Introduction to Open Educational Resources: Removing Barriers from Within 

Session Description

Instructors: David Kwasny, Data and Digital Literacy Librarian, DSU, UTSC; and Sarah Shujah, Liaison Librarian, UTSC, and CTSI PASS Librarian

Are you curious about finding teaching materials to support student learning? Or perhaps you are interested in developing teaching materials that all students can access? Celebrate Open Education Week and learn how Open Educational Resources (OER) can be optimized for instructional use in this interactive workshop. OER reduces the financial barrier to access materials for students while also strengthening student engagement and learning. You will be introduced to what OER is in comparison to other ‘free’ materials, unpack the meaning of Creative Commons licensing when using OER, practice attributing open resources like images, find and assess OER that you can use in your teaching, and last discuss how you can contribute to the OER community.

By the end of the session you will:

• define open educational resources (OER)
• identify the different types of Creative Commons licenses and what each allows/does not allow for the use of an OER
• correctly attribute open resource such as images that may be used in presentations
• locate OER including open textbooks, lab/activity materials, lesson plans, lectures, and more
• discuss the challenges and benefits of using OER in your teaching

• assess how you will use OER in your own teaching such as adopt, adapt, create, and contribute