COURSE OPENS APRIL 20, 2026

Open Educational Resources Foundations

This self-paced course equips higher education professionals with a strong foundation in Open Educational Resources (OER) and their practical application in teaching and learning. Grounded in current research from SRI International and other leading OER studies, the course helps you develop the knowledge, language, and decision-making skills needed to adopt, adapt, and advocate for OER within your institutional context. You will define OER and use the 5R Framework, Retain, Reuse, Revise, Remix, and Redistribute, to analyze permissions and evaluate how openly licensed materials can be used to support instruction. Through applied activities, you will identify and interpret Creative Commons licenses, select appropriate licensing options for your own work, and locate high-quality OER using established criteria such as accuracy, accessibility, student-centered design, and alignment with learning outcomes. You will also examine research on OER’s impact on student success, affordability, and equity, and conclude the course by developing an actionable plan for OER adoption or adaptation, leveraging AI tools where appropriate for your course, program, or institution.