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Gibson D. Lewis Library Libguides

OER- Open Educational Resources

This guide provides an overview of OER, publication options, and where to locate OER.

Why Use OER?

Using OER offers a number of benefits to the faculty and students of UNTHSC.  

  1. Affordability- OER are freely available materials.  The use of a single OER per semester can provide substantial cost savings to students over the course of an academic career.
  2. Broader Access to Materials- Anyone, anywhere in the world can access and use OER.  UNTHSC students, campus partners, and community members seeking professional development opportunities all benefit from the extended access that OER provides.  
  3. Continually Improved Resources- Unlike static sources of information, OER can be adapted and improved over time to fit the needs of the university's curriculum.  User feedback, curriculum changes, and new medical breakthroughs can all be added and adapted within an OER without the need to wait for new editions.
  4. Diversity, Equity & Inclusion- Traditional educational materials often lack the diversity necessary for our current world climate. Access to materials often comes at a great cost for short-term access.  When students purchase access codes for textbooks they do not own the materials and are in essence renting the textbook for a single semester.  Often these texts do not take into consideration additional student learning needs such as the inclusion of accompanying visual media to enhance learning. OER can incorporate additional materials which will engage multiple learning styles.  Further, OER can enhance inclusion initiatives by allowing for the alteration of materials to include global images and perspectives which may be missing in a traditional text. 
  5. Flexibility- By using and adapting OER to suit the needs of the university the opportunity to create a clear educational framework around the values of the institution exists.  Universities can highlight areas of education that directly reflect goals and curriculum. Faculty members can teach content in the order that best suits the needs of the students.  Chapters can be pulled from multiple resources to create something new that perfectly fits a course.