0.1 Finding oer materials you can start using now

If you completed the module“ Why OER? ,”you should now have an OER Commons account. Perhaps you also posted and read discussions in the forum How and Why of OER .

The objective of this module is to show the many ways you can quickly and easily find materials in OER Commons. One of the early challenges in locating high-quality teaching and learning materials was the time it took to search a variety of sites. OER Commons solved that problem by providing a single point of access through which educators, students, and all learners can search, browse, evaluate, download, and discuss OER that are freely available online.

This module,“Finding OER Materials You Can Start Using Now,”is activity-based. Let’s jump into the collection of materials and find something you can start using in your teaching and learning.

Finding materials

If you haven’t logged in already, login to OER Commons. The advantage to logging in is that you can save your search for future use and re-use.

To locate materials in OER Commons you can search or browse. There are two ways to search and four ways to browse.

Searching

You can do a simple keyword search using the search box located in the upper right corner of every page.

The second way to search is to use the advanced search , which provides a wide variety of options for refining your search. In the“Find results by Keyword”box, search for an item using a keyword and refine your search using any combination of over 70 filtering criteria.

Searches can be saved by clicking the“Save This Search”button located on every search results page. Saved searches are placed in your portfolio. We’ll be talking more about your OER Portfolio in another module.

Too many results?

If you want to narrow the number of items listed on your search results page, you can filter the results. Using one or more of the 70 filtering criteria, you can narrow your search to find exactly what you are looking for. The“Filter Results”button is located on every search results page.

Want more results?

Try a different keyword or use one of the following methods to get a different results listing of OER materials.

Browsing

The predefined classifications in OER Commons provide an easy entry into browsing through OER materials.

Browsing the OER Top Ten : located in the middle of the OER Commons homepage. There are four categories: Featured, Most Popular, Highest Rated, and New. These are updated regularly, so visit the OER Top Ten often!

Figure 1. Visual representation of“OER Top Ten.”

Browsing by Subject Area or Grade Level : located on the left side of the OER Commons homepage under the heading“Choose OER By.” Click on one of the subject areas or grade levels to begin browsing.

Figure 2. Visual representation of“Choose OER By.”