We are currently accepting applications to join our #OER Communities of Practice for 2026/2027! This FREE program supports educators who want to connect with others interested in OER. Two tracks are available based on experience with open education. Learn more: iowaoer.com/oer-communit...

New blog post! As we gear up for the fall semester, we're sharing some tips on how to locate openly licensed images for your classes and #OER projects. This month's blog comes from Kayla Reed at Grinnell College: iowaoer.com/2026/08/13/a...

August 2026 Resource Highlight: Open Image Collections

This month’s blog post was contributed by Kayla Reed, Discovery, Systems and Digital Strategy Librarian at Grinnell College. Creating and adapting open educational resources is no small task!…

iowaoer.com

Keep up on the latest with #OpenEducation #OER in the July edition of #OpenEd Digest! www.opened.org/posts/2026/o...

OpenEd Digest - July 2026 — Open Education Association

 This month’s roundup of open education news, opportunities and events.

opened.org

This week, a few of our community members are participating in the @openednetwork.bsky.social's summer sessions of OEN Engage! Did you know that Iowa #OER leaders have consortial access to the OEN? Learn more about consortial & institutional member benefits on our site: iowaoer.com/about-open-e...

About Open Education Network Membership

In 2020, Iowa OER helped coordinate with colleges and universities across the state to arrange for a discounted membership to the Open Education Network (OEN), a consortium of colleges and universi…

iowaoer.com

Thanks to those who came out to our #OER Office Hours yesterday! These monthly drop-in sessions are being held by our team to help answer questions, offer support, & build community he OER-curious in Iowa. For those interested, we have another July session tomorrow! iowaoer.com/event/oer-of...

OER Office Hours

OER Office Hours are monthly meetings hosted on Zoom by the Iowa OER team. Why attend? Connect with others interested in OER, share advice, or ask questions of Iowa’s OER leaders. Drop in to …

iowaoer.com

Our annual report was recently published! What did we learn? #OER use is still strong across Iowa, though some programs face challenges accessing this data. Some programs are running strong, with new #ZeroTextbookCost degrees, while others need support. Read more: drive.google.com/file/d/1g1ck...

Check out our latest blog post, discussing how the openness of #OER can make them powerful tools for making educational materials more accessible: "Accessibility Is Expanding What OER Can Do: A Moment of Opportunity for Iowa" iowaoer.com/2026/05/22/a...

New report! The College in High School Alliance, along with @iskme.org and @goopen.bsky.social have put out a report with policy recommendations to support for dual enrollment (concurrent enrollment in Iowa) with the use of #OER! See the report here: collegeinhighschool.org/resources/du...

State Policy Guidance on Expanding Open Educational Resources in Dual Enrollment

New guidance for state policymakers on expanding the use of open educational resources (OER) in dual enrollment to close the affordability gap.

collegeinhighschool.org

Earlier this year, we shared information about Iowa OER's @oercommons.bsky.social group, a space for sharing and finding #OER made or used by colleges across the state! If you're an Iowa educator using OER, consider linking to your resources in the collection! oercommons.org/groups/iowa-...

Looking for more events to follow in the #OpenEducation space? Check out the new events calendar that LibreTexts has shared below!

LibreTexts@libretexts.bsky.social · 5mo ago

LibreTexts new public events calendar is up! Check it out: visit.libretexts.org/calendar. Be sure to subscribe to stay up-to-date on everything that's happening with our team across the LibreVerse. #LibreTexts #OER #LibreVerse #OpenEd #FreeTheTextbook #TheFutureIsOpen

Our April blog post, contributed by @openaccesselder.bsky.social is live now! "Update Schedules for OER" reviews why traditional edition updates may not be the best option for every class and outlines three examples of how #OER can be updated in unique ways: iowaoer.com/2026/04/27/u...

Exciting news, #OER friends! At this year's @aacu.org #AACUCLASS2026 Conference, it was announced that Open Educational Resources will be the twelfth #HighImpactPractice! "A robust research report on OER and Student Success" will be coming out later this spring, as will the official announcement.

If you're interested in learning more about how to advocate for #OER amidst growing concerns about inclusive access programs, check out our new blog post from Katelyn Handler, Instructional Design and Student Engagement Librarian at Grand View University: iowaoer.com/2026/03/25/p...

Are you an author or #OER lead in Iowa? Do you wish you had access to a publishing platform for your work? Check out our new blog post from @amhgruber.bsky.social about Manifold, which Iowa colleges have free access to through our consortial OEN membership: iowaoer.com/2026/02/19/m...

Manifold: Simpler OER Authoring & Adapting on a Shoestring

by Anne Marie Gruber, University of Northern Iowa (anne.gruber@uni.edu)  While textbook access and affordability continue to be challenges for college students, many institutions don’t have e…

iowaoer.com

For our first Iowa OER webinar of 2026, we're hosting a Q&A about the new guidelines for accessibility! Many institutions are concerned about how these changes will affect their courses. Luckily, OER can be adapted to meet requirements without having to wait! iowaoer.com/event/making...

Thank you @openaccesselder.bsky.social for writing this month's blog post! If anyone in our community has recommendations for future resource highlights or webinars from the Iowa OER team, you can send those to us directly or share your thoughts via our mailing list: iowaoer.com/contact/

Abbey K. Elder@openaccesselder.bsky.social · 8mo ago

I got to write this month's Resource Highlight blog post for @iowaoer.bsky.social, and decided to make it a feature of some fun #OER available for the electives and mid/high-level courses that don't get enough love! Check out the few I picked out to feature this month: iowaoer.com/2026/01/13/j...

