Exciting news, #OER friends! At this year's @aacu.org #AACUCLASS2026 Conference, it was announced that Open Educational Resources will be the twelfth #HighImpactPractice! "A robust research report on OER and Student Success" will be coming out later this spring, as will the official announcement.

If you're interested in learning more about how to advocate for #OER amidst growing concerns about inclusive access programs, check out our new blog post from Katelyn Handler, Instructional Design and Student Engagement Librarian at Grand View University: iowaoer.com/2026/03/25/p...

Are you an author or #OER lead in Iowa? Do you wish you had access to a publishing platform for your work? Check out our new blog post from @amhgruber.bsky.social about Manifold, which Iowa colleges have free access to through our consortial OEN membership: iowaoer.com/2026/02/19/m...

For our first Iowa OER webinar of 2026, we're hosting a Q&A about the new guidelines for accessibility! Many institutions are concerned about how these changes will affect their courses. Luckily, OER can be adapted to meet requirements without having to wait! iowaoer.com/event/making...

Thank you @openaccesselder.bsky.social for writing this month's blog post! If anyone in our community has recommendations for future resource highlights or webinars from the Iowa OER team, you can send those to us directly or share your thoughts via our mailing list: iowaoer.com/contact/

It's great to see more examples of how people are teaching with #OER! Local educators may be interested in learning more about social annotation in courses using open textbooks (and other materials as well):

Congratulations to our peers at Open Oregon Educational Resources for the launch of their open curriculum projects, a suite of peer-reviewed open textbooks with linked course packs and print options available. This is a great example for others in the #OER space! openoregon.org/open-curricu...

If you're an Iowa college interested in supporting #OpenTextbook development, you should know that Iowa OER can help you access Manifold, an #OER publishing platform, through our membership with the @openednetwork.bsky.social! Learn more about this benefit and others: iowaoer.com/about-open-e...

This month on the Iowa OER blog, we're spotlighting the work of Math faculty from @dordtuniversity.bsky.social who recently presented about their experiences with #OER: iowaoer.com/2025/11/19/n...

Interested in learning more about other open work that scholars are doing around the world? Join our peers at the Iowa Regent universities next week for a keynote lecture about #OpenAccess publishing and more! Register to attend the online presentation: uiowa.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

We recently finished a project to update our #OER Toolkit, a collection of resources from across the web pulled together to support OER leaders. Reviewing & organizing the content took some time, but we hope it will support our community! Access the toolkit on our site: iowaoer.com/iowa-oer-too...

Final call for applicants! iowaoer.com/oer-communit... If you or someone you know is interested in participating in this year's cohort for our free #OER Communities of Practice, be sure to get signed up by the end of the day tomorrow, September 19th!

This fall, 🍁 reach for new possibilities with 2026 certificates from the OEN: CERTIFICATE in OPEN PEDAGOGY Create student-centered curriculum w/ open pedagogy. z.umn.edu/OpenPedCert CERTIFICATE in OPEN EDUCATION LIBRARIANSHIP Build your action plan to grow open education. z.umn.edu/OpenEdLibrar...

Did you miss our announcement last week about the #Iowa #OER Award winners? Check out the features for our award winners on our website, starting with Melanie Bloom, a high school teacher and recipient of our first OER Creation Award! iowaoer.com/oer-creation...

New semester, new resources! 🙌 We’ve added 18 free online, expert-written, openly licensed textbooks to our library. They even come with free instructor resources like test banks & PowerPoint slides, too! 🙌 Give them a try this fall: openstax.org/blog/the-new... #OER #HigherEd #K12 #OpenStax

2 announcements in one week? That's right! Not only is the CFP for our 2025 Communities of Practice live, we've also just posted the official announcement for the winners of the 2025 Iowa #OER Awards! Learn more about the winners and their work with open education at iowaoer.com/iowa-oer-awa...

Many of our community members have been looking for more opportunities to dig deeper into how open education programs are supported and sustained. Check out this series for some interesting insights! www.iskme.org/event/design...

Have you heard? We've just opened the call for participants for our annual OER Communities of Practice! Apply now through Sept 12 to participate! Instructors in the fields of Psychology, Teacher Education, and Agriculture/Environmental Science are encouraged to apply. iowaoer.com/oer-communit...

Wondering what the Iowa #OER team has been up to this year? It's been a lot! Our annual report is not yet public, but in the meantime, you can read up on one of our projects from the past year on our blog, our third annual OER Communities of Practice Program! iowaoer.com/2025/06/12/j...

New blog post! Learn about the amazing work behind openscied.org, a free, high-quality #OER science curriculum with the support of educators across Iowa & beyond. OpenSciEd is an excellent example of what educators can do when they're given the tools & time to succeed. iowaoer.com/2025/05/28/m...

“Basic needs insecurity is a tangible crisis affecting adult learners nationwide.” We uncover the issue across #HigherEducation, and share federal, state, and institutional resources that have the potential to make a difference. Learn more: sr.ithaka.org/blog/from-ch...

There's only a few days left to nominate yourself or a peer for an Iowa #OER Award! If you know an educator in Iowa (K-16) who has supported learners through open education work, please consider nominating them for this opportunity! iowaoer.com/2025-iowa-op...

