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OER - Open Educational Resources

Research, explore, and learn how to use OER materials for instruction and learning.

How to Evaluate OER

multiple hands giving thumbs up with "evaluation" on chalkboard

Credit: Mike Cohen

There are many OER available of varying degrees of usefulness and relevance for your specific instructional goals. With so much content to sift through, criteria, rubrics and other evaluation tools can help streamline the review process. Besides keeping the 5Rs in mind when adopting, adapting or creating OER, measurements of effectiveness, accessibility, and alignment to student learning outcomes are critical as well.

To get started, consider the suggested criteria below (adapted from Evaluating Resources by Affordable Learning Georgia) as you begin working through the evaluation process, or refer to the OER rubric examples on the left of this guide. Also consider communicating with colleagues within your discipline; share resources and build a collection of notable OER best suited for your courses. Collaborate with each other to adapt or create OER of your own! 

For more assistance with OER evaluation and selection, select Faculty Support from the navigation menu.

Six Criteria for OER Evaluation

Clarity

  • Is the content, including any instructions, exercises, or supplemental material, clear and comprehensible to students?
  • Is the content well-categorized in terms of logic, sequencing, and flow?
  • Is the content consistent with its language and key terms?

Accuracy

  • Is the content accurate based on both your expert knowledge and through external sources?
  • Are there any factual, grammatical, or typographical errors?
  • Is the interface easy to navigate? Are there broken links or obsolete formats?

Adaptability

  • Is the resource in a file format which allows for adaptations, modifications, rearrangements, and updates?
  • Is the resource easily divided into modules, or sections, which can then be used or rearranged out of their original order?
  • Is the content licensed in a way which allows for adaptations and modifications?

Appropriateness

  • Is the content presented at a reading level appropriate for higher education students?
  • How is the content useful for instructors or students?
  • Is the content itself appropriate for higher education?

Accessibility

  • Is the content accessible to students with disabilities through the compatibility of third-party reading applications?
  • If you are using Web resources, does each image have alternate text that can be read?
  • Do videos have accurate closed-captioning?
  • Are students able to access the materials in a quick, non-restrictive manner?

Supplemental Sources

  • Does the OER contain any supplementary materials, such as homework resources, study guides, tutorials, or assessments?
  • Have you reviewed these supplementary resources in the same manner as the original OER?

Accessibility Resources

OER & Accessibility

Accessibility is an essential component of instructional design, whether your class is online or face-to-face. It is one of the persistent criterion across any OER evaluation rubric, and must be addressed in your curriculum design in adherence to Section 508 standards.

As you review OER for adaption or adoption for your course, the following tools and resources on accessibility may be useful:

Contact the Special Resource Center (SRC) for more information about accessibility tools, services and other resources available to Compton College students. It may also be helpful to request an SRC staff member's help in reviewing your adapted OER for accessibility.