1. Quality of Explanation of the Subject Matter, Degree of Alignment to Standards, Utility of Materials Designed to Support Teaching.

2. I'm not entirely sure what our institution uses to evaluate OER resources, but in my role as an Instructional Designer, we use Quality Matters Rubrics and Standards. 

3. It allows me to make sure the content I create is relatable, meaningful, and aligns to state standards, while also offering an opportunity for deeper learning.

1. a) The organization and quality of contents suit my needs; b) Accessibility.  The materials should be easily accessible by students; c) Readability.  The materials should be aesthetically entertaining to read. 

2. It remains unknown for me. The librarians seem to have taken on this job.

3. I have been reinforcing the rubrics to my own work, and I understand it is nontrivial work to achieve the goals. For example, materials can be presented in PDF file perfectly, but may look terrible after being converted into webpages for better accessibility. It would take tremendous time and effort to make everything right.

1) The top three things I look for in a resource are (in no particular order):

a) Affiliation/Authorship - I need to know that a resource is from a credible source.

b) User-Friendliness - will this resource be useful for students to use? Is it accessible, both in terms of "can a screen reader read this/are the colors readable to everyone/etc," and "is it so frustrating that a person engaging with this won't actually read it" ?

c) Quality - Is the material presented of equal or better quality than similar material that is available for pay?

2) Our institution tends to evaluate resources "In-House" (per department or college), but the library can also be resource. The Research & Learning department regularly books consultations and workshops with faculty interested in adopting OER.

3) The more people that post evaluations on OER materials on the platform, the more reliable those ratings become, and it becomes easier for quality materials to "rise to the top." When I'm creating resources, it's important to use the rubric as a guide because it will help me make sure that anything I create will actually meet the needs of the people who use it.

Definately authorship. So many sites, as I tell my students, pay people by the word or piece to pump what is posted on their sites and then attribute the work to "the editors." Those are not historians writing that stuff. So I too need to know who is penning the works I contempate using.  

When I evaluate a resource I check that the author is from a credited institution, the document was written according to international publishing standards, the content properly is updated and referenced, and the material is harmonious, relevant, and engaging as a whole. My institution LSC-CyFair is adopting the "Quality Matters" rubric for the evaluation of learning resources. Due to the rising volume of open info, proper evaluation, classification, and curation of OERs become critical to develop teaching and research projects of high quality.

1. Fit for my class. I have so much OER that I look for something truly unique; CItations: Is it fully cited?; and, Readability: how will my students react to the material? How will they comprehend the material?

2. As far as I know (and I'm the college's Interim OER Program Coordinator) there is no institutional-level evaluation support. Support is left up to each instructor.  

3. A rubric would ensure commonality among the sources. However, I like to go with my gut. The "you know it when you see it" manner of evaluating OER.  

I have to agree with you James going with your gut when it comes to evaluating resources. I do like the fact that the rubric is in place and can help assess them but ultimately as the professor you know which resources will be the best fit for your course.

1. The top things I look for when evaluating a resource are:
   1. Is it viewable on multiple types of devices (phone, tablet, laptop).
   2. How current is the resource and the examples used.
   3. Is the resource easily accessable to students who do not have access to current technology.
2. None that I am aware of.
3. It will allow me to better focus on various areas when looking at a resource.  It will also allow me to take more time in evaluating and determining if the resource will fit the needs of my class and my students.  I attempt to keep my examples in class current and I am looking for resources that are easily adaptable to changes in the world.

Being able to view stuff on multiple platforms is something I did not consider until I had a student point it out to me. A big "OOOPS!" Now I am not only cognizant of that, but I field test new material sing my students in class. Between their Apple and Android phones, and various brands of laptops, I get a relatively good idea how my site looks. 

Yes, I agree with you, Greg, on making sure that it is accessible for students in a virtual format.  Although I do love the feel of paper, so many students are using their phones now for EVERYTHING.  SO yeah, a format that is enabled for use on all electronic levels is important! 

Sasha

Designing per device can be tricky! Have you ever used BrowserStack's Responsive Checker? 

This could help ensure that your content is easily viewed on the most popular devices and within the most common aspect ratios. 

Hello Molly,

I have not heard of this resource. I will take a look at it.  Thank you so much!

Greg

Speaking about evaluating, and maybe it's User Error, but after I evaluated the source my login popped up. After I logged in, my evaluation was erased and I had to start over. I like to think that the second time around produced better wordsmithing. I'll be curious if the authors say anything,

When I look for an OER to use for one of my classes I first look for quality of content. I want the material to be well written and presented in a interesting manner, I must cover all of the topics that I believe are necessary for the course learning objectives. I prefer plenty of examples so that students can and will understand the material. It must be easy to navigate, both smoothly and quickly for students for both myself and students.   I want the images and graphics to relate to the topics and be useful.  Although not absolutely necessary, I prefer that there be some type of additional resources and assessment.  I may not, or may not, use these but it does give me some ideas about any assessments that I create.  I would prefer that there be some method than myself of updating the material and keeping it timely.  

