Supporting Open Textbook Creation
20
Apurva Ashok and Stefanie Buck
Project management is integral to the role of a program manager. Broadly defined, project management includes “planning, putting the project plan into action, and measuring progress and performance” (Watt 2014). As the project manager, you must oversee each stage of a project’s development by applying relevant knowledge, tools, and techniques to meet given conditions and requirements (Watt 2014). These project management skills are also critical for anyone leading initiatives that support OER creation.
Project Management for OER
OER projects are highly variable and require an adaptable management approach. Each OER project is unique and differs in its goals, outcomes, and team composition. A project can range in size and complexity. For example, you may have an author publishing an open textbook or creating ancillary materials for an existing book. Or you may have an author adopting a text or creating a new course using open pedagogy. Each of these projects is unique and requires different time and resource commitments.
OER projects are rarely the work of just one individual. OER teams typically consist of you, the project manager, the author(s) (both faculty and students), and possibly instructional designers, librarians, and/or technologists across multiple offices at an institution, hopefully with the support of at least one senior administrator. Your team members’ motivations are dynamic, converging on some points and diverging on others (Langille 2019). As a project manager, you will need to guide teams toward their desired results, introduce them to open concepts and approaches, supervise their work, help navigate the challenges of OER creation or remixing, and steer them toward project completion.
It is not our intention to create a complete project management chapter in this book; there are other resources that can help you with the stages of project management. We’ve gathered our best tips and resources based on our experiences as project managers to equip you with the skills to efficiently accomplish the tasks ahead, bring the project to fruition, and assess the results.
Pause and Get Situated
Project management work can be very fast-paced and overwhelming, depending on the rhythm and number of the projects you are supporting. A good place to start is by taking a moment before initiating any projects to familiarize yourself with the network, tools, resources, and landscape of OER more broadly and within your institution. Conduct an environmental scan of your institution’s relationship with OER, and learn about the key tenets of open education and OER (See Chapter 8, Building Familiarity of Campus for guidance on conducting an environmental scan). Familiarize yourself with the major OER repositories and referatories, such as OpenStax and the Open Textbook Library, and the major support networks such as the Open Education Network and the Rebus Community. At the same time,