Leveraging Open Educational Resources to Advance Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Adopting open educational resources, or OER, can be an effective strategy for meeting campus equity goals. In addition to saving students (and institutions) money, making free educational materials available for faculty and students to use, customize, and share can level the academic playing field, narrow performance gaps, and reduce failure and withdrawal rates. Yet, despite the similar outcomes sought by both, intentional connections are seldom made between OER initiatives and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

This webinar presented the evidence-based strategies for aligning OER and DEI that are outlined in the AAC&U publication Leveraging Open Educational Resources to Advance Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: A Guide for Campus Change Agents, which was released during the webinar. This free publication draws on research, funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, that focused on the sixty-six colleges, universities, and state systems that participated in AAC&U’s inaugural yearlong Institute on Open Educational Resources (2021–22).