Faculty/staff guide to Open Educational Resources (OER): Evaluate OER

With so many freely available resources online, choosing OER can be overwhelming. These evaluation areas and questions can help faculty and staff when choosing resources for use in the classroom or in their work.

Accuracy:

• Is the information accurate?
• Are there major content errors or omissions? Are there spelling errors or typos? 

Relevance:

• Does the information directly address one or more of the class outcomes?

Cultural Relevance:

• Is there inclusive content that reflects a variety of races, ethnicities, abilities, gender, and backgrounds?
• Is there content that is cultural insensitive and/or biased?

Production Quality:

• Is the information clear and understandable?  
• Is the layout and interface easy to navigate?
• Do the design features enhance learning?
• For audio or video resources, is the sound quality high? 

Accessibility:

• Is the resource available in alternative formats, including editable formats (e.g., Word .docx, OpenDocument .otd, etc.)?
• For audio or video resources, is there a transcript or subtitles? 

Interactivity:

• Does the resource encourage active learning and class participation? 
• Are there opportunities for students to test their understanding of the material (e.g. a video with embedded questions)? 
• Are there ancillary materials available (e.g. quizzes, handouts, discussion forums, slides, case studies, etc.)?

Licensing:

• Is there a clear open license or terms of usage included?
• Does the license allow for educational reuse of the materials? 
• Does the license allow modifications or adaptations of the materials?

The content in this box has been adapted from "Faculty Guide for Evaluating Open Education Resources" by BCOER, CC BY 4.0 license