II. OER Policy Components
The following components should be considered when writing an OER Policy, or incorporating OER into existing college or university policy. For each component, we provide an explanation of why the component is needed, sample policy statements, sample resources, and a recommended action checklist.
Use this tool to generate your own OER policy. To use the OER Policy Tool, simply select the components you find relevant by clicking the box next to each component, and checking the corresponding sample statements under each component. When all items have been selected, at the end of the page choose to load the selected items in either an HTML or an MS Word document. Save the document to make it your own.
OER Purpose
Why Needed: The college or university community needs to know why OER is important and how it aligns with the college or university vision and mission. An OER Policy begins with a clearly stated and shared purpose.
Include? | Sample Purpose Statements | Reference |
---|---|---|
The purpose of this OER Policy is to: guide the development and review of OER materials prior to sharing them on a worldwide scale, clarify publication rights and licensing issues, outline policies regarding the use of required infrastructure and other support services, identify human and other resources to support faculty in developing OER for teaching and learning, and define collaborations within and without the university and the intent to allow access. |
||
The African Virtual University's (AVU) Open Education Resources repository, OER@AVU, is an opportunity for African educators to share open educational resources with each other, and the world. High quality resources can serve to inspire teachers, be directly used by students, and be improved upon, or localized by others. The AVU has seeded the repository with 219 high-quality modules, written by educators from many countries in Africa, but the repository depends on your contributions and participation. |
||
This policy provides guidance to faculty in achieving the following outcomes through the utilization of Open Educational Resources (OER) at Tidewater Community College: improve student success through increased access and affordability, and improve teaching efficiency and effectiveness through the ability to focus, analyze, augment, and evolve course materials directly aligned to course learning outcomes. Faculty will be supported in their use of OER to achieve one or both of the stated outcomes. |
||
This policy outlines the University's position on Open Educational Resources (OER) and provides guidelines for practice in learning and teaching. The University encourages staff and students to use, create, and publish OER to enhance the quality of the student experience, enhance the provision of learning opportunities for all, and improve teaching practices. It also recognises that use, creation, and publication of OER are consistent with the University's reputation, values, and mission to "make a significant, sustainable and socially responsible contribution to Scotland, the UK and the world, promoting health and economic and cultural well-being." |
Other purposes may include, for example: improving student access, success, and completion; addressing college or university affordability; promoting innovation in teaching and learning; transforming the academic culture to a culture of 'openness'; improving quality assurance of or claiming control over instructional resources; providing students more cost effective options; stewardship.
Action Checklist:
- Review your college/university vision and mission and how OER aligns with it.
- Evaluate the extent of faculty use of and interest in OER. (Babson Survey Research Group, Open Educational Resources in U.S. Higher Education, 2014)
- Identify with the stakeholders the purpose and objectives to be achieved in your OER initiative.
- Develop a plan to raise OER awareness with the college or university community.
OER Policy Statement
Why Needed: An OER policy stipulates compliance with local, national, and international laws, regulations, and standards. To improve the chances for a successful college or university OER program initiative, it is essential that teaching faculty especially be engaged in writing the policy beginning with the purpose.