Out college does have a set standard used for review all online courses.  This would include the content and relevancy of the OER that is used.  Each program director should thoroughly set the OER for use in all courses in that program area.    

Rubrics make the work of evaluation much easier and more consistent.  It's an accurate method of comparing one course to another.  I believe rubrics would help to find a a higher quality OER.  

I do not recall your discipline, but I bet your description of a usable OER would fit most if not all of our needs. Very thorough!

I really enjoyed Week 2's webinar, and learning about the various tools and features of OERTX. I'm grateful to our facilitators for the time they put into the demonstration and for answering everyone's specific questions. 

Top 3 Things I Look for in a Resource:

1. Intentionality in design as an OER. While many things begin as a single resource for a class, it is important to me to use resources that have been modified to be an OER in order to describe the context of the lesson and to remove the content that is not pertinent to a broader audience searching for a resource on an OER site. 
2. Outcomes. I really liked that our example OER from webinar 2 had the outcomes listed up top. That will speed up the discernment phase when searching for a lesson. 
3. Accessibility. Ideally, it would be great to have a repository that ensures the OERs that are uploaded meet accessibility/UDL standards for quality, or that there could be some icon

Baylor has lots of information on OERs in their library guides. In one, a section titled "Evaluating OERs," the guide provides additional issues to consider when dealing with OER materials, including "checking the license?" as well as "Format, does the material come in a format your students can access easily?" The guide also provides rubrics from iRubric, BCOER, and Open Textbook Library Evaluation Criteria. 

In my interest in accessible, specific OERs that have measurable, visually present outcomes, it is important that I, too, create using these "wants" as a rubric for evaluating and creating content. Ultimately, the more I do in generation and contribution to the body of OERs using best practices as a rubric, the more quality content is available to others. 

Another comment on supporting my own OER goals through evaluation. My courses will benefit from my ability to effectively evaluate a resource. 

1. When I elevate the resource, I would focus on the following areas: 

• Accuracy: Is the resource from a reputable source with accurate information?
• Currency: Is the information provided up-to-date and relevant to current tools and research in the field?
• Affordability: Are the resources free or affordable?

2. I am still exploring all the available resources and protocols available at my institution. 

3. Evaluating OER using a rubric will help me to select high-quality, relevant, and effective resources that align with the learning objectives, this will eventually improve the learning experience of students while reducing costs. 

Your response to question 2 is my sentiment as well Yue. Being I have been at my institution for 9 months I am not aware of the evaluation process of resources if any. Perhaps being naive but I thought it was the professor's responsibility to evaluate their own materials. 

When evaluating a resource, I typically look for author affiliation and publishing institution for credibility. I think it's important to look at ease of use for the student accessing the resource and coverage of content. 

Evaluating OER resources is a new avenue for me. I'm enjoying learning about rubrics available to assist with quality assessment. Our institution recommends utilizing iRubric, a faculty guide by BCOER, and Open Textbook Library Evaluation criteria. 

Using a rubric can help with adoption of resources that meet student content and accessibility needs. I'm excited to learn more about how to evaluate OER resources!

1. When evaluating resources I look for the quality of them and if they are relevant to the subject at hand and also current, if they abide by the accessibility policies instituted by the college/university, and 

2. I am not aware of any evaluation process in place at the college but I do know that we have a librarian that keeps up with a variety of OER material but in terms of evaluating outside of resources available at the library it would be up to the professor to vet the content of those resources.

3. Utilizing the rubric will help assess the OER material and filter it down to fit the professor's needs for their course. It's a good first step to vetting the content and then take a closer look after narrowing it down. 

1.  As a librarian, my experience with OER evaluation, so far, has been limited to the inclusion of resources in an OER research guide that I created.  The top three things that I instantly look for in a resource are accessibility - all embedded web links are working properly; licensing - the resource is explicitly an open resource, as indicated by a clearly visible CC attribution; and appearance - ads are kept to a minimum and the script is not too small to read, for example.

2.  Good question.  Surely, my institution uses a general set of protocols or supports for the evaluation of resources, but I have never seen it. 

3.   To make OER work for as many users as possible, I think that using a rubric to evaluate my own open resources would be critical.  After all, the rubric would establish best practices for creating and disseminating OER to the public.

1. I consider the alignment between learning objectives, engagement and assessments.

2. Departments work with faculty to evaluate and recommend resources.

3. Specifically, it provides a focus to evaluate the quality of the resources.

1. When I evaluate a resource, I look for ease of use/usability, how well the content is organized into units, and whether the information is appropriate for the reading and expertise level of the end-user.

