Overview
Applications of Open Educational Resources is the second course in the ION OER certificate program. This course is about practice: participants complete the full OER lifecycle — finding and evaluating open resources, aligning them to instruction, adapting or creating new OER, applying appropriate licensing, and publishing work for the broader education community.
The course is organized in two four-module arcs. Modules 1–4 focus on using existing OER effectively: finding, evaluating, aligning, and adopting or adapting resources for your own instruction. Modules 5–8 focus on creating and sharing OER: remixing, licensing, publishing, and developing a full OER Implementation Plan as the capstone.
Every module builds toward the final project. The OER you identify in Module 2 is the one you map in Module 3, adapt in Module 4, license in Module 6, and plan to publish in Module 7. The Implementation Plan submitted in Module 8 assembles all of that work into a single cohesive document.
Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, participants will be able to:
Locate and evaluate OER: Use OER repositories, curated collections, and advanced search strategies to find open resources, applying consistent quality and licensing criteria.
Analyze instructional alignment: Assess selected OER for alignment to unit-level learning objectives, identifying gaps and opportunities.
Map OER to instruction: Construct a Unit Course Map defining how objectives, assessments, activities, and OER selections align.
Remix and create OER: Apply remixing techniques to adapt existing OER, and identify tools and platforms for creating original OER content.
Apply Creative Commons licensing: Select an appropriate Creative Commons license, provide accurate attribution, and explain the implications of different license types.
Share and publish OER: Identify and evaluate platforms for delivering OER to students and publishing for broader reuse.
Develop an OER implementation plan: Synthesize course learning into a structured plan for a specific OER project, including licensing, attribution, and implementation timeline.
Reflect on OER practice: Evaluate the impact of OER adoption on student equity and learning outcomes, and articulate a personal commitment to expanding OER use.
Enrolling is EASY!
- Login or create an account.
- Enter payment information.
- Look for access links in your inbox.
If you are an institutional contact and want to register multiple people from your organization, please contact ION at ion@uis.edu. We can bulk enroll participants from a list.
Program
This course is a part of the Open Educational Resources for Instruction Certificate program, which includes the following courses:
You must complete the following courses to be eligible for the OER professional certificate:
- Foundations of Open Education Resources
- Using Open Education Resources to Support Instruction
- Creating and Sharing OERs for Online Learning
In addition, you must successfully complete one of the following electives:
- Universal Design Principles for Online Learning
- Instructional Design for Online Course Development
Planning
Prerequisite: None
See the proposed course schedule and important registration dates to help plan your learning path.
Discounts
Learners pursuing the Open Educational Resources for Instruction Certificate can receive a 12.5% discount by registering for the certificate program.
If you are from a community college that receives a discount on ION courses, please acquire your code from the ION contact at your institution or email ion@uis.edu before registering.
Community college members must also use their college email for verification.