What are OER?

Open Educational Recourses (OER) are openly-licensed, free educational materials. OER can include full courses, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools or materials used to support access to knowledge. Learn more about OER.

Why are OER important?

For faculty

• OER support academic freedom. You are not locked into a particular publisher’s platform.
• OER are openly licensed, so you can edit OER content to make it more accessible, more inclusive, and tailored to your students’ needs.
• OER support open and engaging teaching practices.
• OER are easily integrated into Moodle and into courses regardless of teaching modality.

For students

• OER save students money. Textbook costs have risen. When students cannot afford their textbooks, nearly 2/3 of students will opt out of buying their textbooks.
• OER contribute to student well-being by eliminating anxiety around course material affordability.
• OER are freely available online to all students on the first day of class, providing equitable access to course content and positively impacting student success and retention.
• OER provide students with unlimited, permanent, and portable access to course materials. OER can be accessed online, accessed on any number of devices, downloaded, printed, and retained indefinitely.

AAC&U Institute on OER

UM joined the American Association of Colleges and Universities' 2022-23 Institute on Open Educational Resources, a year-long opportunity for teams from universities to broaden campus engagement with OER. UM’s OER team includes:

• Julie Wolter, Associate Vice Provost for Innovation and Online Learning and Professor (co-lead)
• Wendy Walker, Digital Initiatives Librarian (co-lead)
• Emma Wickum, ASUM Senator and student
• Hilary Martens, Associate Professor of Geosciences
• Matthew Schertz, Professor and Graduate Program Coordinator, Department of Teaching and Learning

UM’s participation represents an institutional commitment to develop a feasible, scaffolded plan for large-scale instructor use and creation of OER. The team has outlined several goals focused on building sustainable support for instructors who want to use or are using OER in their courses and for amplifying student support for OER. (See ASUM’s 2019 resolution and 2021 resolution).

Our 2022-23 goal is to increase awareness about OER and develop continuing education and processes to help faculty implement OER in their own courses. This includes, but is not limited to, encouraging the implementation of OER in the general education curriculum to increase student accessibility and affordability across our region.

Participation in the institute was funded by the Offices of the President and the Provost. This work is part of UM's FY2023 Priorities for Action and supports the campus Diversity, Equity and Inclusion plan.

Contact UM’s OER team with questions, suggestions, or feedback about OER.