Subject Guides: OER and Textbook Alternatives: Intro to OER

What is OER?

"Open educational resources (OER) are teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use and re-purposing by others. Open educational resources include full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge."

http://www.hewlett.org/programs/education/open-educational-resources

Online Teaching Resources

Getting Your Course Online - SoftChalk
This guide was created by Hagerstown Community College, so some of the resources may be specific to their campus.
Making Online Content Accessible
Libguide created by University of Hawaii Leeward Campus to help assess accessibility.
OER4Covid
A coalition of OER organizations created to assist faculty with adopting OER during the pandemic.
Open Pedagogy Roadmap
Developed by Penn State librarians and faculty.
Spreadsheet of Online Tools
Collection of a variety of resources for online learning

OER Movement

Connect OER
SPARC, a non-profit dedicated to open education, has a directory of colleges and universities that are using or promoting OER on their campuses.
OER Policy Tracker
Another SPARC resource that gives up-to-date information on legislation regarding OER.
48 percent of colleges, 2.2 million students using free OpenStax textbooks this year
Rice University released a report on the usage of OpenStax textbooks across the nation.
Education publisher Pearson to phase out print textbooks
This education publisher is setting a precedent for other textbook publishers. Most students still prefer print books, and some students do not have easy access to a computer.

Where to Start

Texas Learn OER
Short free course created in Texas to teach the basics of OER and Copyright.
OER Starter Kit
"The starter kit is primarily intended for users who are entirely new to Open Education."
CCCOER Webinars
Community College Consortium for OER hosts webinars regularly and holds special week-long events for Open Education Week every March.
Open For Antiracism Program
Self-paced or guided options for learning to incorporate anti-racist pedagogy into your courses.
M.O.S.T. Professional Development
Hosts webinars and other professional development opportunities.
CC ECHO OER Specialist Course
Customizable course on understanding OER.
LibreText 101
This course was made for Canvas, but there are good tips on how to combine sources and integrate them into one place.