OER for All

Place-based OER encompasses diverse types of educational materials and resources. Each of these resource types share common characteristics: they are openly licensed, freely accessible, and designed to be adapted and modified by educators to meet specific community needs. The materials often incorporate multiple perspectives, including indigenous knowledge, scientific data, and community wisdom.

Examples include openly available resources such as:

• Interactive digital maps that allow students to explore their local geography, highlighting significant landmarks, ecosystems, and historical sites. These maps often include layers of information about indigenous territories, migration patterns, and environmental changes over time.
• Field guides tailored to regional flora and fauna help students identify and understand local species. These guides incorporate traditional ecological knowledge alongside scientific classification, creating a rich understanding of biodiversity and human-environment relationships.
• Local history collections feature primary sources like photographs, letters, and documents that tell the story of community development. These archives often include oral histories recorded by community elders, preserving personal accounts of significant events and cultural practices.
• Curriculum units focus on regional industries and traditional practices. For example, in agricultural communities, materials might cover sustainable farming methods, water management, or traditional food preservation techniques. In coastal areas, resources might explore maritime history, marine biology, or fishing practices.
• Language resources preserve and teach local dialects and indigenous languages. These materials often include audio recordings, pronunciation guides, and cultural context for language use in community settings.
• Project-based learning modules connect students with local challenges and solutions. These might include case studies of environmental restoration efforts, community development initiatives, or social justice movements specific to the region.
• Arts and culture collections showcase local artistic traditions, crafts, and performance styles. These resources often include instructional videos, artist interviews, and documentation of traditional techniques.
• Scientific datasets about local weather patterns, water quality, or wildlife populations enable students to engage in citizen science projects. These resources help students understand environmental monitoring and conservation efforts in their area.
• Virtual reality and augmented reality experiences allow students to explore historical sites, natural areas, or cultural landmarks that might be difficult to access physically. These immersive tools bring local places into the classroom while preserving sensitive locations.

At its core, place-based OER addresses the "why" through its fundamental goal: making education relevant and engaging by grounding it in local context. Students learn about their communities, environment, and culture while developing critical thinking skills through real-world applications. These additional factors demonstrate how place-based OER extends beyond traditional educational goals to create more engaged, aware, and community-oriented learners. The approach builds stronger connections between academic learning and real-world application while fostering a deeper sense of place and purpose among students. Other "whys" include:

• Strengthen community connections by fostering stronger connections between educational institutions and their communities. Students engage with local experts, organizations, and community members, creating meaningful relationships and networks that extend beyond the classroom.
• Make learning relevant and engaging by serving as a vital tool for preserving and passing down local knowledge, traditions, and cultural practices. This is particularly crucial for indigenous communities and regions with rich cultural heritage that may not be adequately represented in mainstream educational materials.
• Preserve local knowledge by facilitating interaction between different generations, as older community members share their knowledge and experiences with students. This exchange strengthens social bonds and preserves valuable historical perspectives.
• Reducing educational costs is particularly vital for rural areas where educational resources may be scarce. By integrating OERs into our offerings, we can cut down on costs and enhance the quality of education for all.
• Support diverse learning styles that include visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and social learners who can thrive with OER's flexible formats, allowing customization to match individual educational needs and preferences.
• Empower local voices by providing platforms for sharing indigenous knowledge, cultural practices, and regional expertise. Through collaborative creation and open sharing, community members become both educators and learners, preserving traditional wisdom while connecting it to modern educational frameworks.
• Promote cultural understanding by incorporating Native American knowledge, Hispanic heritage, and Anglo-American influences. Local communities contribute traditional stories, language resources, and cultural practices, fostering mutual respect and deeper appreciation across the state's rich multicultural landscape.

