Evaluate OER

Peer Review

Open Educational resources on platforms such as OpenStax, MERLOT, and BCCampus undergo peer review very similar to other scholarly peer review processes. These reviews by field experts follow a rubric that includes qualities such as comprehensiveness, relevance, clarity, accessibility, and more.

Reader Reviews

Other platforms, such as the Open Textbook Library and OER Commons, offer reader reviews. Open Textbook Library reviews include the name, position, and institution of the reviewer as well as a detailed review following an assessment rubric.

These reader reviews can often be as--if not more--useful than traditional peer review. While traditional peer review offers initial vetting by a small group of experts, reviews like the ones on Open Textbook Library provide ongoing, diverse, and real-world feedback that can offer a more comprehensive and current picture of a resource’s quality and relevance.

Read the reviews of this Marketing textbook on the Open Textbook Library.

Evaluation Criteria

Whether or not an OER has undergone peer review or has reader reviews, you will likely want to evaluate it yourself before using it in a course. You almost certainly have your own criteria and requirements, but this list from Affordable Learning Georgia may also prove useful:

Clarity, Comprehensibility, and Readability

• Is the content, including any instructions, exercises, or supplemental material, clear and comprehensible to students?
• Is the content well-categorized in terms of logic, sequencing, and flow?
• Is the content consistent with its language and key terms?

Content Accuracy and Technical Accuracy

• Is the content accurate based on both your expert knowledge and through external sources?
• Are there any factual, grammatical, or typographical errors?
• Is the interface easy to navigate? Are there broken links or obsolete formats?

Adaptability and Modularity

• Is the resource in a file format which allows for adaptations, modifications, rearrangements, and updates?
• Is the resource easily divided into modules, or sections, which can then be used or rearranged out of their original order?
• Is the content licensed in a way which allows for adaptations and modifications?

Appropriateness

• Is the content presented at a reading level appropriate for higher education students?
• How is the content useful for instructors or students?
• Is the content itself appropriate for higher education?

Accessibility

• Is the content accessible to students with disabilities through the compatibility of third-party reading applications?
• If you are using Web resources, does each image have alternate text that can be read?
• Do videos have accurate closed-captioning?
• Are students able to access the materials in a quick, non-restrictive manner?

Supplementary Resources

• Does the OER contain any supplementary materials, such as homework resources, study guides, tutorials, or assessments?
• Have you reviewed these supplementary resources in the same manner as the original OER?

Other Evaluation Criteria

Faculty Guide for Evaluating Open Education Resources (BCCampus)

MERLOT Peer Review Form

Open Education Resources Evaluation Rubric (Achieve)