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OER - Open Educational Resources

Open Educational Resources (OER) are any type of educational material that are freely available for teachers and students to use, adapt, share, and reuse.

Ideas for Getting Started

openUsing OER at first can be daunting because there are so many resources and so much potential. Where can you start?
Fortunately, instructors don't have to go all-OER immediately. On this page, we share a few small steps for those who want to get started to learn about OER and participate in the community.

(Image by OpenSourceWay.)

Start Small

Deposit OER

OER collections like Merlot and OER Commons are made of resources created by the community. You can contribute as well! Once you've created and licensed an item, deposit it in one of these collections or choose one of the subject-specific collections listed in this guide. 

Use one OER

Try out an Open Educational Resources from one of the many collections out there in your class. It can be an assignment, in-class activity, or any other small component of your overall class. If you like it, keep using it! 

Review OER

If you use OER material in your class, consider posting a review to let others know how useful an item is. Many OER collections like Merlot offer the option of peer reviews from the community. If you want to be an official OER reviewer, check out Merlot's GRAPE Camp for official peer reviewers. 

If you run a blog or social media site, you can write a post with a review of the material that you have found and used. 

Make a list of OER resources for your discipline

  • Make a list on your website or blog. 
  • Send it to a discipline's mailing list. 
  • Post it on social media like Academia.edu. 
  • Share it with your library liaisons or contact them for suggestions to get you started
  • See if your department already has a repository and save it there