Instructor on Computer
Distance Ed, Teaching Advice

5 Great Sites to Help You Find Open Educational Resources (OER) for Your Course(s)

What is OER?

“Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching, learning and research materials in any medium–digital or otherwise–that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits no-cost access, use, adaptation and redistribution by others with no or limited restrictions” (UNESCO, 2002).

 

Who’s using OER?

According to a recent national survey of more than 4,000 faculty and department chairs, “for the first time, more faculty express a preference for digital material over print in the classroom” (Babson Survey Research Group, 2019). In fact, 46% of faculty surveyed reported some level of awareness of OER (+12% since 2015), with 13% requiring an OER in one or more of their courses—almost 3x the OER required in 2015 (Babson Survey Research Group, 2019).

 

Where can I find OER?

MERLOT

Multimedia Education Resource for Learning and Online Teaching
www.merlot.org | California State University System | ~160,000 Contributors | 84,000+ Learning Materials

MERLOT


 

OASIS

Openly Available Sources Integrated Search
https://oasis.geneseo.edu | SUNY Geneseo’s Milne Library | 88 Sources | 352,000+ Learning Materials

OASIS


 

OER COMMONS

Open Educational Resources Commons
www.oercommons.org | ISKME | 60,000+ Learning Materials

OER Commons


 

OPEN TEXTBOOK LIBRARY

https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks | University of Minnesota | 625 Peer-Reviewed Textbooks

Open Textbook Library


 

PIXABAY

https://pixabay.com | 1,000,000+ Images & Videos (No Attribution Required, But Encouraged!)

Pixabay

 

OneNewThing - Adobe Spark
instructional technology, TLT, Video

#OneNewThing – Adobe Spark

This summer I attended a teaching symposium where the mantra was “One New Thing,” or the act of finding one thing that you think will meet a need and implementing it instead of feeling pressure to implement many things.  This new series will focus on helping you potentially find your #OneNewThing.

One New Thing from TLT
Adobe Spark is an online graphics and video application.  Use the Social Graphics app to create graphics with text to post to social media or to liven up blog posts or presentations.  Use Web Stories to create interactive pages for storytelling or newsletters.  Animated Videos allows the user to create animated slideshows and presentations with images, text, and recorded audio.

How It Works

Spark Post – create stunning graphics 

  • Get started quickly using a theme or start with a blank slate.
  • Add your own images or use the built in image library.
  • Search the text library to find just the right font and layout to meet your needs.

Uses for Faculty & Students

Spark Post
Create graphics to

  • illustrate your concept in a presentation.
  • add to blog posts or social media.
  • spice up a newsletter.
Spark Page – create beautiful web stories

  • Create a beautiful, eye-catching story using photos and text.
  • Choose from preset themes or start from a blank slate.
  • Add motion to your photos as the user views your page.
  • Your page resizes for any size screen, including mobile.

Spark Page

Create

  • Webpages
  • Newsletters
  • Class presentations
  • Storytelling
Spark Video – create compelling animated videos

  • Start with a beautiful template or a blank slate.
  • Add images, text and icons to tell your story.
  • Finish with music and a voiceover.

Spark Video

Create

  • Video tutorials
  • Video presentations
  • Video newsletters
  • Music videos
  • Documentaries
  • Video blogs
  • Document events

Get your free account now at adobe spark

 

If you use Adobe Spark tweet about it using #OneNewThing and add TLT at @tltcofc!  We can’t wait to hear from you.