Learning about and creating Open Educational Resources (OERs) was one of my favorite units, and one that is extremely beneficial in all educational environments. The OER characteristics of REUSE, REVISE, REMIX, and REDISTRIBUTE effectively save money and time for educators as they do not have to “reinvent the wheel” in creating worksheets for their students. OERs provide thousands that can be used “as-is” or that can be edited as desired. Worksheets can then be saved for future use by other educators. I routinely utilize OER sites to generate math worksheets for my GED prep classes. However, this was the first time that I created my own that others will also be able to access. I found the process straight-forward and will likely design others in the near future.

The financial benefits of OERs to students are tremendous. When an educator/school utilizes open educational resources, this eliminates the need for a student to purchase expensive textbooks that might only be used for a few pages of material. The savings can add up to hundreds or thousands of dollars each semester. As an educator and student, OERs have had a positive impact on my educational experiences and finances.