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Open Educational Resources: Evaluate

How to find, adopt, adapt, and create open educational resources.

Criteria for Evaluating OERs

Below are some OER-specific criteria for evaluating textbooks and other materials, which you can use in addition to your own criteria for determining whether to use materials in your courses.

Peer Review

Supplementary Materials

  • Does the resource include supplementary materials (answer banks, instructor manuals, etc.)?
  • If so, do you need to request access to these materials, or are they openly available?

Access

  • In what forms/formats is the resource available (i.e., website, PDF, ebook, course site)?
  • Is there a printable option for the resource, such as a printable PDF or a print-on-demand option, to accommodate those students who prefer print?

Accessibility

Reuse/Modifications

  • If you would like to modify or edit the resource, does it have a license that gives you permission to do so?
  • Is the resource available in a format that you can edit?
  • Is the content organized in a way that can easily be modified? For example, a resource divided into modules or sections can be rearranged more easily.

Community Support

  • Is there a community that supports the resource and makes continued updates?
  • Does the community provide support to instructors who adopt the resource?

Tools and Rubrics