Need help with using OER in your courses?

Norwalk library staff are committed to helping faculty with the adoption of OER resources. Our staff can help Norwalk faculty locate high-quality textbooks and educational materials for use in their courses. Contact us for more information

Want to explore some OER textbooks?

Feel free to download and explore any of the OER textbooks or resources highlighted in this guide. After all, they're completely free. Norwalk Library recommends taking a look at the high-quality content of OpenStax textbooks. This Rice University-based OER initiative has already saved students more than $30 million dollars.

       Examples of OER Textbooks available for free through OpenStax

Who is using OERs?

The use of OERs in higher education continues to grow steadily each year. In fact, a number of Norwalk's neighboring institutions have already started to develop their own OER projects:

• Since 2007, the University of Hartford's Department of Physics been incorporating the free OpenStax Physics into their courses.
• UConn has "Changed the Game" with the passing of a school-wide resolution to support open textbooks.
• UMass Amherst, one of the nation's leaders in OER development, launched their own university-wide OER program. Since 2011, UMass' Open Education Initiative has saved students an estimated $1.3 million dollars.
• Faculty at Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) have developed their own OER textbooks for use in the classroom. Most notably, Joe Fields of the Mathematics Department has written the open-source "A Gentle Introduction to the Act of Mathematics" for use in his course on mathematical proofs. In addition to be used at SCSU, the openly-licensed book has been incorporated into a number of institutions around the country.
• Both Housatonic and Gateway campus are currently developing initiatives to support faculty adoption of OER textbooks.
• The Mathematics Department at Middlesex is using various OER materials (like open source online videos) to transform classroom instruction.

For a more global view, Creative commons has compiled an list of notable OER initiatives.

Interested in writing your own Open Educational materials?

Institutional and faculty collaboration is key to the success of OERs in higher education. Resources like the Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources (CCCOER) and the Connecticut Distance Learning Consortium (CTDLC) can act as great tool for any faculty hoping to adopt OER into their classroom. For faculty wishing to create their own OER works or textbooks, these forums will be a great resource to get feedback or reach out to other collaborators. Need help locating more of these collaborative tools? Ask a Norwalk librarian for help.

Convinced? Have an OER resource that you'd like to adopt?

Sounds great. Norwalk Library can help spread the word of the text's free availability online. If needed, we can also place an order for print versions to be held in the library on reserve. Please contact a librarian and let them know about your OER use.

For more help with OER contact a librarian.