The University Libraries is announcing the new Open Educational Resources initiative for the University of New Mexico during Open Education Week, March 7- 11.
Open Education Week is an annual celebration of actively sharing and learning about the latest achievements in Open Education Resources (OER). Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under a license that permits their free use, reuse, modification, and sharing with others. OER have the ability to significantly reduce student fees on textbooks thus making academic success more accessible to all.
The University Libraries OER initiative seeks to provide UNM faculty members with the support they need to adopt low and no-cost textbooks and class material solutions for their courses when it aligns with their instructional objectives and academic freedom. When possible, the UL would like to partner with other higher education institutions and the State of New Mexico to identify resources and support for faculty initiatives in this area.
The University Libraries has recently created a website dedicated to the OER Initiative on campus. On the new website, visitors can find definitions and a resources list for OER.
Open Education Week provides practitioners, educators, and students with an opportunity to build a greater understanding of open educational practices and be inspired by work developed by the community around the world. To celebrate Open Education Week, the University Libraries invites students to engage with interactive displays available in each main campus location. The displays ask students to write a response to the prompt, “If I didn’t have to buy textbooks, I could…” Keep an eye on the UL’s social media this week to see students’ reactions. The UL also encourages our campus community to attend various virtual events hosted through OE Global.
There is a significant quantity of openly licensed and university licensed materials available online that will meet a wide variety of instructional needs at no additional cost to students and the University Libraries aims to spread awareness across campus. For more information or to discover promoted Open Education Week events please visit oer.unm.edu.