Get involved!
Open Education Interest Group
This group is for anyone at the University of Kentucky who is interested in open education. It is an asynchronous discussion group--no time commitment required! Topics may include the following:
- Open textbooks and other open educational resources (OER)
- Open pedagogy
- Announcements of conferences, CFPs, and other news and opportunities around open education
- Anything else of interest to group members
For an invitation to the interest group, email the Affordable Course Content Librarian.
What Are Open Educational Resources?
Open educational resources (OER) are materials used for educational purposes that are free for anyone to access. They are also licensed to enable uses such as sharing and revising. OER can be textbooks, syllabi, test banks, homework assignments, articles, podcasts, videos, slides, and more.
- The OER Starter Kit Workbook
A handbook to get people involved in the adoption, creation, and use of open educational resources (OER)
The short video below introduces the general concepts of open educational resources.
The video below is a brief report on research on the effectiveness and perceptions of OER as compared to commercial textbooks.
More information about open education
- Open EducationAn overview of the definition and purpose of open education from SPARC.
- Open Textbooks GuideThis detailed guidebook explains the advantages of open textbooks and then lays out specific ways that your college can promote open books.
- Open Education Group: ReviewThis review provides a summary of all known empirical research on the impacts of OER adoption.
- The CARE FrameworkThe CARE Framework was created to articulate a set of shared values and a collective vision for the future of education and learning enabled by the widespread adoption and use of OER. Its purpose is to empower individuals, institutions, and organizations to be good OER stewards and to contribute to the growth and sustainability of the OER movement.
- Gap Analysis and Environmental Scan: Sharing Observations, Priorities, Opportunities in the National OER LandscapeA report by the Midwestern Higher Education Compact, the New England Board of Higher Education, the Southern Regional Education Board, and the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education.
- Open educational resources, student efficacy, and user perceptions: a synthesis of research published between 2015 and 2018This study synthesizes results from sixteen efficacy and twenty perceptions studies involving 121,168 students or faculty that examine either (1) OER and student efficacy in higher education settings or (2) the perceptions of college students and/or instructors who have used OER.
- Open Education in Promotion, Tenure, and Faculty DevelopmentA resource to to help faculty and staff advocate for the inclusion of open educational practices in promotion, tenure, and faculty evaluation practices at their institutions.
