Making the case for OER
Academics cite benefits to OER ranging from student satisfaction to better learning outcomes.
Other reports and resources highlight the promise of OER in innovating and democratizing education.
Various organizations also dedicate themselves to communicating OER benefits from financial impact to learning gains.
Advancing the use of OER
There is plenty of opportunity for us to do more! The Babston Survey Research Group (2018) surveyed over 4,000 faculty and found that faculty awareness of OER is increasing but still remains below 50%. Efforts are also ongoing to encourage open textbooks through legislation. Meanwhile, The Affordable College Textbook Act has been introduced in Congress in 2013, 2015, and most recently in 2017 (as H.R.3840 and S.1864). It's expected to be reintroduced in early 2019.
Here are tools to visualize the impact of OER both on campus and around the world.
- The OER Adoption Impact Explorer is an interactive calculator for estimating the impact of OER adoption on a campus.
- The OER World Map is a visualization of OER projects around the world and will support a range of widgets and tools, including powerful statistical analysis.
Student can also get involved with the following resources.
Learning more about OER
Some organizations dedicate areas of their site to discussing open education and OER.
Library and library organizations also guide and track OER efforts.
Books on OER compile longer readings on open education.
You can find many more resources online! The following are a few examples.
OER handouts and PowerPoint slides
These were created by Cheryl Cuillier and are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY). Stand by for more links!
- "Library & Bookstore Collaborations," 2020 CUNY presentation [PowerPoint slides]
- "Faculty, Library, Bookstore Collaborations Vital to Student Success," 2020 Faculty Senate presentation [PowerPoint slides]
- "Getting Started with OER," 2020 Open Education Week for Open Oregon [PowerPoint slides]
- "Overcoming Obstacles to OER Adoption," 2020 Arizona Regional OER Conference [PowerPoint slides]
- "OER Toolkit," 2020 Arizona Regional OER Conference [Word document, updated 2/27/20]
- “Building & Sustaining a Textbook Affordability Program,” 2019 Arizona Library Association Conference [PowerPoint slides]
- "Ways to Lower the Cost of Course Materials" [Word document]
- "Selected Resources from the Certificate in OER Librarianship" with Olivia Reinauer, 2019 OpenEd Conference [Word document]
- "Increasing Student Success with OER," OCLC Library Futures Conference 2019 [PowerPoint slides]
- "OER Toolkit," OCLC Library Futures Conference 2019 [Word document, updated 9/16/19]
- "OER Toolkit," DEFF Conference, April 2019 [Word document]
- "Copyright Basics & Where to Find Free Resources," 2019 Arizona Library Association Virtual Conference [PowerPoint slides]
- "OER & the Affordability Spectrum for Course Materials," 2019 Open Education Week brown bag [PowerPoint slides]
- "Finding & Using Free Images, Videos, Songs, & Readings," 2019 Open Education Week workshop [PowerPoint slides]
- "Creative Commons Licenses" handout, 2019 [Word document]
- "OER 101" handout, 2019 [Word document]
- "OER 101 Workshop," 2019 Arizona OER Conference [PowerPoint slides]
- "With Open Textbooks, Access = Opportunity," 2018 Arizona Library Association Conference [PowerPoint slides]
- "Getting Started with OER," 2018 OpenEd Conference [PowerPoint slides]
- "Overcoming Objections to OER from Faculty & Administrators," 2018 Digital Initiatives Symposium [PowerPoint slides]
- "Creative Commons Workshop," 2018 UA workshop [PowerPoint slides]
- "Open Educational Resources (OER) 101" handout, 2018 [Word document]
- "Ways to Lower the Cost of Course Materials" handout, 2018 [Word document]
- "Collaborating with Your Campus Bookstore," 2017 OpenEd Conference [PowerPoint slides]
Materials from past OER events
The following are materials from other OER events held at the University of Arizona.
2018 Open Ed Week at the UA
2017 Open Education Month at the UA