Trevor R. Nelson
• Jacy Pederson
• Yumi Suzuki
• Lisa Wray

For their successful creation and approval of 22 new OAT-Z (zero-cost) and OAT-L (low cost of under $50) courses for spring 2025 and on their commitment to making higher education within reach for more students.

If you would like more information on OAT courses, visit the Open/Alternative Textbook Initiative, where you can also access the OAT course designation request forms.

The deadline to submit OAT designation request forms for fall 2025 is Feb. 15, 2025.

Starting at 7 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 2, Anthology (Blackboard) will host its annual Fix Your Content Day contest. As part of the campus-wide commitment to inclusive education, WSU is participating. For 24 hours, the campus will be on a mission to fix as many accessibility issues in Blackboard as we can. At the end of the day, the campus with the most improvements will win.

How can you help? On Oct 2, review your Blackboard courses and identify items with red or orange dials. Click on the dial and follow the directions to improve the score. Images that need a description and Word documents are a good place to start. WSU gets credit for every improvement; it doesn’t have to be perfect.

View the live FYCD Leaderboard!

For more information:

• Ally Feedback in Blackboard video (1:33 min)
• Anthology Ally webpage
• Email OIR@wichita.edu
• Blackboard Labs, from 2 to 3 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday