Open Educational Resources

A summary of the key issues provides readers with a quick and user-friendly introduction to Open Educational Resources (OER) and some of the key issues to think about when exploring how to use OER most effectively.

Demonstrates the best tools, resources, and techniques for discovering, selecting, and integrating interactive open educational resources (OERs) into the teaching and learning process.

Information literacy skills are key when finding, using, adapting, and producing open educational resources (OER). Educators who wish to include OER for their students need to be able to find these resources and use them according to their permissions. When open pedagogical methods are employed, students need to be able to use information literacy skills as they compile, reuse, and create open resources.

Survey results from over 3,000 higher education faculty that are currently teaching at least one course show that most faculty remain unaware of open educational resources (OER), and it is not yet a driving force in educational material adoption decisions. The most significant barriers remain the effort required to find and evaluate the educational materials.