Open education resources

As with any resource you're using for teaching or research, you'll need to make sure the OER you've found is suitable for your purposes. The BCcampus Open Textbook Collection and some other major open textbook collections offer quality assurance and peer reviews, so you're starting off on the right foot when you use these resources. However, it's still important to do your due diligence to assess the resource's value for your particular course need.

Key aspects to consider when evaluating an open educational resource include:

• Clarity, comprehensibility, and readability
• Content and technical accuracy
• Adaptability and modularity
• Appropriateness and fit
• Accessibility

Evaluation tools

There are many resources out there to help you evaluate OER, from basic checklists to fully developed rubrics. Here are a couple of resources we recommend:

"Evaluating OER" from the OER Starter Kit by Abbey Elder

• Quick checklist of considerations in five main categories, with brief explanations and links to additional resources

Rubrics for Evaluating Open Education Objects by Achieve.org

• A collection of eight detailed rubrics for thoroughly assessing the merits of an OER.
• This rubric is also available as a PDF.