Open Educational Resources: A Primer

Evaluating OER can be time-consuming. It involves comprehensive checks of subject matter, an understanding of course and object alignment, as well as some technical knowledge. This process may involve multiple evaluators including instructional designers, librarians, and subject matter experts (SMEs). Many tools have been developed to help educators with the evaluation process and ensure the OER objects they use and create are accurate and accessible. This page covers questions to ask and tools for help with evaluating OER.

Some questions to ask when evaluating:

1. Does the content under consideration cover the subject area appropriately?
2. Is the OER content accurate and free of major errors and spelling mistakes?
3. Can the license of the content be used or altered for the course’s needs?
4. Is the OER clearly written and appropriate for the students’ level of understanding?
5. 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?

Adapted from "Evaluate OER" by Abbey Elder, Iowa State University Library under a Creative Commons License CC BY 4.0