Getting Started on OER

OER is a constantly evolving and expanding landscape of resources, research, policies and practices that can be overwhelming for those new to the landscape.

A review of the many players, organizations, and resources populating and transforming the landscape can be found in the UT System World of OER Resource Guide, and a glossary of terms is also available.  If you would like to explore integrating OER into your classroom, department or institution, we recommend the following resources to help get you started.

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In 2020, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board launched OERTX which is a digital OER repository available for students and institutions, and facilitates the curation of OER resources that are free and available to any user. The THECB also established a grant program to support the establishment of OER at Texas higher education institutions.

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The University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley has resources designed to help get people started on OER. Resources include basic information about OER, "Six Steps to OER", a search document for OER repositories, among others. 

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The Digital Higher Education Consortium of Texas (DIGITEX) Texas Learn OER modules provide self-paced introductory information and resources for getting started with OER. 
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The University of Texas at Arlington Libraries is a UT System champion of creating and supporting OER. Resources include evaluation, publication, printing, copyright assistance, and content migration, among others. 

 

Moving beyond Getting Started with OER

What does OER engagement look like once you move beyond the beginning stages?  What do higher education practitioners and leaders need to think about to build greater capacity to develop an OER infrastructure? 

  • The Equity Through OER Rubric, developed by the DOERS3 Collaborative, provides a scaffolded and holistic approach to deepening OER capacity and engagement with a focus on equity and quality. The Rubric is a comprehensive self-assessment tool, designed to guide students, faculty, administrators and other academic practitioners and leaders in better understanding and acting on the equity dimensions of OER. The rubric is organized by categories, aligned with roles and functions for higher education institutions, units and practitioners. Its overarching goal is to enable users to integrate OER in equitable ways across higher education leading to quality and equitable student access, outcomes and success. Two members of the UT System Affordable Learning Accelerator Task Force, Dr. Rebecca Karoff from the UT System, and Dr. Rebecca Bichel from UT Arlington, played lead roles in developing the rubric and are members of DOERS3.
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  • The State University of New York (SUNY) developed resources to assist its campuses with OER sustainability planning, which can be found at:  https://oer.suny.edu/oer-sustainability/.  The website includes an overview, an OER sustainability Self-Assessment tool, instructive Field Guide, and template-based Planning Guide are also available.