Open Educational Resources (OER)

Consider the following when evaluating the OER:

• Clarity, Comprehensibility, and Readability

  • Is the content, including any instructions, exercises, or supplemental material, clear and comprehensible to students?
  • Is the content well-categorized in terms of logic, sequencing, and flow?
  • Is the content consistent with its language and key terms?

• Content Accuracy and Technical Accuracy

  • Is the content accurate based on both your expert knowledge and through external sources?
  • Are there any factual, grammatical, or typographical errors?
  • Is the interface easy to navigate? Are there broken links or obsolete formats?

• Adaptability and Modularity

  • Is the resource in a file format which allows for adaptations, modifications, rearrangements, and updates?
  • Is the resource easily divided into modules, or sections, which can then be used or rearranged out of their original order?
  • Is the content licensed in a way which allows for adaptations and modifications?

• Appropriateness

  • Is the content presented at a reading level appropriate for higher education students?
  • How is the content useful for instructors or students?
  • Is the content itself appropriate for higher education?

• Accessibility

  • Is the content accessible to students with disabilities through the compatibility of third-party reading applications?
  • If you are using Web resources, does each image have alternate text that can be read?
  • Do videos have accurate closed-captioning?
  • Are students able to access the materials in a quick, non-restrictive manner?
  • See our Accessibility page for more details.

• Supplementary Resources

  • Does the OER contain any supplementary materials, such as homework resources, study guides, tutorials, or assessments?
  • Have you reviewed these supplementary resources in the same manner as the original OER?

Source: Evaluating Resources unit, Affordable Learning Georgia

Provide your students an alternative to expensive textbooks by following these steps:

1. Check with your department or program to see if ther are others who already use OER, or to see if others are interested in working iwth you to find or create an OER..
2. Research available OER by subject by going to the OER by Discipline tab in this OER LibGuide. 
3. Search for some appropriate textbooks for your course and begin reviewing and evaluating each one.based on the content and whether it suits your teaching style and your students.  See the box that outlines evaluation criteria for some suggested evaulation criteria. 
4. Decide if you want to use the textbook as is, edit, or modify the contents.
5. In the end, you will let your Lead Support person know that you will use OER and where that OER is available. You will distribute the OER to your students by uploading into Blackboard. You can select the best format to distribute to your class such as online, or downloadable PDF.