Have you or colleague used #OER for a class in Iowa? Consider nominating yourself or them for an Iowa OER Award! This new award celebrates instructors across the state working with OER, from K-12 to higher ed. Nominations are open until June 1: iowaoer.com/2025-iowa-op...

Our latest blog contribution comes from Northeast Iowa Community College's Shannon Brenner, who shares her instructional design team's experience aligning #OER to courses through Course Blueprints! #InstructionalDesign #CourseAlignment iowaoer.com/2025/04/29/a...

Why open? We have 30 stories that illustrate the impact #OpenAccess #OpenData #OpenEducation #OER #OpenScience #OpenResearch #OpenScholarship. Download & share with your community! sparcopen.org/impact-stori...

"Open access materials help to democratize knowledge," said Prof Marit Bovbjerg from OSU, where free and low-cost textbooks, including @creativecommons.bsky.social licensed open educational resources, have saved students more than $20 million since 2019. Read more: bit.ly/4kvcw81 #OER

Join us for our next Iowa #OER webinar, "Reflecting on #OEWeek25: Events, Projects, and Programming—Oh my!" This month, we'll chat about our favorite events from Open Ed Week and discuss potential ideas for the future (both small and large)! Register now: iowaoer.com/event/reflec...

This #OEweek I am delighted to celebrate a few milestones in Brock University's growing #OER grant program, including over $500,000 in student cost savings over 2 years, #OER adoptions across all of our Faculties, the launch of an OER adaptation stream, and the launch of an OER data dashboard.

Next week, we're hosting a webinar with Anne Marie Gruber from UNI, who will describe how an #OER initiative with no budget can support publishing with Manifold thanks to support from the @openednetwork.bsky.social. Examples and documentation will be shared. Learn more: iowaoer.com/event/publis...

The Iowa OER team has been hard at work this year on a few #OpenEd projects! If you work with #OER, check out these resources on our website, iowaoer.com OER Promotional Kit for Institutions OER Training Modules Iowa OER Annual Survey Data Dashboard Conferences & Events Our wonderful blog And more!

The new #IowaOER blog post is up, and this is a good read, folks! "Unlocking Knowledge: The Role of OER in Iowa’s Public Libraries" discusses the potential role of #OER in #PublicLibraries for supporting lifelong learners, local homeschool populations, and others: iowaoer.com/2024/12/02/u...

New blog post alert! This month, Anne Marie Gruber from UNI is sharing her experience learning about and supporting an #OpenPedagogy project! iowaoer.com/2024/10/21/o...

Happy October! For this month's webinar, we're featuring our own @openaccesselder.bsky.social as she gives an entry-level overview of #OER for librarians & other support staff. Instructional designers are welcome to attend! Date: Oct 17, 12-1pm CT Register now: iowaoer.com/event/webina...

Join us next week, Sept 17 from noon to 1pm CT for our next Iowa #OER webinar featuring special guest, Will Cross! This month's webinar will use the Code of Best Practice in #FairUse for OER as a foundation for interactive discussion. Learn more and register now: iowaoer.com/event/webina...

In this month's Iowa #OER blog post, our guest blogger shares his thoughts on "Artificial Intelligence and Librarianship: Notes for Teaching" by Martin Frické, a guide to AI, chatbots, language models, and more with an eye to their relevance in libraries: iowaoer.com/2024/08/21/a...

It's time! Interested instructors & instructional designers can now apply for the 2024 Iowa #OER Communities of Practice! This program brings together educators from across Iowa to learn about OER & build capacity for high-impact open educational practices. Learn more and apply: bit.ly/oercops24

🤩 Day 23: 1 Tip I Would Give Anyone Who Wanted To Ensure Students' Engagement Online 
Shared note-taking and exercise problem-solving with a shared document to engage students online.

🚀 yabellini.netlify.app/blog/2024-05...

#OpenEducation 
#TeachingTechTogether 
#30Ship30 
#100DaysToOffload

Are you attending the Iowa Library Association/ACRL & IPAL Spring Conference this week in Ames? Attend our presentation by @openaccesselder.bsky.social to learn more about Iowa OER's projects and how you can leverage them to support your institution's #OER efforts! www.iowaacrl.org/conference/

A new blog post is up on the Iowa #OER website! Check out our April Resource Highlight "OER Duties in Job Descriptions," which features Amanda Larson's research collecting job postings for OER-related positions, and how you might use them to inform your work: iowaoer.com/2024/04/22/a...

There are a lot of great presentations coming out of the #OER24 tag these days, & though we couldn't attend, we'd love to share with the group! One recent project our action team has completed is a promotional toolkit, with resources you can adapt for your needs: iowaoer.com/oer-promotio...

Join us for a webinar Feb 28, 1:30-2:30pm CST on Editing OER with Christina Hendricks, Professor of Teaching at UBC. Christina will share her experience editing the Introduction to Philosophy series published with Rebus Community. Register to attend: uiowa.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Hello, friends! We have migrated to Bluesky for our new social media needs. If you're interested in talking about #OER in higher education efforts, we'd love to connect with you! Find our team at www.iowaoer.com