About the Utah OER Collective

About the Hub

Welcome to the Utah OER Collective hub. In this hub, you will find several types of resources related to the curation of Open Educational Resources (OER) and the adoption of Open Educational Practice (OEP). These resources include:

Professional learning resources and tools targeted at developing and deepening engagement in open education
Groups in which you can collaborate with other Utah educators on the continuous improvement of OER
OER that have been curated and evaluated by Utah educators during Utah OER Collective conferences

About the Collective

The Utah OER Collective was formed as a collaboration between the Utah State Board of Education and the Utah Education Network with the purpose of gathering and evaluating open educational resources (OER) to support Utah educators and students. "OER can include textbooks, lesson plans, syllabi, interactive experiences, course assignments, and more, all of which are made freely available under an open license" (Westminster College). For three years (2017-2019) local education agency (LEA) leaders in Utah recommended 50 top educators from a variety of content areas to serve as evaluators in the Utah OER Collective. These educators listened to keynote speakers and participated in workshops to learn more about OER, and then they curated and evaluated OER with the purpose of sharing them with Utah educators.

About OER and OEP

"The goal of Open Educational Practice (OEP) is to build the knowledge, skills, and behaviors that support and improve teaching and learning. Using open educational resources (OER) presents unique affordances for educators, as the use of OER is an invitation to adapt, personalize, and add relevancy to materials that inspire and encourage deeper learning in the classroom and across institutions" (OER Commons, Open Educational Practice in Action Hub).

What are OER and OEP?

Open Educational Resources: Some Basics

In this digital age, free online educational resources are getting an increasingly high profile. Here’s a guide on what they are, why they’re popular, and what educators need to be cautious about in using them.

PDTV: Open Educational Resources

In this video, UEN PDTV takes a road trip to Nebo School District to see how they are using and developing OER textbooks.

What is OER?

This video was created by The Council of Chief State School Officers to quickly and simply explain OER.

UEN Homeroom Podcast: OER and OEP with Megan Simmons and Joanna Schimizzi

On this episode of UEN Homeroom, Dani Sloan and Katie Blunt have an in-depth conversation with Megan Simmons and Joanna Schimizzi from the ISKME team. Megan and Joanna touch on the creation of the Open Educational Resources (OER) Commons and how it has been a powerful tool for educators during the pandemic.