Course Introduction
Welcome to the Exploring OER: An Open Learning Handbook for University of Houston Educators course! This course consists of a collection of online learning modules that you can complete at your own pace. The first 12 units can serve as an introduction to open educational resources (OER) as well as an opportunity for further exploration and discovery of OER, AI, and other open education practices. Throughout the units there are opportunities for you to test your knowledge or further explore a concept. The modules allow you to learn at your own pace. While you can follow the modules in any order, it is recommended that you start with Unit 1 and progress through in order. Many of the units conclude with a Concept Review section. The Concept Review is an opportunity for you to review significant points discussed in the module.
You can earn a certificate of completion by completing and submitting the final assessment at the end of the course with a score of 80% or higher. The assessment may be taken more than once. A certificate of completion will be generated with a passing score. This certificate can be submitted to the appropriate department at your institution to potentially earn hours toward professional development or continuing education units (CEU). The recommended number of hours is three (or .3 CEUs).
Texas OER Core Elements Course Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, you should be able to:
- Define Open Educational Resources
- Explain the rationale for OER adoption and use
- Explain the differences between the six currently available Creative Commons licenses
- Identify repositories and other resources for finding relevant OER
- Use tools and criteria to evaluate OER
- Recognize steps and associated criteria for adapting and creating OER with proper attribution and licensing
- Create an open educational resource
- Describe Open Pedagogy and its benefits
- Outline key principles and strategies for harnessing AI, specifically generative AI, to create or adapt OER, including emerging practices for licensing
- Recognize the OER movement in Texas
- Review the history and current landscape of OER in Texas Higher Education
- Recognize different Texas legislation and research on OER
- Identify OER supports and best practices across the state
The UH’s OER Core Elements Course is adapted from the Texas OER Core Elements Course. UH’s OER Core Elements Course is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License 2025.
Special thanks to Gabby Hernandez, Open Education Librarian at University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, for converting the Texas OER Core Elements Course into the Pressbooks format.
Book cover photograph by Mauricio Lazo, University of Houston Libraries.
