Student Guide for OER Advocacy

What are OERs?

"Open educational resources (OERs) are materials for teaching or learning that are either in the public domain or have been released under a license that allows them to be freely used, changed, or shared with others. OER may include everything from a single video or lesson plan to a complete online course or curriculum and also include the software platforms needed to create, change, and share the materials" (EdWeek -Sarah Sparks, 2017). As students, your voices are important to promote OERs and Open Access (OA) at UNF. Professors who include OER materials into their curriculum not only save you money, but can provide the opportunity for you to engage with more diverse and current information. Take a look at the CCOER or Community College Consortium's Student Impact Stories for inspiration.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Student Guide for OER Advocacy! The UNF Library is committed to promoting awareness and educating others on the adoption of OER on our campus. We understand that the cost of an education continues to rise and that there are barriers to paying for a quality education. Purchasing textbooks for your classes can add up quickly. This is why we provide resources to better serve faculty as they consider using OER in their courses. If you are interested in researching specific courses that may include OER materials and/or low-cost/no-cost textbooks, visit Florida's Affordability Counts website and limit by UNF courses. Additionally, you may want to browse UNF's Center for Instruction & Research Technology OER Faculty Recognition page to learn about which faculty successfully completed the OER initiative training and converted their course materials to OER and/or low-cost/no-cost resources. See how you can get involved with OER and OER advocacy! Take time to explore the advocacy library guide by clicking on the following tabs: OER at Florida Universities, Readings on OER, Open Education Guides, and Videos on OER. Reach out to your UNF librarians if you have ideas or questions when advocating for OER materials. Also, it is important to point out that OER advocacy and its scope goes beyond the cost of textbooks. Explore the infographic posted below for examples.

Infographic Transcript: When faculty, instructors, students, and society share OER materials it leads to: increasing access, lowering costs, finding free supplements, personalizing content, joining a community, learning, gaining recognition, transforming, supporting underserved populations, benefiting from others' expertise, updating materials, collaborating, revolutionizing practices, adapting to standards, harnessing student interest, expanding impact, globalizing classrooms, gaining recognition, democratizing education, recycling materials, encouraging growth, and inspiring others.