In this section, you will be introduced to the elements of evaluating OER. Faculty and instructors who are interested in using OER frequently express concerns about the quality of open educational resources. Fortunately, there are tools and methods for determining if OER you find meet your standards for use in the classroom.
By the end of this module, you will know what criteria are important to evaluate when determining the quality and value of OER, and you will know where to find rubrics that can be helpful in evaluation.
CLO 4 Determine quality and value of OER
MLO 4.1 Identify perspectives on evaluating and defining ‘quality’ as it relates to course materials
MLO 4.2 Utilize relevant rubrics for evaluating OER
The first part of evaluating an OER is asking yourself what you want to do with that OER. Do you want to adopt and use as is? Or, do you want to adapt and modify the content to meet your needs? If you found an OER that matched your learning outcomes perfectly, but some modification was required, does the license on that resource allow you to modify? Or, is it licensed in a way that does not allow for modifications or derivatives? If modifications are not allowed, you may want to consider another resource. So first, before diving into rubrics, consider the license for the OER and what the permissions allow.
Tools for Evaluating Quality (29:17) UNC System Course Collections
How to Find and Evaluate OER (4:08) Iowa State University
On Quality and OER (David Wiley) David Wiley addresses questions about the quality of openly licensed instructional materials. This includes a thought experiment, notes on quality and copyright status, accuracy, and what he believes to be the core issues of the quality question.
There are plenty of rubrics and evaluation tools available. Your department already may use one for evaluating other course material or textbooks for adoption. If they do, use that! Outside of considering if you want to exercise the 5Rs (Revise, Retain, Remix, Reuse, Redistribute) and whether the licensing on the resources allows for it, evaluating OER should not be any different than evaluating other course material under consideration for adoption.
Suggestions for easy-to-use and widely-adopted rubrics and checklists for evaluation include:
These questions can help guide you when selecting and evaluating OER. The list below is also available in PDF format from Affordable Learning Georgia
iRubric: Evaluating OER rubric This guide uses twenty questions to evaluate OER on a two point scale.
Achieve OER Rubrics A set of five rubrics that evaluates the degree of alignment to standards, quality of explanation of the subject matter, utility of materials designed to support teaching, quality of assessment, and quality of technological interactivity.
DigiTex Checklist for Evaluating OER A checklist guide that evaluates breadth of perspectives and accuracy, alignment, production quality, ADA compliance, student access, student engagement, cultural relevance and sensitivity, and licensing.
Faculty Guide for Evaluating OER A checklist guide that evaluates accuracy, relevance, production quality, accessibility, interactivity, and licensing
Finding and Evaluating OER for Higher Education Courses by Sam Harlow and David Tully is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
How to Find and Evaluate OER by Abbey Elder is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
On Quality and OER by David Wiley is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted
OER Evaluation Criteria by Affordable Learning Georgia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Evaluating OER (iRubric) by Sarah Morehouse with support by Mark McBride, Kathleen Stone, and Beth Burns is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License
Rubrics for Evaluating Open Education Resources (OER) Objects by Achieve is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License
DigiTex Checklist for Evaluating OER by DigiTex is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Faculty Guide for Evaluating Open Education Resources by BCcampus is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Achieve. (2011). Achieve oer rubrics. https://www.achieve.org/publications/achieve-oer-rubrics