Frequently Asked Questions

What is Iowa OER? Is this an initiative from the Iowa Department of Education?

The Iowa Open Education Action Team (Iowa OER) is a volunteer group with representatives from the Department of Education, Iowa Board of Regents, Iowa AEAs, public universities, private colleges, and community colleges across the state of Iowa. First brought together by the Midwest Higher Education Compact in 2018, our team has monthly meetings to share information, work on collaborative projects, and develop services and resources of interest to our local communities. 

How does membership with Iowa OER work? 

Members of our action team attend monthly meetings, participate in working groups, and share information about our work with their peers. Members can rotate on or off the action team at will, based on their needs and workload. You can reach out to us through the contact form on our website for additional information or to request to join as a representative for your institution. 

If you want to receive news about our work without joining as an action team member, you can join our email list or follow us on social media (Iowa OER on Twitter and Iowa OER on YouTube).

I would like to see the Iowa OER team develop resources for [X Topic]. How can I request this support? 

First, we recommend you check the Iowa OER Toolkit to see if the resources you are looking for already exist. After that, you have two options: 

  • If you would like to see a large-scale project developed to support institutions across the state of Iowa, reach out to share your idea with our team for development. 
  • If you need access to a particular resource or tool (a workshop slide deck, a set of definitions, etc) to support your work, submit an Institutional Consultation Request (see below).

What is an Institutional OER Consultation and what can I expect from this process? 

Institutional consultations are a new service our team is providing to help OER support staff and other campus leaders to get help starting or growing their Open Education initiatives. Individuals can submit a request for support form on our site to get paired with a local expert and get support for their institution’s needs.

A consultation may include:

  • A discussion about how to get started with OER on your campus
  • A meeting with a local leader to get resources (slides, handouts, and example marketing materials) to adapt for your campus
  • An arranged presentation for your campus OER committee or local administration about the impact and potential of Open Education programming. 

Since these consultations are provided by volunteers, our coordinator will work with you to arrange your consultation. Time spent with the consulting expert should last no more than 1-3 hours in total.

My institution is starting to explore support for OER. Do you have any resources for beginners? 

The Iowa OER website includes a set of learning modules for newcomers to Open Education, covering 8 major areas:

  1. Defining and Introducing OER
  2. Why OER?
  3. Copyright and Fair Use
  4. Creative Commons Licenses
  5. Finding and Evaluating OER
  6. Accessibility and Inclusion
  7. Adapting, Creating, and Sharing OER
  8. Open Pedagogy

What are the boundaries of the state of Iowa Open Education Network membership? What do I get and what is required to join?

Iowa OER coordinated a consortial membership to the Open Education Network (OEN) for all colleges and universities in the state of Iowa in 2019. This membership helps support the OEN, an alliance of hundreds of colleges, universities, and consortia partners working together to advance the use of open textbooks in higher education. As consortial members, Iowa colleges and universities can access resources from the OEN such as training materials, handouts, reports, and more through Iowa OER for a small fee.

Most Iowa institutions are now members, but there is still room to join now if you are interested. Please reach out using our contact page for additional information. If you are currently a member and would like to receive additional access to resources from the OEN, you can upgrade to an Allied membership (see below).

What is an “Allied” OEN membership and how does this differ from the state of Iowa consortial membership?

Iowa institutions that are part of the State OEN membership can upgrade to “Allied” members by paying an additional fee ($551 in 2023). This fee is a third of the cost of a typical institutional OEN membership (https://open.umn.edu/oen/join), and comes with access to additional, institution-specific resources like access to a personal data dashboard and the OEN Hub. 

Is your question not on this page? 

Use our contact form or reach out on our mailing list to ask your question! Afterward, we’ll be sure to update this guide with additional information.