OER State Policy in K-12 Education: Benefits, Strategies, and Recommendations for Open Access, Open Sharing

This report helps policymakers promote collaboration and deeper learning with Open Educational Resources (OER). The authors demonstrate how policymakers are helping teachers to build resources, share educational materials, and personalize instruction by permitting publicly funded learning materials to be shared openly.

Open educational resources (OER) are learning materials licensed in such a way as to permit educators to share, access, and collaborate in order to customize and personalize instruction.

Among the report’s collected policy recommendations, three key principles are required for effective sharing of learning materials:

• Emphasize that all materials create by state, regional, or local entities with public funds will hold an open license.
• Allow states with instructional materials lists to include vetted OER.
• Allow flexible use of funding to support development, maintenance, and infrastructure for OER.

View this report today and learn how policymakers can promote collaboration and sharing of resources in your state, district, and school.