OTAN News
The Value of Open Educational Resources
Open Educational Resources, or OER, have been around for a while, but they have had a hard time gaining traction over the years. It could be that they are not well known among adult educators. Some people feel that they lack the polish of commercially developed materials. Still others see a huge time investment in developing OER. The fact is, though, that OER are a valuable resource for students, teachers, and schools that merit further review. You can get started learning about OER in our two-part video series, Open Education Resources to Enhance Adult Learning and OERs for Adult Education, Pt. 2.
The article Seeing results from OER includes some of the value of including OER in classrooms and programs, including:
- Low- or no-cost textbooks and materials for students
- Opportunities for teachers to collaborate on projects rather than work in isolation
- Customizing learning materials to the classroom, school, and local environments
- Including student voice and representation in learning materials
- Sharing, adapting, and reusing materials easily with open licensing
- Creating equitable access to education by lowering the cost of learning materials
Here are some exciting OER sites we've recently encountered:
- OTAN article: Open Educational Resources at EdTech Books
- Open Oregon
- BC Campus Open Ed
- Open Stax
- Pressbooks Directory
OTAN can provide training on OER. Please call our office at 916-228-2580 or email us at support@otan.us and learn more about scheduling an OER training at your agency!