The instructional materials marketplace has changed markedly over the last few years. More school districts are shifting from physical textbooks to digital and online resources and increasingly are utilizing openly licensed resources [or open educational resources (OER)] to supplement commercially developed materials. In addition, commercial materials developers have even begun to incorporate OER within their own content and have started to curate OER for schools.

As the marketplace continues to evolve, it’s increasingly important for schools and institutions to think holistically about their needs when selecting instructional materials and tools. To support these deeper considerations, SIIA in conjunction with AAP have developed resources to help educators identify the best materials for their classrooms and students.

Our instructional materials toolkit is on the SIIA website – www.siia.net/instructional_materials – and includes:

• What is OER – An FAQ document to answer questions about common misconceptions of open educational resources and the marketplace.
• K-12 Resources – A comprehensive guide and checklist for district administrators and K-12 educations with an overview of the complete decision-making process for identifying and selecting the best instructional materials for your school and classrooms.
• Higher Ed Resources – A specially tailored guide and checklist for considerations in the higher education space, including an overview of OER funding models.