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Open Educational Resources (OER):
Evaluate OER

Evaluating OER Quality

After you've found OER resources, you will want to evaluate its quality before including it in your course. Since OER materials are available on the open web, they vary greatly in quality, content, and accessibility. While many of the OER repositories on this guide contain peer-reviewed, not every material within has been vetted. 

OER Quality Assessment

This checklist will assist you in assessing the quality of the OER resources discovered in your search.

Audience
  • Who will be using the resources?
  • Is the resource at an appropriate education level for your audience?
Subject Coverage & Relevance
  • Does the information directly address one or more of the class objectives?
  • Is there any area within the larger subject that should be excluded?
Material Type
  • What kind of media will the collection contain (e.g. videos, podcasts, etc.?)
  • What media types will be excluded from the collection?
Pedagogical
  • Does the resource encourage active learning and class participation?
  • Does the information directly address one or more of the class objectives?
Accuracy & Production Quality
  • Is the information accurate?
  • Are there major content errors or omissions?
  • Is the resource available in alternative formats (e.g. .doc)?
  • Is the layout and interface easy to navigate?
  • Do the design features enhance or inhibit learning?
  • For audio or video resources, is the sound quality high?
Interactivity
  • Does the resource encourage active learning and class participation?
  • Are there opportunities for students to test their understanding of the material (e.g. a video with embedded questions)?
Licensing
  • Does the license allow for educational reuse of materials?
  • Does the license allow modifications or adaptations of the material?

Evaluating OER Accessibility

In addition to evaluating OER for its relevancy to course outcomes, OER should also be evaluated on terms of how accessible it is for students with disabilities. These tools can help you determine whether or not your chosen OER is accessible and -- if it is not -- learn how to make it accessible.

Accessibility Testing Tools

Attribution

Content on this page was adapted from "Assessing OER" by Erin Fields at UBC Library Vancouver and is used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.