June 2023 Textbook Hero - Dawn Barone

Name:
Dawn Barone

What are some of the classes you teach?
Mental Health & Community Concepts, Advanced Nursing Skills, and Intermediate Clinical Practice (Behavioral Health)

How long have you been with CVTC? This past spring was my sixth semester.

How long have you been using low-cost and/or no-cost textbooks?
About a year. I trialed our OER for Mental Health in my summer 2022 course, and we transitioned into using it this past fall. Since this past spring semester, we are now fully integrated with the OER for Metal Health. I also helped prepare for the OER for Advanced Skills to be trialed in the spring 2023 semester.

What is your favorite part of using low-cost and/or no-cost textbooks? They are so convenient—not only for students but for me too! I love being able to have the OER saved on my bookmarks to easily access them when I need them for preparing for class or planning the semester or reviewing items with students. Students love them for the low-cost and for the convenience as well. All of our nursing program students have iPads issued to them when they start the program, and many of them have them saved on their iPads as well—they have them with them wherever they go! 
If you've created a textbook, manuscript, etc., would you mind sharing a link to the text?
I've helped write a couple of chapters in Nursing: Mental Health & Community Concepts. In addition, I've also written case studies that will be included in the next printing of the Mental Health OER for each chapter to help students better prepare for the NCLEX Next Gen questions using case studies; I am currently working on doing the same for the Advanced Skills OER.

Fun fact: I've taken the scenic route to decide what I really wanted to be when I grew up—I originally have a degree in physical education, with minors in athletic training, human relations, and creative writing, as well as an adaptive PE certification. After teaching that for two years, I started my family and started working as an activity aide in a nursing home, then had the opportunity to go back to school to become a nurse. I have loved being a nurse, but I really love being an instructor at CVTC and combining my love for teaching with my love for nursing! The opportunities that OER has presented me with writing chapters in the textbooks and case studies for students have also gotten me back to my love for writing. I am so lucky to have the best of all worlds here at CVTC!

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