Open educational resources (OER)—learning materials, such as online textbooks, with licenses that allow them to be freely used, edited, and shared—are natural tools for achieving DEI goals. OER are free, demolishing the cost barrier that prevents some underserved students from getting more traditional textbooks. But the benefits go beyond the financial. OER can be revised and expanded, allowing students to incorporate their perspectives about subjects that affect them. Students can even make sure that the images in an OER represent them by contributing their own. However, although OER and DEI are aligned, the people responsible for their implementation on campus often aren’t.
