Open Educational Resources

What are Open Educational Resources?

Open Educational Resources (OER) are freely accessible, openly licensed educational materials that can be used for teaching, learning, research, and other purposes. These resources include textbooks, courses, lesson plans, videos, and other instructional content, and they are typically released under licenses that allow users to retain, reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute the materials with few or no restrictions. OER aims to reduce the cost of education and increase access to high-quality resources while promoting collaboration and innovation in developing and sharing knowledge. OER can be accessed online, but in many cases can also be purchased in the bookstore for just the cost of printing.

Student Savings at Mid

Since the first OER course was offered in 2016, faculty at Mid have helped reduce textbook costs and have saved students over $4 million in textbook costs! Mid has a range of courses that utilize OER, though this number fluctuates from semester to semester.

Adoption Considerations for Faculty

As with all digital materials, OER should follow accessibility best practices found in these Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. In addition to general accessibility considerations, some other things to keep in mind include:

Multiple Modalities

• Do students have access to audio? Some textbooks have audio files available
• Can reading materials be easily printed? If students prefer a print copy of the materials, is one available through the publisher? If not, how is the text presented? While a single PDF or Word file may be easy to download, students who wish to print off their reading may be better served by having each week’s reading as a stand-alone file.

Screen Reader Compatibility

• Are materials screen reader-friendly? Scanned documents should not be used in the digital space as there is no rich text with which a screen reader can interact. Ensure your OER is screen reader-friendly!

Student Support

Screen readers

In the event you require a screen reader to listen to your course’s OER, here are some options at your disposal:

• Mac/iPhone users have access to Apple’s native platform, “Voiceover”.
• NVDA is a free, open-source screen reader which works on Windows 8.1 and higher.
• Google Chrome has a screen reader browser extension available on the Chrome store for free.

Want to adopt OER for your course, but are not sure where to look?

In the event you are an instructor looking to use open educational resources here are a few good links to orient you in the right direction:

OpenStax

OpenStax is a nonprofit educational initiative by Rice University that provides free, peer-reviewed, openly licensed textbooks for high school and college courses. The platform aims to improve access to high-quality learning materials and reduce student costs. OpenStax resources include a wide range of subjects and are available in both digital and print formats. You will mostly find general education courses through OpenStax, but their catalog is always expanding! Please note that physical copies of OpenStax textbooks are available through the bookstore. 

Audio versions

Openstax has audio versions for some of their textbooks. To see if your OpenStax textbook has an audio version, check out Open Audio.

OER Commons

Minnesota’s OER Commons is another great option in your search for OER materials! OER Commons provides resources on a wider range of course subjects but does not have the same print options as OpenStax.

Copyright Considerations for Course Adoptions

Not sure what you are allowed to adapt in your OER? Look for the Creative Commons license information associated with your materials. For descriptions of each license, check out the Creative Commons, About CC Licenses page.