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Open educational resources (OER)

Find, create and evaluate OER materials, available to legally and freely copy, such as ebooks, images, audio, video and software. Understand copyright and Creative Commons (CC) licences.

Evaluate OERs

You may need to evaluate the Open Educational Resources (OER) to determine if they are suitable to use.

OER evaluation checklistclipboard with a tick and cross

Use this simple checklist to quickly decide whether the OER is appropriate for your purposes. Refer to the evaluation tools in the next box if you want to comprehensively evaluate the OER. 

Criteria Appropriate Not appropriate
Openly licensed    
CC licence allows modification and adaptation    
CC licence allows reuse    
Public domain    
Content suitability    
Aligns with course objectives    
Comprehensive coverage of subject matter    
Suitable for my students' level    
Content is current or up-to-date    
Quality    
Reputable author, professional affiliations are provided    
Accurate content – error-free, unbiased, no spelling or grammatical errors    
Video, diagrams and other supplementary materials are relevant and well-designed    
Ease of use    
Structure is well-organised    
Organisation of topics is logical and clear    
Interface is easy to navigate    
Clear and consistent use of elements and terminology    
Diversity and inclusion    
Content is designed to meet accessibility standards    
Presents diverse perspectives and viewpoints, inclusive of different identities, ethnicities and backgrounds    
Does not include insensitive or offensive viewpoints    

“OER evaluation checklist” is adapted from “BCcampus Open Education Textbook Review Rubric” by BCcampus Open Education, CC BY 4.0 which is a derivative of the “Peer Review criteria” used by Saylor Academy which is a derivative of the review rubric by College Open Textbooks. OER evaluation checklist” by the University of Queensland Library is shared under CC BY-NC 4.0.

Icon: “Evaluate” by HideMaru, CC BY 3.0, via the Noun Project.

Comprehensive evaluation tools