Why it works
Open Educational Resources (OER), teaching and learning materials released under open licenses that permit free use, adaptation, and sharing, offer teachers high-quality, customizable materials without cost or copyright barriers. Research suggests quality OER can match or exceed commercial materials for learning while saving money and allowing adaptation to local needs. The keys are knowing where to find reputable OER, evaluating it for quality and alignment (as with any resource), understanding open licenses, and adapting it to fit, rather than assuming free means low quality or that anything online is openly licensed.
The research: Research on open educational resources (OER).
The run-of-show
Choose your slot. The agenda, timings, and length update to match.
The core activity: find, evaluate, and use quality OER
Teachers leave having found and evaluated OER for a real need.
- Identify a need OER could fill.
- Find reputable OER from a trusted repository.
- Check the open license and evaluate for quality and alignment.
- Adapt it to fit your students, and consider sharing your own.
Facilitator notes
- Find reputable OER, and check open licenses.
- Evaluate for quality and alignment.
- Adapt and share.
Adapt it
- <b>Elementary and secondary:</b> the same.
- <b>All settings:</b> reputable OER, check license, evaluate, adapt.
Participant handout
One page for every teacher. Print it, or save it as a PDF.
Open Educational Resources: free and adaptable
<b>Legally use, adapt, share:</b> find reputable OER, check the license, evaluate quality, and adapt it to fit.
- The need OER could fill:
- The reputable OER source:
- How I check the license and evaluate quality:
- How I adapt it to fit:
- Whether I could share my own:
Make it stick
Open and adaptable:
- Use quality OER.
- Check the license.
- Bring an OER find that helped to the next PLC.