Place-based OER transforms learning by connecting communities with their local heritage, environment, and culture. These resources can:

• Empower students to explore their surroundings while developing critical thinking skills as well as saving money on course materials.
• Help libraries and educators customize materials to reflect regional perspectives, making education more relevant and engaging.
• Support local businesses and institutions with a workforce knowledgeable about community needs, while cultural organizations preserve and share valuable traditions.
• Allow researchers access to wider knowledge bases and educational networks grow organically.
• Enable communities to share local expertise and cultural knowledge.

As there are many types of OER to from which to choose, before you begin your search you should determine what best would suit your research methods: what you are creating? Textbooks, courses, multimedia, data, and supplementary materials are all offered as open resources. These can be found by searching regular search engines (like Google) and using certain keywords, but it is much easier to find them through dedicated OER repositories or websites. Existing place-based OER can be found in diverse settings and these resources often integrate indigenous knowledge systems and community-contributed materials.

Openly Available Sources Integrated Search (OASIS) is a search tool that aims to make the discovery of open content easier. OASIS currently searches open content from 52 different sources and contains 155,375 records.

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Locally, there are several other institutions in New Mexico that offer information and access to OER. These include:

• CNM
• ENMU
• NMHU Technology Connecting Communities Project
• Northern New Mexico College Ben Lujan Library
• SFCC
• State of New Mexico (El Portal)
• UNM 
• UNM LibGuide

The New Mexico Open Educational Resources Consortium can also provide assistance. 

The New Mexico Public Education Department maintains a catalog of OER as courses, news, and training at their NMPED Catalog with many of these related specifically to New Mexico culture and educational issues.

Some larger national digital libraries and repositories include:

• OER Commons--This digital hub created by the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education offers 73,000 kinds of OER, along with tools for creating OER, training on how to use OER and the ability to create OER "Commons" — groups that share resources for a given purpose.
• MERLOT II--Free, peer reviewed collection of online teaching and learning materials maintained by the California State University System.
• Openstax CNX (formerly Connexions)--Contains textbooks, articles, supplements, and other learning resources that can be read online or downloaded for free.
• Open Texbook Library--Open textbooks are licensed by authors and publishers to be freely used and adapted. Download, edit and distribute them at no cost. Supported by the Open Education Network.

You could also visit your community organizations, such as:

• Local historical societies maintain archives and educational resources
• Museums develop place-based educational programs and materials
• Environmental education centers create resources about local ecosystems
• Indigenous cultural centers preserve and share traditional knowledge
• Local libraries often maintain special collections focused on regional history and culture

Government Resources offer some excellent OER, most specific to their location:

• National Park Service educational materials for specific parks and monuments
• State parks' educational programs and resources
• Bureau of Land Management educational materials
• Local government archives and historical records
• USGS (United States Geological Survey) regional data and educational materials

Professional Networks:

• Local teacher networks and educational cooperatives
• Regional educational service centers
• Professional development organizations
• State-specific teaching associations

Strategic timing and digital access create a responsive learning OER ecosystem that serves both academic requirements and community interests.

• Place-based OER platforms offer 24/7 digital access while staying current throughout the year. Digital infrastructure ensures uninterrupted availability of learning materials.
• Content updates align with seasonal changes and community events. Spring updates feature native plant guides, while fall highlights local harvest histories. These refreshes maintain relevance to local life cycles.
• Resources sync with academic calendars, testing periods, and school milestones, enabling seamless classroom integration while supporting independent study.
• Quick adaptation to local festivals, environmental changes, and community developments keeps materials relevant to real-world experiences.
• Year-round flexibility serves diverse needs across seasons. Summer resources focus on outdoor learning, winter on indoor activities and research. This adaptability supports all learning styles and contexts.

The hallmark of an open education resource is the freedom you have to create, remix, and adapt it to your needs. Creating an OER does not necessarily require you to write an entire textbook or develop a complete learning object from start to finish - although you can certainly do that! - rather, the open education community is based not only on creation, but adaptation and improvement on what's already out there.

In fact, the various open licenses in use expressly encourage instructors to modify open educational resources to tailor them to their classes, students, and specific pedagogical needs. 

The video below from Iowa State University has an excellent overview of this process.