Open Educational Resources (OER) at UVA

Consider the 'Fit'

When evaluating OER, do so with the same lens you would use for other class materials.  You will want to make sure that:

• It is written at an appropriate level for your students.  
• It is accurate and void of errors.  
• It aligns with your teaching goals.
• It is accessible (we'll discuss that more in this section)

Remember, one of the advantages of OER is the ability for you to adapt and remix the content.  If you find a resource and it doesn't quite meet your needs, but you see the potential, consider the effort it would take to either adapt the content OR remix with other open resources.  

Evaluate Based on a Rubric

While not mandatory, many instructors find it helpful to evaluate OER using a formalized criteria.  We've included a few to choose from:

• OER Selection Criteria (Affordable Learning Georgia)
  These criteria are designed to help faculty and departments assess the instructional quality of both existing and newly developed open textbooks and supplemental materials.
   
• Faculty Guide for Evaluating OER [pdf]
  Developed by BCCampus OpenEd Resources (BCOER), a leader in OER development, this simple checklist poses evaluation criteria around relevance, accuracy, production quality, accessibility, interactivity, and licensing. 
   
• OER Selection Criteria (Affordable Learning Georgia)
  This set of criteria are intended to assist faculty and departments in evaluating the instructional quality of both existing and newly-created open textbooks and open ancillary materials. These criteria adapt information from the QM Higher Education Specific Review Standards and the BCcampus Self Publishing Guide (CC BY 4.0).

Your discipline may have additional criteria for evaluating teaching materials.  These should rubrics serve only as a guide.  Remember, you are the expert in the materials that are best for your classroom and students.  

Accessibility as a 'Must'

One of the driving factors of 'Open' is access.  This includes creating and sharing materials that can be used by all learners.  When evaluating OER, it is critical to consider the accessibility of these resources.  Given that most OER are 'born digital,' you will want to carefully assess the material and consider remediation for content that does not meet suitable standards.  

Please make sure to review UVA's Digital Accessibility page and the 7 Pillars of Accessibility.

The following are valuable resources for evaluating the accessibility of digital content:

• OER Accessibility Toolkit

  The goal of the Accessibility Toolkit is to provide the resources needed so that each content creator, instructional designer, educational technologist, librarian, administrator, teaching assistant, etc. has the opportunity to create a truly open and accessible textbook.

• The Web Accessibility Initiative

  This page from the Web Accessibility Initiative provides information about creating and hosting accessible content online.

• WebAim: WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool

  This tool provides accessibility information for specific webpages. Paste a URL to see how accessible the website is, based on WebAim's ratings.