Teacher-created OER

What Are Teacher-Created OER

Definition and scope

Teacher-created open educational resources (OER) are teaching materials and experiences produced by educators with open licenses that allow reuse, adaptation, and redistribution. These resources can include lesson plans, units, worksheets, assessments, multimedia, and interactive activities. The defining feature is not the format but the freedom to modify the material to fit local needs while preserving open access for others to use and improve.

Differences from traditional OER

Traditional OER often originates from higher education institutions or organizations with broad distribution. Teacher-created OER, by contrast, emerges from classroom practice and the daily realities of teaching diverse learners. This makes them more immediately relevant, context-sensitive, and responsive to local standards, languages, and cultures. While traditional OER can provide a foundation, teacher-created OER emphasizes localization, practical applicability, and ongoing adaptation by those who implement it in real classrooms.

Benefits of Teacher-Created OER

Improved alignment with classroom needs

Resources crafted by teachers are tailored to the pacing, formats, and outcomes of their specific courses. This alignment reduces gaps between what is taught and what students are expected to learn. By reflecting local curricula, student demographics, and available materials, teacher-created OER can support clearer progressions and more coherent instruction.

Cost savings and accessibility

Open licenses remove expensive licensing barriers and allow schools to share materials freely. Students gain access to high-quality resources without additional textbook costs, and families face fewer out-of-pocket expenses. In many cases, resources can be made available offline or on low-bandwidth platforms, increasing accessibility for students with limited internet access.

Professional development and collaboration

Creating and layering OER encourages teachers to collaborate across teams, grade levels, and even districts. Shared authoring fosters professional dialogue, peer feedback, and a culture of continuous improvement. As educators revise and adapt resources, they build expertise in pedagogy, assessment design, and accessibility.

How to Create Teacher-Created OER

Planning and objectives

Effective OER begins with clear learning objectives, aligned standards, and a defined scope. Planning incorporates the target audience, time constraints, assessment strategies, and opportunities for differentiation. A well-scoped resource reduces scope creep and supports sustainable maintenance over time.

Licensing and attribution basics

Choosing the right license is essential for continued openness. Most teacher-created OER employ Creative Commons licenses that specify how others may reuse and modify the work. At minimum, include proper attribution and consider whether you want others to adapt, share alike, or reuse without derivatives depending on your goals.

Authoring and adapting content

Authoring involves creating original content or adapting existing open materials. Use accessible authoring tools, document your changes, and provide metadata such as subject, grade level, standards alignment, and version history. Plan for ongoing updates to reflect new standards, feedback, and classroom results.

Licensing, Rights, and Licensing Models

Creative Commons basics

Creative Commons licenses provide a standardized way to grant permission. Common classroom-friendly options include Attribution (CC BY) which requires proper credit, and Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) which also allows adaptation but mandates the same license for derivatives. Some licenses restrict commercial use or derivatives, so select a license that matches your distribution and collaboration goals.

Selecting a license for classroom use

When choosing a license, consider how you want others to reuse your material and whether you expect adaptations. If you want broad reuse and the freedom to modify, CC BY is a practical choice. If you need to ensure derivatives remain open, CC BY-SA may be appropriate. Always document licensing clearly on the resource’s landing page or within the resource itself.

Quality, Assessment, and Curation

Ensuring accuracy and relevance

Quality assurance begins with verifying factual accuracy, alignment to standards, and relevance to diverse learners. Regular updates, fact-checking, and alignment reviews help maintain trust in the resource. Local context, such as instructional goals and student language needs, should guide any revisions.

Peer review and feedback mechanisms

Incorporating peer review strengthens reliability. Invite colleagues to test activities, review rubrics, and suggest refinements. Creating a structured feedback loop with versioned releases ensures improvements are tracked and traceable, supporting long-term quality control.

Platforms and Tools

Authoring tools

Educators can use a range of authoring tools—from word processors and presentation software to specialized e-learning authoring platforms. Choose tools that support accessibility, easy export in multiple formats, and compatibility with learning management systems. Prioritize tools that simplify version control and metadata tagging.

Repositories and sharing platforms

Public repositories and school-based repositories provide discoverability and licensing visibility. Platforms such as OER libraries or district portals let teachers search by standards, grade level, or subject, and access version histories. Clear licensing information on these platforms helps others reuse resources confidently.

Collaboration and Sharing

Teacher networks and communities

Teacher networks enable co-creation, peer review, and shared governance of resources. Communities of practice across schools and districts foster consistency while allowing local customization. Regular collaboration sessions help maintain momentum and reduce duplication of effort.

Student involvement in creation

Engaging students in creating and curating OER can deepen learning and digital citizenship. Student contributions—such as tutorials, glossaries, or example problems—provide authentic voices and diverse perspectives. Involving learners also builds skills in collaboration, communication, and reflection.

Implementation in Schools

Policy considerations

Successful adoption requires clear policies on licensing, attribution, and reuse. Policies should outline expectations for teacher-created materials, processes for updating resources, and guidelines for integrating OER with existing curricula. Strong administrative support helps sustain efforts beyond pilot phases.

IT infrastructure and support

Reliable technology access is essential for both creators and users of OER. Schools should ensure devices, network bandwidth, and storage are sufficient for hosting and distributing resources. Technical support, training, and accessible formats reduce barriers to adoption and use.

Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion

Accessible formats and accommodations

OER should be reachable by all students, including those with disabilities. This means providing labeled images, captions for videos, transcripts for audio, screen-reader friendly documents, and alternative text. Consider offline availability and formats that work across devices and connectivity levels.

Cultural and linguistic relevance

Resources should reflect diverse contexts and languages, supporting multilingual learners and culturally responsive pedagogy. Localization, translation, and context-specific examples help all students see themselves represented in the curriculum. Inclusive design practices should be embedded in the creation process from the start.

Examples and Case Studies

Grade-level resources

Many schools generate OER tailored to specific grade bands, such as a full eighth-grade science unit built around a local ecosystem or a mathematics module aligned with the district’s pacing guide. These grade-level resources demonstrate how standard objectives translate into sequenced activities, assessments, and formative feedback.

Subject-specific OER initiatives

Subject-focused efforts—like language arts, science, or social studies—often showcase collaboration across classrooms to share units, readings, and assessment items. These initiatives illustrate how discipline-specific practices, such as rigorous argumentation in ELA or inquiry-based science, can be scaled using OER approaches.

Common Challenges and Solutions

Sustainability and maintenance

Maintaining and updating open resources can strain volunteer time and funding. Establishing a governance model, assigning explicit roles, and creating a lightweight review cycle help keep resources current. Securing ongoing district support or grants can provide needed stability for updates.

Quality control and versioning

Without careful versioning, resources can drift from their original intent. Implement a centralized repository, assign version numbers, and require release notes. A simple approval workflow for changes ensures consistency and traceability across updates.

Licensing confusion

Educators may be unsure which license fits their goals. Provide quick-reference guidance and exemplar licenses for common scenarios. Offer ongoing professional development on licensing, attribution, and rights management to reduce uncertainty.

Trusted Source Insight

Source: UNESCO Insights on OER

For deeper context, the UNESCO document offers guidance on how open licensing and shared resources can expand access to quality learning materials. Access the source here: UNESCO Insights on OER.

UNESCO emphasizes open licensing, broad access, and teacher-led localization of resources to fit diverse contexts.

UNESCO highlights that OER expands access to quality materials and supports collaboration among educators. It stresses open licenses, quality assurance through peer adaptation, and the important role of teachers in creating and localizing resources to fit diverse contexts.