Evaluating and Selecting OER

Guides

  1. Considerations when Evaluating OER adapted by Lehman College, from Evaluating Resources by Affordable Learning Georgia.
    Consider the following when evaluating the OER:
    • Clarity, Comprehensibility, and Readability
      • 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?
    • Content Accuracy and Technical 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 and Modularity
      • 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?
      • See CUNY Accessibility page for more details.
    • Supplementary Resources
      • 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?
  2. Evaluating an Open Textbook for Faculty from the BC Campus Adaption Guide, citing Open Oregon Educational Resources checklists for faculty, students and administrators.
  3. Checklist for Evaluating OER by Austin Community College
  4. Identifying, Finding, and Adopting OER, by SUNY OER Services
  5. OER Assessment Rubric
  6. Rubrics for Evaluating Open Education Resources Objects
  7. Evaluation and Selection Criteria for OER (Zhadko, O. & Ko, S. (2019)).
  8. Rating the Quality of Open Textbooks: How Reviewer and Text Characteristics Predict Ratings