2. When new technology is being considered for purchase, we have a guidelines document to look at accessibility and our IT department looks at the technical requirements and security issues. Additionally, we have an Instructional Design division that can assist with looking at instruction design aspects of a resource used in instruction.

3. I believe evaluating OER using a rubric will equip me to curate OER within the library, assist in teaching PD on OER discovery to faculty, and in providing me with instructional design guidelines for the creation of Information Literacy OER or any instructional materials in my capacity as an instruction librarian.

1. The first thing I look for when I evaluate a resource is where it originates. I want a resource that is from a reliable, vetted source. In the age of mass information, anyone can put resources on the web. I try to be sure and use sites that are also reliable. Next, I look to see if the resource meets my need and objective. Finally, I look at the license to see if I can adapt and use it to fit my needs. 

2. It is really by college or department. I'm sure our library has its own process, and we at the CEE do as well. I am not aware of an institutional-level evaluation.

3. Anytime you use a rubric, you have a guideline or standard to follow. I like knowing there is a standard in place and the evaluation process is entirely subjective.

1. When you evaluate a resource (informally or formally), what are the top three things you look for in a resource? 1. Quality of information; 2) whether it aligns with Student Learning Outcomes; 3) whether it is easily incorporated into our LMS, which is D2L.

2. What protocols or supports does your Institution use to support evalution of resources? Our campus does not have any protocols, but there are 7 other campuses in our system. So, I visit their library websites and use their support systems. One campus in particular, Lone Star College-North Harris, has a vast list of OERs available for every discipline imaginable.

3. How can evaluating OER using the rubric support your own OER goals? A rubric provides uniformity in evaluating criteria, something that helps simplyfy the entire process.

1. When evaluating a resource I look at quality of information, accessibility, and the layouts visual appearance.

2. I do not know the protocol for evaluating resources for courses.

3. Having a rubric to follow would help with evaluating OER because it would help set a standard of quality for the resource used.

1. Three things to look for in a resource: Credibility, Overall objective (coes it meet the learning objective), and Citations.

2. I have not heard of any support mechanisms in place at HCC to support resource evaluations.

3. I am a fan of rubrics, I can only imagine that using a rubric in support of OER would be helpful.

1. The organization, structure, and content are the top three things that I look for in a resource.

2. I don't know. I am reaching out to discover protocols on my campus.

3. I want the content to be readable, relatable, and accessible; thus, having a rubric would ensure that all these are used.

1. I evaulate free/open resources based on the credilibity of the author/source, the accuracy of the information presented, and how the resource can be modified to better fit my classes/the needs of my students.

2. To my knowledge, we do not currently have any formal protocols for evalating open resources. One of the goals of our OER working group is to locate and customize an exisiting OER rubric for use at our institution.

3. Using the rubric will help me be more consistent in my evaluation of resources.

1. When you evaluate a resource (informally or formally), what are the top three things you look for in a resource?

   • Quality - I want to ensure that the resource content fits the needs of my faculty. 

   • Accessibility - As an advocate for Universal Design for Learning, accessibility is always at the forefront of my design.

   • Access - does the resource require a membership to access certain elements? These are additional layers to OERs. 

2. What protocols or supports does your Institution use to support evalution of resources?

   • As a new employee at Baylor University, I am still familiarizing myself with the support my institution uses to evaluate resources. I have engaged in conversation with our Library Liaisons, in which I feel confident that they may serve as an evaluator of resources. 

3. How can evaluating OER using the rubric support your own OER goals?

   • Rubrics are helpful acting as a thorough checklist. They ensure that various elements of the OER are be assessed to the minimal standards that have been set. At my institution we use rubrics for evaluating courses, I imagine the same process may be conducted for evaluating OERs. 

1. I look for the resource to apply to most, if not all, the objectives of the course or lesson objectives. I want the resource to be relevant as well as quality when showcasing OER to faculty.

2. We are currently working on protocols for evaluation of OER.

3. I am looking into rubrics I can adapt or use as inspiration to create my own. A major criticism of OER on my campus is quality, and this can help combat that misconception of poor quality in OER publishing.

1. Three things to look for when evaluating an OER: is the source reputable, is it relevant, is it accessible to the students?
2. The Library has a LibGuide that supports faculty and students in the use and evaluation of OERs. The guide provides links to on how to evaluate OERs, how to modify, and an accessibility toolkit.
3. It provides a baseline checklist on elements to address in the OER. When I check off all of the boxes then I can consider it a complete OER and that all the necessary parts have been addressed. 

1. quality of information, flow of information, easily accessible

2. we do not currently have protocols to support the evaluation of resources

3. it gives us great guidelines to ensure that the material we want to use is evaluated is reliable

Privet everyone!

