OER Professional Development
Advancing Open Education: Texas OER Professional Development Opportunities
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, in partnership with the Open Education Network, offers comprehensive professional development focused on Open Educational Resources (OER). These structured virtual learning experiences enhance educator capabilities while fostering meaningful collaboration with colleagues across Texas institutions. Participants develop essential skills through practice-oriented sessions designed to strengthen OER implementation and sustainability.
OER leaders and emerging leaders, such as faculty, librarians, instructional designers, and administrators at public and private higher education institutions with an interest in advancing OER are invited to participate.
Our professional development offerings include new comprehensive virtual Workshops and Train-the-Trainer opportunities focused on OER this fall and spring. Because seating is limited to 75 seats, you will receive a confirmation email with the virtual meeting link no later than 48 hours before the workshop to confirm your seat.
Why Participate?
OEN Professional Development is designed to:
- Build institutional capacity for OER adoption and publishing.
- Develop local facilitators and campus champions.
- Support the creation and sharing of discoverable open educational resources.
- Strengthen sustainable OER practices across Texas institutions.
See full program descriptions for more information on ways in which we can help strengthen your institution’s open education initiatives.
Introduction to OER Adoption
Workshop: Introduction to OER Adoption
October 21, 2026 | 2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. CT
Learn the fundamentals of open textbooks, explore the benefits of OER for students and institutions, and discover how to begin evaluating openly licensed materials for classroom use. Designed primarily for faculty or anyone directly supporting OER adoption, participants will be invited to review an Open Textbook Library title and take the next step toward OER adoption. Those who attend the session and submit a textbook review will receive a Certificate of Completion.
Train-the-Trainer: Introduction to OER Adoption
November 4, 2026 | 1:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. CT
Designed for campus facilitators, OER leaders, and statewide partners, this session prepares participants to confidently deliver OER adoption workshops and address common questions about implementation and sustainability.
Introduction to OER Publishing
Workshop: Introduction to OER Publishing
February 10, 2027 | 2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. CT
Interested in creating an open textbook? This introductory session provides an overview of the publishing process, including planning, authorship, and key considerations for developing openly licensed learning materials.
Train-the-Trainer: Introduction to OER Publishing
June 15, 2027 | 2:00 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. CT
This session equips participants to facilitate OER publishing workshops and support local publishing initiatives on their campuses. Ideal for OER leaders, publishing program staff, and campus champions.
Texas OER Elements Course
The Texas OER Core Elements course is an on-demand, self-paced series of online learning units designed to introduce educators to the fundamentals of open educational resources (OER). Throughout the 13 units of the course, participants will build foundational knowledge of OER, including how to find, evaluate, adapt, and implement open resources to support teaching, learning, and student success.
This course is ideal for:
- Faculty new to OER
- Instructional designers and academic support staff
- Institutional leaders exploring affordability and access strategies
By the end of the course, learners will be prepared to confidently begin integrating OER into their instructional practice and contribute to more affordable, accessible learning experiences for students.
Access the course in OERTX and get started today!
For questions about OER Professional Development contact Liz Tolman, Program Director at digitallearning@highered.texas.gov.