Evaluating OER

Here are a few steps you might take in the evaluation process. If this process seems lengthy, think about the process you follow to review textbooks and other materials for your course. You can use a similar or modified evaluation process.

• Does this OER cover the content you'd like your students to learn in this course or module?

• How accessible is this content? Will it be accessible for your students, or is it too technical? Or, is it robust and challenging enough for your students?

• How can you use the content? Verify the licence that the resource is under. Can you remix or revise the OER as long as it isn't for commercial purposes? Who do you have to recognize if you use it? Will you be able to do so? For more help with this, please contact the library.

• Once you determine how you can use the OER, what would you like to do with it? Does only a portion of it apply to your class? Would you possibly want to combine this OER with another OER or resource? Does the library have access to articles that could act as supplemental readings?

• As you collect more OER and other resources, save them in a central location. Take note of how you envision using them. Align these resources with the learning objectives and weekly lessons on your syllabus in order to identify gaps.

Acknowledgements:

University of Illinois Library. Evaluate OER

Faculty Guide for Evaluating Open Education Resources

Achieve OER Evaluation Rubrics and Tool videos

This playlist includes videos about how to apply the OER Evaluation Rubrics and use the online Evaluation Tool.

[Summarized] Rubrics for Evaluating Open Education Resources Objects

This 11-page rubric is a synthesis version of the eight (8) separate rubrics for the evaluation of OER created by ACHIEVE.org. It is meant as a ready reference for quick evaluation of an OER.
Credit: Created and shared by Rodney Birch of George Fox University

iRubric: Evaluating OER rubric

Questions to ask about the OER you are thinking of using.

BC Open Textbook Review Criteria (PDF)

For open textbook reviews, you may wish to use the BC Open Textbook Review Criteria. This rubric contains criteria that much of the field uses in evaluating open textbooks. Specific criteria listed include the comprehensiveness of the textbook, the organization and flow, and the cultural relevance of the textbook content.

Further reading:

Interactive Open Educational Resources: a Guide to Finding, Choosing, and Using What's Out There to Transform College Teaching by John D. Shank

Publication Date: 2013

Ebook includes Chapter 8: The Selection Process: How to Choose and Evaluate ILMs; Interactive Learning Materials

Accessibility Toolkit
The goal of this accessibility toolkit, 2nd edition, is to provide resources for each content creator, instructional designer, educational technologist, librarian, administrator, and teaching assistant to create a truly open textbook—one that is free and accessible for all students.

Accessibility Checklist

The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations of 2018 requires that institutions provide all resources in an accessible format “on demand”. There are no specific guidelines for what is accessible, other than it must meet the need of the student requesting the accessible format. However, as educators, we a have ethical obligations to ensure that courses are fully accessible to all learners, including those with disabilities.

Unless carefully chosen with accessibility in mind, instructional resources can erect barriers that make learning difficult or impossible. Use the Accessibility Checklist, which has been aligned to accessibility standards. The Checklist will help to ensure that the resources you curate are accessible to all learners.

OER and Accessibility
Guide to resources for finding and creating accessible OER.