Open Educational Resources: What are

they and where do I find them?

February 10, 2017Excellence in Teaching Conference

Margie Maxfield Huth, Systems LibrarianAmy Castillo, Periodicals & Electronic Resources Librarian

Dick Smith Library, Tarleton State University

Definition of Open Educational Resources (OER)"Open Educational Resources (OER) are any type of educational materials that are in the public domain or introduced with an open license. The nature of these open materials means that anyone can legally and freely copy, use, adapt and re-share them. OERs range from textbooks to curricula, syllabi, lecture notes, assignments, tests, projects, audio, video and animation.”- UNESCO (

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/access-to-knowledge/open-educational-resources/what-are-open-educational-resources-oers/)

Essentially OERs are:Teaching & Learning Materials released under an open

license and freely available online for anyone to useCan be smaller, standalone resources that can be mixed &

combined such as tutorials or lesson plansCan also be larger such as course modules, textbooks, &

softwareThe idea is to create, share, & use materials so that future

users benefit

Why OER?For Educators & Authors:

OER provides flexibility - “...can curate, tailor, and share OERs to perfectly suit their curriculum, and share their innovations freely.”(1)

Can contribute to high, quality OERs for use around the world

For Students:

OER provides an alternative to rising costs of education

Eliminates cost barrier associated with purchasing a traditional textbook

(1) SPARC OER Fact Sheet http://sparcopen.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/SPARC-Open-Education-Fact-Sheet.pdf

Password: OER - https://youtu.be/Gv8BhUCYJMc

Open Washington Learn OER Module - http://www.openwa.org/module-1/

How to Find OER http://www.tarleton.edu/library/oer.html

Review Sites

COOL4ED - http://coolfored.org/courseshowcase.html

College Open Textbooks - www.collegeopentextbooks.org/

Search and List Sites

OpenStax - https://openstax.org/

OER Commons - https://www.oercommons.org/

Teaching Commons - http://teachingcommons.us/

MERLOT II - https://www.merlot.org/merlot/index.htm

Open Course Library - http://opencourselibrary.org/

Open Textbook Library - https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/

Supplemental Free ResourcesDOAB (Directory of Open Access Books) -

http://www.doabooks.org/doab

OAPEN (Open Access Publishing in European Networks) - http://www.oapen.org/home

My NASA Data - http://mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov/

Art Images for College Teaching - http://quod.lib.umich.edu/a/aict

World Digital Library - https://www.wdl.org/en/

For AdministratorsReach out to the platforms

OpenSUNY OER Success Framework - http://textbooks.opensuny.org/oer-success-framework/

It’s In Your Hands Now (Why Open Education Matters) - https://youtu.be/aUFjHDP35Rs

Thank You!Contact Us:Margie Maxfield Huth - mhuth@tarleton.edu Amy Castillo - acastillo@tarleton.edu

Resources and ReferencesJISC Guide to Open Educational Resources:

https://www.jisc.ac.uk/guides/open-educational-resources

UNESCO Open Educational Resources: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/access-to-knowledge/open-educational-resources/

Open Washington - http://www.openwa.org/

SPARC OER - http://sparcopen.org/open-education/