Iowa Open Education Awards

Eligibility | Timeline | Award Categories | Nomination Process | Review Process | Questions

The Iowa Open Education Awards provide recognition to instructors across the state who have carried out innovative and impactful work through the use of open educational resources (OER) and/or the implementation of open pedagogy in their teaching.

OER are free, openly licensed instructional materials which can be adapted to meet different needs. In Iowa, OER have been implemented across K-12 and higher education contexts to support learning.

Open education goes beyond OER, including pedagogical practices that leverage openness to build engagement in the classroom. These awards have been developed to honor instructors across the state who are implementing various open educational practices in their classes.

Recipients of the Iowa Open Education Awards will receive $500–1,000 and be featured on the Iowa Open Education Action Team’s website alongside a short description of their impactful work with OER.

These awards are sponsored by the Iowa Open Education Action Team with support from the Midwest Higher Education Compact (MHEC).

Eligibility

All educators currently employed at an Iowa educational institution are welcome to apply. This includes instructors in both higher education and K-12, regardless of rank (i.e. adjuncts, lecturers, tenure-track faculty, and other teachers are all welcome to apply).

Applications for the same individual(s) in different categories or courses will be accepted; however, nominees will only be able to receive an award in one category for the year. Multiple individuals working on the same project may be nominated as a group, in which case the award will be shared across members.

Awards Timeline

  • October 9, 2026: the call for Iowa OER award nominations opens
  • November 13, 2026: the call for nominations closes
  • December 9, 2026: The recipients of the Iowa OER awards are announced

See the Award Winners page for descriptions of 2025’s winners

Award Categories

6 award categories are available to acknowledge different types of work that instructors might have accomplished, with one recipient awarded in each category. Each award comes with a $500 stipend, except for the Open Educator award, which comes with a $1,000 stipend.

OER Adoption

The Award for OER Adoption recognizes individuals or teams who have successfully integrated existing open educational resources into their courses to enhance student learning and affordability.

This award honors educators who replace traditional course materials with openly-licensed materials, ensuring greater access to high-quality, accessible educational content. Recipients demonstrate a commitment to student success, innovation, and advocacy for the use of OER.

Adaptation

The Award for OER Adaptation honors individuals or teams who have modified, customized, or enhanced existing OER to align with course objectives, student needs, and/or institutional priorities.

This award honors efforts in improving accessibility, cultural relevance, and pedagogical effectiveness by adapting openly licensed materials. Recipients demonstrate innovation and a commitment to enhancing student learning through tailored OER content.

OER Creation

The Award for OER Creation honors individuals or teams who have developed high-quality, openly licensed educational resources that enhance student learning and expand access to knowledge.

This award recognizes efforts in authoring original textbooks, course materials, multimedia resources, or interactive content that adhere to open licensing principles. Recipients demonstrate innovation, pedagogical effectiveness, and a commitment to student success by creating OER that benefit both their institution and the broader educational community.

Supplementary Materials Development

The Award for Supplementary Materials Development recognizes individuals or teams who developed high-quality, openly licensed supplementary materials that enhance the effectiveness of existing open resources. These may include instructional guides, workbooks, assessments, multimedia content, or interactive tools designed to support student success.

This award honors efforts in expanding the usability and accessibility of OER through innovative, pedagogically sound, and openly shared resources.

Open Pedagogy

The Award for Open Pedagogy recognizes individuals or teams who implement innovative student-centered teaching practices that leverage open educational resources and open principles.

This award celebrates efforts in engaging students as co-creators of knowledge, fostering collaboration, agency, and engagement in learning. Recipients of this award demonstrate excellence in designing assignments, projects, or courses that encourage student contributions to the wider academic community.

Open Educator

This award recognizes educators who foster a culture of openness within their institution and beyond. Recipients exemplify leadership, innovation, and a dedication to student success through open educational practices.

The Open Educator Award honors an individual who has demonstrated exceptional commitment to open education through the adoption, adaptation, creation, or promotion of OER and open pedagogy. 

Please note: The recipient for the Open Educator Award will be selected from among the top applicants across each of the other categories.

Nomination Process

Nominations may be submitted by the nominee themselves, a colleague, or a local OER leader. Institutions and departments may also submit nominations on behalf of employees. 

Submit your nomination via the Iowa OER Awards Nomination Form

Each nomination package should include:

  1. the name and email address for both the nominee(s) and the nominator
  2. the educational institution (school or college) where the nominee is employed
  3. the award category that the nominee is being nominated for
  4. a nomination letter describing why the nominee should receive this award. This can be a personal statement (if submitted by the nominee) or a statement of support (from the nominator)
  5. (for Open Pedagogy nominations): a short statement of support from a student may also be submitted (optional)
  6. the name of the course(s) in which the OER or open practice was implemented
  7. the average number of students per year in the course(s)
  8. a description of the nominees’ work with OER or open pedagogy
  9. an indication of whether the nominee(s) received grant funding for the project

Review Process

Nominations will be reviewed by a cross-institutional team of OER experts, including instructional designers, librarians, and faculty. 

Each nominee will be considered based on the following criteria: 

  • Actual and potential impact
  • Student-centered focus
  • Innovation or novel contributions
  • Leadership or collaboration

Questions?

For questions about the Iowa OER Awards or the nomination process, please contact us via this contact form:

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