October 26 – November 15, 2026
Short Course
Description
This short course is sequentially designed to help faculty understand, evaluate, and effectively integrate Open Educational Resources (OER) into their teaching practice.
- Module 1 introduces foundational concepts by helping participants distinguish between OER, free or low-cost materials, and Z‑Degrees while considering the benefits and challenges of using OER in their courses.
- Module 2 focuses on locating and evaluating OER by engaging participants with repositories, tools, and frameworks to assess materials for alignment, quality, accessibility, and equity.
- Module 3 guides participants in selecting, adapting, and integrating at least one OER resource into a course, with attention to alignment, attribution, and student impact.
Learning objectives:
Participants will be able to:
- Distinguish between Z-degrees, OER, and free or low-cost educational materials.
- Consult repositories and other resources for finding and evaluating relevant, equitable, and accessible OER aligned with course goals.
- Synthesize OER material into a current or future class, integrating at least one OER resource into a course.
- Connect OER use to open pedagogy and UDL principles.
Suggested Audience
Faculty (Full-time and part-time), Instructional Designers and Technologists, Faculty Developers/Trainers, and Concurrent Enrollment instructors.
Estimated Time Commitment
Most participants are able to complete this course by committing 4-6 hours per week.
Reflect on your Professional Development
As you progress through this course, please consider how you can use the assignments as a way to highlight your work on your Professional Development Plan. Consider sharing your work with your leadership team.
Course Location
This course is hosted and facilitated using shared D2L Brightspace instance of Minnesota State called, MnSite.
Accommodations
The NED is committed to providing universal access to all of our events, we’d like to discover how we can make the event more inclusive so you can fully participate!
Machine generated captions are available in real-time for all Zoom events, however human generated CART (live caption) service and ASL interpretation can be requested with advanced notice (2 weeks) to make the event more accessible.
Please, let us know of any disability-related accommodations that will facilitate your full participation.
Questions?
Contact the Network for Educational Development.
Registration Required
Use the RSVP tool below to register. After registering, a calendar invite will be sent to you as a reminder of the course start date. Please add this event to your calendar.