Faculty Resources

There is more to the Open Education movement than just saving students money.  Besides making education more accessible and students more successful in the classroom, open education enables faculty to take back ownership of their profession and their courses!

Got some questions or concerns about OER?   The EU has put together this great booklet which breaks down the common concerns and questions around OER.  Read it here.

Other common misconceptions faculty have…

I don’t have time to write my own book.   I don’t want to write a book.  In my area, as soon as a book is published, it’s missing current information.  I don’t care about a textbook as much as I do about the ancillary materials the publisher provides.  I need the test banks, and OER doesn’t have them.

These, and oh so many more challenges with OER have come up for the last decade.  Open Educational Resources does not actually have the word textbook in its title.  No, it’s not just textbooks.  UNESCO defines Open Education Resoures as “teaching, learning, and researching materials” which encompasses a broad range of material types.  To date, OER has traditional textbooks, entire courses, syllabi, handouts and assignments, test banks, interactive materials, videos, simulations, maps, illustrations, images, music, and more.  Maybe you require a traditional textbook, but don’t actually find that you use it that much.  Maybe, you only utilize the publisher provided extra resources.  Open Education can help you make, edit, or compile from existing sources, the right combination of materials to allow you to teach the way you want to teach without making your students pay the price.  Check out the Find OER page here and see the wide variety of resource types that are out there.