Piloting An Evaluation Framework for Accessible STEM OER

ISKME is working on the six-month project, "Piloting An Evaluation Framework for Accessible STEM OER”, in partnership with SERC, as part of a mini-grant program facilitated by Bates College and the SCORE network. The project is supported by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. 

The project builds on ongoing work by ISKME and the Center for Applied Special Technologies (CAST) to develop tools to help educators and learners discover OER based on their accessibility needs and learning preferences. The project seeks to address the challenges that STEM postsecondary educators face in discovering and selecting OER to meet accessibility needs.

The project seeks to answer: 

1. How do existing accessibility checklists and tools support or hinder STEM faculty in discovering OER that meet the local accessibility needs of their learners?

2. What might an improved tool look like that supports faculty-led curation and sharing of accessible STEM OER within their institutions, and what human resource and technical supports are needed for its success?; and,

3. How might the tool be utilized to foster sharing and discovery of accessible STEM OER across institutions?     

Through collaboration with an advisory panel of accessibility experts and 25 faculty reviewers, the project will result in a STEM accessibility toolkit for faculty and others to use in finding, creating, and adapting OER for their local learning contexts.