Day/time: May 7, 2025, 2:45 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. EDT
Title: Defining Quality in OER Textbooks: Drafting a Guide
Presenters:
- Stefanie Buck (she/her), Director, Open Educational Resources, Oregon State University
- Karen Lauritsen (she/her), Senior Director, Publishing, Open Education Network
Description: Although the adoption of open textbooks is increasing, some faculty still hesitate to switch to Open Educational Resources (OER), often due to concerns about quality. Defining and creating “quality” OER is challenging, as it is inherently subjective and varies between creators and their supporters. This situation mirrors the early skepticism surrounding online learning, where faculty questioned its quality compared to face-to-face instruction. This led to the development of the Quality Matters (QM) standards, a nationally recognized rubric designed to assess online courses based on their structure and design rather than content alone. These standards, which include guidelines on learning objectives, assessments, instructional materials, and more, were later adapted into an “Essentials Guide” for faculty at Oregon State University.
Building on the idea behind QM’s Essentials Guide, we are drafting an OER Essentials document, which will serve as a guide for OER creators in developing quality open textbooks. This document will not evaluate the content completeness but will provide a framework for authors and their supporters to enhance textbook quality. The categories covered include comprehensiveness, content accuracy, clarity, modularity, organization, accessibility, cultural relevance, and media integration.
In this session, we will present a draft of the OER Essentials document (at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DpYwnUFiKr4JYD4-oQUQhsrJhBarcB5CJmkC1AVe8xU/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.xi0yifgsjjlf) and invite feedback through small group discussions and interactive tools. Our aim is to develop a dynamic, collaborative guide that evolves based on feedback. By the end of the session, we hope to refine this resource to better support OER creators, ensuring it becomes a valuable, shared tool in the ongoing development of high-quality open textbooks.