10 How Do I Publish and Share My OER?

Your OER Is Ready to Share

You have developed your OER, made it accessible, invited others to review it, and completed your final quality check. Now it is time to make the resource available to the people who can benefit from it.

That includes your students, but it can also include colleagues at Palomar and educators far beyond your own department or institution.

Publish the Completed OER

By this point, the major decisions about your OER should already be made. Your content, front and back matter, attribution and licensing information, accessibility work, and review should all be complete.

Publishing is the step where you make that completed version available to your intended audience.

The exact process will depend on the platform you are using, but before you begin sharing the resource, verify that:

• the complete book is publicly available;
• the title, author, contributor, and other book information is correct;
• the open license is clearly displayed;
• the table of contents and navigation work as expected;
• the formats you want readers to use are available;
• links, images, media, and other embedded resources work in the public version; and
• the version readers see is the version you intended to publish.

Take a few minutes to view the published resource as someone who is not editing the book. Follow links, open downloads, move through several chapters, and make sure the public experience works as expected.

If You’re Using Palomar Pressbooks, Request Inclusion in the Palomar Pressbooks Catalog

Publishing a book in Palomar Pressbooks does not automatically mean that it will appear in the Palomar Pressbooks Catalog.

Once your OER is complete and publicly available, you can request that it be added to the Palomar Pressbooks Catalog. The catalog provides a central place for students, faculty, and others to discover OER created and published through Palomar.

Make the OER Easy for Your Students to Use

A published OER only reduces barriers if students can easily find and use it.

Start by making sure students know where the resource is, that there is no cost to access it, and what options they have for reading it. Depending on the platform and formats you provide, students may be able to read the resource online, download it, use an e-reader, or print all or part of it.

Then think beyond simply placing one textbook link in the syllabus.

If students need a particular chapter in a particular module, link them directly to that chapter. If they need a specific section for an activity, place the link alongside the activity. The OER should appear within the course where it supports the learning students are doing.

What About PowerPoints, Test Banks, and Other Supporting Materials?

When you share your OER with another instructor, one of the first questions you may hear is, “Are there PowerPoints, test banks, or other instructor resources?”

You may already have supporting materials you use with the book, such as PowerPoints, quizzes, assignments, activities, discussion prompts, study guides, worksheets, or instructor resources. If you do, let potential adopters know what is available and how they can access it when appropriate.

If you do not have these materials yet, that does not mean your OER is not ready to share. Supporting materials can be developed and added over time.

In How Do I Turn My OER Into a Complete Learning Experience?, you’ll explore how to use your OER and course map to develop the activities, assessments, presentations, discussions, and other resources that support the complete course.

Share Your OER With Colleagues Who Teach the Same Course

One of the most useful places to share your OER may be very close to home.

If other faculty in your department teach the same or a related course, let them know what you created. They may be looking for ways to reduce textbook costs, better align instructional materials with the course, or move away from a commercial textbook.

When you share the OER with colleagues, consider telling them:

• which course the OER was designed to support;
• what content it covers;
• how it is organized;
• how you are using it with students;
• what supporting materials are currently available;
• how the open license allows them to use or adapt it; and
• whether you are interested in collaborating on future improvements.

Share Your OER With the Broader OER Community

Your OER may also be useful to educators outside Palomar.

Think back to the search process you used when you were looking for resources. You benefited from educators who were willing to make their work available, describe what they created, answer questions, and share resources with people they may never meet.

Now you have the opportunity to do the same.

You might share your OER with:

• colleagues in your discipline at other colleges;
• discipline-specific faculty groups and professional communities;
• the CCCOER community;
• the ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative when appropriate; or
• other OER repositories, networks, or communities relevant to your discipline.

Help Other Faculty Quickly Understand What You Created

When you share your OER, don’t send only a link. Give people enough information to quickly determine whether the resource might work for their course.

A short introduction might identify:

• the title of the OER;
• the course, discipline, or audience it was designed for;
• the major topics it covers;
• anything distinctive about its organization or approach;
• the open license;
• the formats available to students;
• the supporting or ancillary materials currently available; and
• how another instructor can learn more or ask about additional resources.

This does not need to be a lengthy description. The goal is to help another instructor quickly answer, “What is this, and could I use it?”

Tell Your Students About the OER

Your students may have little or no experience with OER. When you introduce the resource, tell them what they need to know to use it successfully.

Consider explaining:

• that the resource is available to them at no cost;
• where they can access it;
• which formats are available;
• how the resource will be used throughout the course; and
• that the resource may continue to improve as you teach with it.

You can also let students know that their experience using the OER matters. Invite them to tell you when something is confusing, a link does not work, an explanation needs another example, or a section could be improved.

Students are not simply the audience for your OER. Their experience using it can help you understand what should be improved in future versions.

Where Would You Like to Go Next?