Open Educational Resources

Are you considering using Open Educational Resources in your courses?

OER are a great way to both save students money and improve teaching and learning!

1. Set aside time. Finding and adopting OER takes time and persistence, just like other types of research.
2. Review your learning objectives. You'll want to focus on what you want students to know or be able to do, not on the textbook you're trying to replace. With OER, you might use several different materials to teach different topics in your course.
3. Search for existing OER. There are several places to search that have a variety of disciplines, and there are also discipline-specific repositories. See the Find OER tab for these links. Not finding what you need? Ask a librarian!
4. Adapt and supplement the OER you found. Because of the 5 Rs of OER (see the Why OER? tab for more information), you can revise and remix the OER you find to suit your class's needs. Also, you can supplement OER with library materials like eBooks, articles, and streaming videos.
5. Consider sharing your own OER or the adaptations you made.