Open Educational Resources (OER)

Open Educational Resources are teaching and learning resources (e.g., textbooks, powerpoint slides, activities, assessments, etc.) that are openly licensed and free to use. These resources can be adopted and used in the classroom as is or modified as needed to best fit the learning outcomes of a course.

What is OER?

This video is an adaptation of ‘What is OER?’ from The Council of Chief State School Officers under CC-BY-4.0. Featuring Barbara Soots, Layla Bonnot, Katie Steen and Nicole Allen

WTCS OER Network

The WTCS OER Network has over 100 OER champions from all 16 colleges and the system office. Within the Network, we strive to share strategies and resources to advance the adoption of open resources across the WTCS. To join our network, please contact Hilary Barker. Below are a list of resources, developed within the OER Network, to help support OER adoption and scaling across the WTCS:

• New to OER? Check out:
  • Is Your Textbook OER? – A quick guide to understand if your textbook is an Open Educational Resource or not.
  • WTCS Guide to OER and Antiracism – Within this workbook, you will examine resources and explore key concepts in the context of your own teaching and learning and interactions with your students. The ultimate goal is to transform some aspect of your teaching to be more anti-racist using OER and open pedagogical approaches.
  • User Guide To OER – A 1-page resource with information on finding, adopting, adapting OER.
  • Using Copyrighted Content Within Open Educational Resources – This tool is intended to help OER champions readily navigate how and when to appropriately include Copyrighted materials in open educational resources.
• Affordable and Open Educational Practices Scale of Adoption Assessment: tool for colleges to evaluate OER resources and structures, and set goals for scaling best practices to advance OER
• WTCS OER Field Guide for Sustainability Planning: resource guide for colleges in scaling OER work that is specific to the WTCS
• Using OER to re-open education: 1-page infographic for leveraging OER with the constraints of COVID-19
• WTCS OER Client Code Guide: guidance for the Client Reporting data element to capture course sections that have OER as the primary textbook
• WTCS OER Guidance: provides resources, templates and guidance for institutional and consortium-level OER work to support the FY2024 State OER Grant.
• WTCS OER Repository is a spreadsheet that summarizes OER textbook adoptions across our system. In addition, you can find your college’s OER point person in the ‘Read Me’ tab.

OER Across the System

• WTCS-created OER
  • The OpenRN project, led by CVTC, is creating five OER nursing textbooks with virtual reality scenarios and a nursing assistant textbook. Nursing Pharmacology | Nursing Skills | Nursing Fundamentals | Management & Professional Concepts
  • WTCS Medical Terminology OER textbook with Student Companion and Canvas course shell. Learn about the process to create this OER package [youtube video].
• View the recorded sessions and content from the 2023 WTCS OER Symposium.
• Interested in learning more about OER? Enroll in OER 101, an introductory course taught by CVTC Director of Library Services, Vince Mussehl. This course has been developed as part of the OpenRN project, but participants do not need to be part of the Health Sciences. This opportunity is open to all WTCS faculty and staff. Sign up on the OpenRN webpage.
• Interested in developing an open textbook? Learn more about the development process used in the OpenRN project by watching this presentation from OpenRN project director, Kim Ernstmeyer (MSN, RN, CNE, APNP-BC, CHSE).
• OER in the news:
  • Criminal Justice Program Now has Zero Textbook Costs (Nicolet College Blog)
  • CVTC instructor pens open education resource textbook (The Dunn County News)
  • Wisconsin Technical Colleges: Making Wisconsin Open (Community College Consortium for OER)

OER Repositories

• WISC-ONLINE is a non-profit organization based at FVTC that provides open educational programs, objects, videos, tutorials, games, and in 2020 they are releasing open virtual reality scenarios!
• WISELearn Resources Library is a OER Commons repository for OER used in Wisconsin’s K-12 schools, and the College and Lifelong Learning group allows for collaboration and sharing of post-secondary resources for WTCS, WAICU, and UWS.
• Skills Commons Repository provides OER for career and technical education and workforce development
• LibreTexts provides a collection of open resources and allows for easy remixing of content to create new resources that are tailored to best fit your needs
• OpenStax provides open textbooks for general education courses and they have a ‘Institutional Partnership Program’ for colleges who are interested in training and guidance in OER
• Open Textbook Library provides a library of open textbooks with comprehensive faculty reviews.
• OER by Discipline Directory from BC Campus (Lauri M. Aesoph and Josie Gray)
• Pressbooks Directory for CC licensed content

Other Resources

• Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources – global community of practice for OER
• OER Adoption Impact Calculator – research-based tool for understanding the costs and savings of adopting OER
• Best Practices in Fair Use for Open Educational Resources: A guide for authors, adapters & adopters of openly licensed teaching and learning materials