The Open Educational Resources (OER) environmental scan conducted for the SPARC Open Education Leadership Program – 2020-2021 cohort accorded me an opportunity to hone my leadership skills and to communicate strategically and effectively. I planned a road map, designed my own project timeline, and worked with various stakeholders until I completed the project. I had the chance to design a survey instrument, plan the project and to communicate with students and faculty to assess their understanding of OER.

I settled for a survey methodology for data gathering because I saw it as a viable option in the remote learning environment my institution has been in since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The surveys were easy to deploy to faculty and students who participated at their own convenience. The two surveys enabled me to examine the usage patterns and awareness of OER by faculty and students at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB).