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Drake University - visit www.drake.edu Cowles Library

Teaching Support

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Create OER

Related Content

If you can't find existing OER suitable for your course, or you simply have an idea for an openly licensed project, we can work with you to develop custom course materials. Starting from scratch can be a daunting task, but you also have the option of modifying or adapting an OER (if the work's open license allows for it). In either case, there are a variety of options to get help you create new content, including using existing course notes and presentations slides.

Publishing Tools

OER authors often begin their projects using Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or another word processing program, then publish their OER as a PDF or upload the content to a web-based publishing platform. There are a variety of platform options available depending on your need.

Drake Pressbooks

Cowles Library provides access to Drake Pressbooks, a user-friendly OER publishing platform built on WordPress. Some features:

  • Easy to use interface
  • Collaborative editing for projects with multiple authors
  • Multiple format export options, including PDF and EPUB
  • Plugins for mathematical equations (MathJax and QuickLaTeX)
  • Interactive exercises with H5P
  • Custom book covers

Our Pressbooks subscription limits the number of books we're able to publish, but an unlimited number of authors can collaborate on a single text. Contact andrew.welch@drake.edu to get started using Drake Pressbooks.

Other Online Publishing Options

  • Open Author - an online authoring tool hosted by OER Commons that accepts text, images, and media. Requires creating a free OER Commons account.
  • Wikibooks Writer - a wiki platform for creating instructional materials. Great for collaborating with other instructors and students.

OER Faculty Grants

Since 2021, Cowles Library has been able to offer grant opportunities to faculty who want to learn more about OER or want to create OER for one or more of their courses. Some grants have come from external sources, others have been sponsored by the Provost's Office, and the amount of grant stipends varies with each grant program.

To see if there are any current or upcoming OER grant opportunies, check our OER Guide.

Drake OER Examples

Explore examples of OER created or used by Drake faculty on our Drake OER page.