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Freely Available K-12 Teaching Resources

As part of the open education movement, K-12 teachers are creating and sharing reusable, remixable learning materials. This guide is a gateway to finding K-12 lesson plans, worksheets, and other learning materials available for free to use.

Open Education in K-12

Questions about OER in K-12?

The guide is maintained by Haley Walton, Librarian for Education and Open Scholarship at the Duke University Libraries. Triangle- and Triad-area teachers are welcome to contact Haley with questions about using OER. Duke's mission is to share knowledge in the service of society—including North Carolina teachers!

Further Reading on OER in K-12

About Open Educational Resources

Open Educational Resources (OER): Overview and Definition
Education Week, Sarah D. Sparks, April 12, 2017
Open Educational Resources (OER) in the K-12 Curriculum: Overcoming Obstacles to OER
An extensive resource published by the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation at North Carolina State University.
EdTech Books K-12 OER Handbook
A primer on OER and resource for finding OER for K-12 subjects.
UNESCO Open Educational Resources
About OER from an international perspective.

OER Perspectives

Coming Back Together: Educational Resources in U.S. K-12 Education, 2022
Bayview Analytics Report, Julia E. Seaman and Jeff Seaman, 2022. A survey report of OER adoption and facts post-pandemic.
Open Educational Resources haven’t upended the way that K-12 schools get course materials – yet
The Hechinger Report, Tara Garcia Mathewson, November 22, 2017
Equity considerations for open educational resources in the glocalization of education
Julie Willems & Carina Bossu (2012), Distance Education, 33:2, 185-199, DOI: 10.1080/01587919.2012.692051. This article is scholarly and paywalled.
How are states implementing open education resources (OER) in K–12 settings, including platforms, accessibility, and standards or criteria for content inclusion?
A report and case study from the Regional Educational Laboratory program. 2019.
How Much of the K-12 Market Is Using Open Educational Resources?
EdWeek Market Brief, Michele Molnar, July 22, 2020

Scholarly Articles on OER in K-12

All articles are open access.

Understanding K-12 teachers’ intention to adopt open educational resources: A mixed methods inquiry
Tang, H., Lin, Y., & Qian, Y. (2020). British Journal of Educational Technology, 51(6), 2558-2572.
A qualitative inquiry of K–12 teachers’ experience with open educational practices: Perceived benefits and barriers of implementing open educational resources
Tang, H. (2020). International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 21(3), 211-229.
Social justice and K-12 teachers’ effective use of OER: A cross-cultural comparison by nations
Tang, H., & Bao, Y. (2020). Journal of Interactive Media in Education, 2020(1).
Scoping the nascent: An analysis of K-12 OER research 2012-2017
Blomgren, C., & MacPherson, I. (2018). Open Praxis, 10(4), 359-375.

Non-Duke affiliated teachers can use the catalog to search for scholarly literature on OER in K-12 education using the open access filter.

Last Updated: Jan 22, 2024 10:10 AM
URL: https://guides.library.duke.edu/k12-OER
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Subjects: Education

Tags: interdisciplinary, social sciences