[Canadaoer] Criteria For Choose OER and Supporting Tools

Hello all. Our College of Engineering is doing a major revamp of their first year curriculum. As part of that they have set a goal to reduce textbook costs for students and will be considering OER when they can find appropriate materials. They are also looking for a homework system(s). I’m trying to persuade them to avoid commercial systems since that will simply replace money going to publishers for textbooks with money going to publishers for homework systems. I’m wondering if anyone might have some criteria that they provide instructors / departments with for determining if the OER available will meet their NEEDS (wants are another story) and what modifications might be necessary, as well as what criteria they might use for determining appropriate ancillary resources and tools. Their existing criteria for the homework system would not be found in any existing systems, so I need to show them some more realistic criteria. Thank you for any assistance you may be able to provide. Heather M. Ross (B.A., B.Ed., M.Ed.) Educational Developer (Digital Pedagogies) Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning Research Fellow Open Education Group Room 50.5, Murray Building University of Saskatchewan Tel: 306.966.5327 email: heather.ross@usask.ca<mailto:heather.ross@usask.ca> http://teaching.usask.ca/index.php Find open textbooks and other open educational resources on: http://open.usask.ca