Benefits for Faculty

OER allow faculty the ability to edit, modify, update, and improve course materials so that learning outcomes may be addressed specifically, and course content can reflect individual instructors’ preferences.

Faculty using OER enjoy great freedom in selecting and customizing course materials to fit the specific needs of their students and the goals or Student Learning Outcomes of their courses. Since OER allow adaptation, educators are free to edit, reorder, delete, or remix content. OER contain clearly defined usage permissions, and thus relieve educators from the task of complying with fair use restrictions.

Key benefits for faculty include:

Use, Improve, and Share

Faculty can save time and energy by adapting or revising resources that have already been created and tailor resources to fit specific context within your courses and pedagogy. They can expand interdisciplinary teaching by integrating resources from multiple disciplines and update content to address current events and cultural relevance

Network and Collaborate with Peers (professional development considerations)

Faculty can access peer-reviewed educational resources by other experts in their fields and collaborate on creating new resources that can be used within or across disciplines.

Improve Access to Information

OER can enable all students to have equal access to course materials. It provides students with the opportunity to explore course content fully before enrolling and encourages life-long learning as students continue to have access to materials after completing the course.