1.  To evaulate any resource, I always look for relevancy, quality, and accessibility.  

2.  Unfortunately, I do not know this answer - we are just starting a push for more OER in our system, so the answer to number 1 is my personal librarian code for all evaluation of resources (from more of a collection development standpoint but it is still applicable).

3.  Using rubrics help keep the evaluation process consistent and free from biases and misunderstandings.  Some people review differently than others and the variance without structure can breed chaos!  

I evaluated Openstax Introduction to Business.   I looked for high quality of explanation of subject matter, quality of case studies, assessment quality, and instructional resources.  I found the OER rubric is alignment with STC's standards on resources selected for course inventory.

1, I look first to see if the content coverage and level are appropriate to our audience and in line with out learning outcomes. Second, I look at readability, engagement of text, and appropraite learning tools like graphics, review questions, etc.Third, I look at accessibility; is it easy to access for everyone and does it have the ability to accommodate to specific needs.

2. Our librarians have been very proactive in this regard. I would go to them for these issues. I believe that we also have a college-wide committee to support the use of OER resources.

3. Rubrics give structure. While the rubric doesn't provide specifics for discipline content, it does provide structure and give attention to non-content-specific issues.

For me what I look for is the subject matter is it related to what I am teaching and the style of the document, does it align with our student learning objectives and copyright, just so I know what I can use or not use with the material. 

I do not think we have any supports currently to evaluate OER resources, as we are still in the beginning phases with some of the courses moving to the OER format. 

I believe it will help me in the rubric support to help me create material that works well with my classes and teaching style. It will also help me understand and become more knowledgeable of how to run courses with OER. 

1. When you evaluate a resource (informally or formally), what are the top three things you look for in a resource? Quality, access, and current.

2. What protocols or supports does your Institution use to support evalution of resources? Not sure, maybe peer review.

3. How can evaluating OER using the rubric support your own OER goals? Improve quality of OERs and student friendly. 

1. If the resources align with the SLO and NAEYC Standards.

2. I am not sure, but I have reached out to a colleague who may be able to shed light on this question.

3. It's important that the content of the item and the content of each suggested standard are the same. Evaluating how well the object and the standard match up is critical.

I think the biggest thing I would look for is how easy is it to navigate for the students. The next important thing, is the level it is written. I teach at the 2 year college level, and something written in dry unfamiliar language is not going to engage that population very well. The final thing I look for is the organization of the information. Does the information flow in a consistent way?

I am not aware of specific protocols at the institution on reviewing materials.

I think that anytime you are looking to create something, it is good to see how others have done it, and critically review that work.

Top three things I look for in a resource:

1. currency / date source was created
2. author and affiliation of author
3. quality of materials as aligned with my learning goals / standards

Support protocols by institution: We do have an OER online workshop that is good. 

Using the OER evaluation rubric can help in the consistency of source evaluation. 

1. Quality, Easy to use, Test questions/activities

2. We offer materials for online courses that are valid.

3. It will make it easy for administration to determine if it has value.

1. Quality and alignment of the content to the subject focus of the session, ease of access and use for students, licensing restrictions that may impact how it can be used in the class.

2. Last year, the university library launched a faculty grant program intended to increase the use of free or free-to-use resources as course materials across campus. Implementation of OER is a priority solution supported by the program, though it is not the only allowed option for grant recipients to use.

3. Time is one of the faculty's most precious commodities, and evaluating new materials to determine if they are viable for courses is time-consuming. If we can expedite the adoption process by vetting materials to give faculty a roster of reviewed options, I anticipate the rate of use will increase.

Quality and depth in the material, how well it aligns with my curriculum and course objectives, age of the resource. I do not believe we have a protocol, but I know the college supports OER and trusts faculty to review and evaluate resources that would be best for students. It allows me to step back and ask these overarching questions to see what material would be the best fit. 

1. When you evaluate a resource (informally or formally), what are the top three things you look for in a resource?

Subject area (that I am familar with); content; quality (accurancy/consistency)  

1. What protocols or supports does your Institution use to support the evalution of resources?

Not sure

1. How can evaluating OER using the rubric support your own OER goals?

Provide a certain level of consistency. 

1. When I evaluate a resource, I look for: 1) whether the resource offers what is needed to meet my course objectives, 2) whether the resource is updated frequently, and 3) whether the resource will be helpful for my students in successfully completing my course.
2. My institution (South Texas College) has a library staff that guides faculty using OER resources in their online courses.
3. The rubric is a good resource that will help me select resources compatible with my course objectives.

Reynaldo Jasso, Jr.

South Texas College

The top three things I look for are -

Fit for my course

Student-friendly interface

Additional resources

At this time, I am not aware of any protocols my institution has in place. We are developing processes now, hoping to be fully OER for the Fall of 2025. 

The rubric allows me to consider the resources with a more critical eye.