Take survey on open educational resources for students

The University of Colorado is a member of the Colorado Department of Higher Education Open Educational Resources (OER) Council, a statewide body charged to develop a plan for digital repositories to benefit college and K-12 students.

Open educational resources are educational materials that are in the public domain or introduced with an open license. This means that anyone can legally and freely copy, use, adapt and share them.

The Joint Budget Committee has requested that the council provide a state-of-the-art review of the status of OER in Colorado. The report will contain a discussion of resources, incentives and obstacles to further the adoption of OERs; and a set of recommendations regarding policy, organization and resources needed to move forward.

Part of the report includes a survey about the use of open educational resources from a broad sample of Colorado college and university stakeholders. All university employees and students are invited to take the survey here. The survey is open now and will continue through Sept. 10. A report will be published in October.

Through the OER Council, representatives from all campuses are tasked with raising awareness among all stakeholders about the benefits of OER adoption, such as lower cost of attendance and improved learning outcomes.

The statewide council is composed of 14 members— including faculty, librarians and administrators—and represents two-year and four-year institutions of higher education as well as the Colorado Departments of Education and Higher Education. Members of the OER Council were nominated by their respective campus leaders and provide expert insight and act as advocates for the future of these resources in Colorado.

To learn more about the OER Council and view meeting information, visit http://highered.colorado.gov/Academics/Groups/OERCouncil/schedule.html.