Open Education Resources

Should I learn to use them?by Leo Hopcroft

Textbook pricesMy students are paying

way too much!

Money Hand Holding Bankroll Girls by Steven Depolo is licensed under CC BY

But traditional textbook publishers provide a lot for all

that money

publishers have a huge variety of ready-made textbooks for all kinds of classes

textbooks are reviewed by many experts and editors

publishers provide websites, power points, and resources matched to the textbook

publishers provide test banks

On the other hand, there are many sources of open educational resources available to help you customize your classes and make

them your own

But choosing and gathering resources from among so many sources

can be overwhelming

Outtake - Nooo! by Andrés Þór is licensed under CC BY NC SA

Open education resources do not yet live up to the hype.

Designing your course will be a huge amount of work, and it will probably take a lot longer than you expect

You may not even find exactly what you are looking for

Many “open” sources link to material that isn’t open

On the plus side, the wide array of OER materials means you can include a variety of media in your

courses

What is Multimedia? By Kevin Jarrett is licensed under CC BY

Your can integrate open education

resources into your course material to

make online, interactive lessons available to your students without

having to ask permission

Laptop by Max is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA

Creating and using OER makes you a part of an unlimited community of

teaching and learning

Extended Community Circle by josephluis is public domain clipart