OER Marketing Toolkit

How you promote OER depends on your audience. For your promotion of OER to have an impact, you need to tailor your message to each individual and their concerns, needs, and goals.

The information on this page provides general concerns and talking points for each audience. You can use these as a starting point, but you should always address each individual and adapt your message as needed.

Faculty members cross every discipline and sector of campus. Faculty teach which makes them the main target for OER messaging and promotion. Their students are the ones who will most benefit from free and low-cost course materials. Some faculty are open to these resources while others will need more convincing. 

Concerns

• I don’t know what OER is.
• I don’t have time to adopt OER.
• My course works and I don’t need to change.
• There are no “good” OER resources for my course. (Overall concerns about quality.)

Talking Points

• Students attending classes who use OER have access to the material from the first day of class.
• OER is issued under an open license meaning that you can adapt and change it to suit your course’s needs.
• OER is not just textbooks. OER also includes ancillary material like presentations, testing materials, and assignments.
• There are numerous OER grants and funding available for the adoption and creation of OER.
• Some institutions provide funding, courseload relief, or other benefits for faculty who create OER.
• OER materials are more accessible to students than print during remote teaching.
• OER materials are written and created by faculty and scholars like you
• You can start small at first.
• OER have been demonstrated to positively impact student success, per a recent study, “They also improve course grades at greater rates and decrease DFW rates at greater rates for Pell recipient students, part-time students, and populations historically underserved by higher education”

Members of the administration include Provosts, Deans, Chairs, Presidents, and any at a managerial and supervisory level. Having an OER advocate in the administration can lend strong support to adopting, adapting, and creating OER. The administration has the political clout (and often the purse strings) to sway the transition to OER.

Concerns

• Our students don’t need/want OER.
• Our faculty will not adopt OER.
• OER is too cumbersome/time-consuming to adopt.
• I don’t have time/money for this.
• OER doesn’t work for our department/university.

Talking Points

• OER have been demonstrated to positively impact student success, per a recent study, “They also improve course grades at greater rates and decrease DFW rates at greater rates for Pell recipient students, part-time students, and populations historically underserved by higher education”
• Students attending classes who use OER spend less on academic materials reducing the overall cost of their education.
• OER is issued under an open license meaning that faculty can adapt material to address the diversity of their students.
• OER is based in equity and makes academic materials available to all students regardless of their financial status.
• There are numerous OER grants and funding available for the adoption and creation of OER.
• OER provides a positive marketing opportunity for institutions.
• Institutions whose faculty create OER help provide name recognition and reputational support for the University.
• Students in classes who use OER are more engaged leading to increased retention.
• OER materials are more accessible to students than print during remote teaching.

Librarians are often asked to help find OER materials for faculty. Some librarians are teaching faculty who could use OER materials themselves. Librarians are natural advocates for OER since many library materials can serve as OER.

Concerns

• I don't have time to help locate OER on top of everything else I do.
• OER will reduce use of library materials.
• OER is more for teaching faculty.

Talking Points

• OER and library resources go hand-in-hand.
• Some OER materials may be added to the library catalog.
• OER material may be shared with faculty/students during regular reference interactions.
• Most OER material is vetted or follows a peer-review process.

Advocates are anyone who believes in OER and wants to promote further adoption of these materials. Advocates can come from anywhere. Every advocate will have their own story about OER which may help lend credence to their promotional story.

Concerns

• I’m alone in the fight to adopt OER.
• There are not enough OER options available to
• Others don’t understand why they should adopt OER.

Talking Points

• OER helps faculty contribute to their fields.
• There are numerous OER grants and funding available for the adoption and creation of OER.
• One person can convert another. You don't have to make mass change to make a difference.