Open Educational Resources (OER)

Evaluate OER

You should assess OER like you would any other materials you might be considering for use in your course. For example:

1. Does the material cover the subjects you teach?
2. Is the content accurate and free of major errors and spelling mistakes?
3. Is it clearly written and at a level appropriate for your students?
4. Is the material accessible, with alternative text for all images and captions on videos?

In addition to these typical review processes, for OER you can also consider:

• How much effort would it take for me to take this content from an 8/10 to a 10/10? If the answer is "not much," it may be worthwhile to adopt the resource now and adapt it to meet your course's needs over time.

Examples of rubrics for evaluating OER are available below:

Accessibility

Besides their general quality, the accessibility of OER is also an important factor to consider, especially in light of the online nature of most OER. Information about creating and evaluating the accessibility of OER is listed below.