Open Educational Resources have been shown to increase student learning while breaking down barriers of affordability and accessibility. Feldstein et al. (2012) conducted a research study at Virginia State University, where OER were implemented across nine different courses in the business department. Researchers found that students in courses that used OER more frequently had better grades and lower failure and withdrawal rates than their counterparts in courses that did not use OER.
In addition, OERs give faculty the ability to customize course materials, creating the “perfect” course packet or textbook instead of being bound to a traditional one-size-fits-all model. Customization gives faculty control over the quality of their course materials as well as the type and timing of updates to textbooks and other resources.
Feldstein, A., Martin, M., Hudson, A., Warren, K., Hilton, J., & Wiley, D. (2012). Open textbooks and increased student access and outcomes. European Journal of Open, Distance and E–Learning
Freely accessible textbooks, generally accessed online. Open Textbooks are part of the larger Open Educational Resources model, an effort to make high-quality learning materials freely available in electronic formats.
In general, open textbooks exhibit the following characteristics:
An e-textbook becomes "open" when its copyright-holder grants usage rights to the public through an "open license," which typically includes the right to access and repurpose the textbook material at no additional cost.
Learn more...Read EDUCAUSE's 7 Things You Should Know About Open Textbook Publishing
The items listed below link directly to the portions of databases containing materials relevant to Business. This is not an exhaustive list so you may also want to explore the sources listed in the General Collections box to find additional resources.
You'll likely find it useful to evaluate OER based on the same standards you use to evaluate other course materials. Here are a few criteria to consider:
Additional OER Selection Criteria/Rubrics: