Open Educational Resources (OER)

What is OER?

Open Educational Resources (OER), are free and openly licensed teaching and learning materials that faculty and students can use in their courses. They support ideas such as Open Pedagogy or Open Educational Practices (OEP).

Why is OER important?

While some institutions focus on OER/OEP due to their cost savings to students, OER and OEP are valuable for faculty as they:

• Promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) by incorporating diverse perspectives in their creation.
• Assist with student retention efforts by making materials more affordable along with making them easier to access.
• Lead to more engagement and higher academic achievement for students due to integration with OEP and more relevant materials.
• Provide faculty with full academic freedom by allowing faculty full control of how materials are created and used. No more worry about forced edition updates.
• Aligns with Goal 1 and Goal 4 of the Strategic Plan by promoting student success by removing barriers of cost, access, equity, and diversity that may be present in other materials while also allowing faculty the freedom to incorporate innovative teaching and learning practices.

How do I find OER?

You can find OER in a multitude of ways:

• By utilizing strategies found in Ivy Tech’s Guide to OER.
• Referencing the OER Program Guides, which showcase curated resources based on Ivy Tech course or discipline.
• Learning more about how OER and DEI complement each other.
• Taking a look at OER created by Ivy Tech faculty in IvyLearn’s Canvas Commons.

How do I get support?

Marc Nash
mnash30@ivytech.edu
Director of OER Initiatives, for assistance.