It's great to see more examples of how people are teaching with #OER! Local educators may be interested in learning more about social annotation in courses using open textbooks (and other materials as well):

OEGlobal@oeglobal.bsky.social · 10mo ago

What does it mean to leave a mark—on a page, a monument, a border? ✍️ In this episode of #OEGlobalVoices, @remikalir.bsky.social talks to @cogdog.bsky.social about his exploration of annotation as a form of literacy & activism. 1/2

Congratulations to our peers at Open Oregon Educational Resources for the launch of their open curriculum projects, a suite of peer-reviewed open textbooks with linked course packs and print options available. This is a great example for others in the #OER space! openoregon.org/open-curricu...

Open Curriculum Projects Launch in Oregon and Beyond

Open Oregon Educational Resources is delighted to share our openly licensed course materials with an equity lens in Human Development and Family Studies, Sociology, and Criminal Justice…

openoregon.org

If you're an Iowa college interested in supporting #OpenTextbook development, you should know that Iowa OER can help you access Manifold, an #OER publishing platform, through our membership with the @openednetwork.bsky.social! Learn more about this benefit and others: iowaoer.com/about-open-e...

About Open Education Network Membership

In 2020, Iowa OER helped coordinate with colleges and universities across the state to arrange for a discounted membership to the Open Education Network (OEN), a consortium of colleges and universi…

iowaoer.com

This month on the Iowa OER blog, we're spotlighting the work of Math faculty from @dordtuniversity.bsky.social who recently presented about their experiences with #OER: iowaoer.com/2025/11/19/n...

Interested in learning more about other open work that scholars are doing around the world? Join our peers at the Iowa Regent universities next week for a keynote lecture about #OpenAccess publishing and more! Register to attend the online presentation: uiowa.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Abbey K. Elder@openaccesselder.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Join us Oct. 20 from noon to 1pm Central for our #OpenAccessWeek keynote lecture by @juancommander.scholcommlab.ca, co-hosted by the three Iowa Regent universities. Learn more and register to attend: iastate.libcal.com/event/15425542

We recently finished a project to update our #OER Toolkit, a collection of resources from across the web pulled together to support OER leaders. Reviewing & organizing the content took some time, but we hope it will support our community! Access the toolkit on our site: iowaoer.com/iowa-oer-too...

Final call for applicants! iowaoer.com/oer-communit... If you or someone you know is interested in participating in this year's cohort for our free #OER Communities of Practice, be sure to get signed up by the end of the day tomorrow, September 19th!

This fall, 🍁 reach for new possibilities with 2026 certificates from the OEN: CERTIFICATE in OPEN PEDAGOGY Create student-centered curriculum w/ open pedagogy. z.umn.edu/OpenPedCert CERTIFICATE in OPEN EDUCATION LIBRARIANSHIP Build your action plan to grow open education. z.umn.edu/OpenEdLibrar...

Did you miss our announcement last week about the #Iowa #OER Award winners? Check out the features for our award winners on our website, starting with Melanie Bloom, a high school teacher and recipient of our first OER Creation Award! iowaoer.com/oer-creation...

OER Creation Award Winners

2025 Melanie Bloom “I met Melanie several times during the course of the project to discuss open publishing and creative commons licensing for the BEESTINGZ curriculum. Each time, she asked t…

iowaoer.com

New semester, new resources! 🙌 We’ve added 18 free online, expert-written, openly licensed textbooks to our library. They even come with free instructor resources like test banks & PowerPoint slides, too! 🙌 Give them a try this fall: openstax.org/blog/the-new... #OER #HigherEd #K12 #OpenStax

2 announcements in one week? That's right! Not only is the CFP for our 2025 Communities of Practice live, we've also just posted the official announcement for the winners of the 2025 Iowa #OER Awards! Learn more about the winners and their work with open education at iowaoer.com/iowa-oer-awa...

Many of our community members have been looking for more opportunities to dig deeper into how open education programs are supported and sustained. Check out this series for some interesting insights! www.iskme.org/event/design...

OER Commons@oercommons.bsky.social · last yr.

Join us next week for the final Designing for Impact session on Scaling and Sustaining OER Initiatives in the United States and Canada on August 12 12-1pm Pacific / 3-4pm Eastern. Learn more & register here

Have you heard? We've just opened the call for participants for our annual OER Communities of Practice! Apply now through Sept 12 to participate! Instructors in the fields of Psychology, Teacher Education, and Agriculture/Environmental Science are encouraged to apply. iowaoer.com/oer-communit...

OER Communities of Practice

The Iowa OER Communities of Practice (CoPs) program supports instructors across the state who want to connect with peers over a shared interest in open educational resources (OER). Participants in …

iowaoer.com

Wondering what the Iowa #OER team has been up to this year? It's been a lot! Our annual report is not yet public, but in the meantime, you can read up on one of our projects from the past year on our blog, our third annual OER Communities of Practice Program! iowaoer.com/2025/06/12/j...

Reflecting on the 2024/2025 Communities of Practice

During the 2024/2025 academic year, the Iowa Open Education Action Team ran our third Communities of Practice program, bringing together instructors across the state to share their interest in open…

iowaoer.com