Open Educational Resource (OER) Discovery
Isabelle Antes
Learning Objectives
- Identify Open Educational Resource Platforms
- Discover Open Educational Resources through platform engagement
What is an Open Educational Resource (OER) Platform?
Open Educational Resources (OER) Platform is a place where OER are involved in the 5R ecosystem- I.e. these are places where OER can be Retained, Reused, Revised, Remixed, and Redistributed. While the functions of these platforms can be similar, they can look drastically different.
What Are A Few OER Platforms?
- OERTX – “OERTX Repository is a public digital library of open educational resources for higher education. Search collections or create and collaborate to improve instruction”
- OERTX is a Texas focused OER Repository
- Has the Open Author Platform tool
- Collaborative Groups & Hubs
- Built on the OER Commons – a “digital public library and collaboration platform, informed by the organization’s pioneering efforts in knowledge management and educational innovation”
- Filtering Options!
- MERLOT – “The MERLOT system provides access to curated online learning and support materials and content creation tools, led by an international community of educators, learners and researchers.”
- Includes OER, Other Collection, and Web based resources
- Filtering Options!
- Academic Discipline Portals
- Academic Support Portals
- Pressbooks & the Pressbooks Directory – “Pressbooks Directory is a free, searchable catalog that includes 5,512 open access books published by 153 organizations and networks using Pressbooks. It’s easy to copy, revise, remix, and redistribute any openly licensed content found here using Pressbooks’ publishing platform. Nearly all books are highly accessible, and many include interactive H5P learning activities to engage learners.”
- Over 5,000 works, some include interactive content Filters
- Like the H5P interactive content one!
- Multimedia integration, integration with Canvas and other Learning Management Systems
Are There Specific Texas State Resources?
Yes! There are a few Texas State University specific resources for finding and using Open Educational Resources:
- Open Educational Resources LibGuide – A Texas State Library Guide to Open Educational Resources and what is available by college.
- Find Open Education Materials – This leads you to a blog article with an open resources that curates OER Platforms, subject specific resources, and open resources for research in an easy to interact with interface.
How Do I Discover Open Educational Resources (OER) by using these sites?
Navigating these sites can be challenging at first, but incredibly rewarding as you learn your preferred search strategies. Often, these strategies depend on what you are intending to find for your course.
- For example; if you are looking for Text replacements – it might be easiest to start with the smaller topic sections. This will allow you to think critically about the type of content your students, and allows you to customize the material based on your students needs.
- Or you might have your students work on writing a paper for your science or business course. Instead of providing only science or business writing resources, you can start by providing general writing resources, like the OpenStax Writing Guide.
There are also some amazing resources available to help you start searching for Open Educational Resources; including this Finding Open Educational Resources (OER) Quick Start Guide & It’s associated Search Strategy Guide by D’Arcy Hutchings!
Digging Deeper
- Try searching for interactive content!
- Try using the filters in the Platforms listed above to search for interactive content.
A place where OER are involved in the 5R ecosystem- I.e. these are places where OER can be Retained, Reused, Revised, Remixed, and Redistributed. While the functions of these platforms can be similar, they can look drastically different.
