**Breakout Session A: Finding OER**
This breakout session covered effective strategies for finding open educational resources (OER), including tips on how to prepare for your search, where to look, and how to evaluate what you find. Participants were introduced to a number of preeminent OER discovery tools (including the new Mason OER Metafinder) and received hands-on experience with using these tools to find resources for their subject areas.
**Breakout Session B: Creating OER**
From applying a Creative Commons (CC) license to your existing course materials to authoring a new open textbook, creating open educational resources (OER) is a powerful way to contribute to the global knowledge commons and simultaneously raise your profile as an expert in your field. This session provided practical advice for instructors who were interested in OER creation but were not quite sure where to begin.
**Breakout Session C: Designing Open Assignments**
What is the relationship between the reuse and sharing potential of OER and what we know about effective teaching and learning? How can we leverage this potential to design more effective assignments and active learning exercises? This breakout session gave participants an opportunity to discuss ideas related to open pedagogy, including open assignments that empower students to connect with a global audience, engage with real-world issues, and develop their skills as digital citizens.
**Breakout Session D: Challenges & Opportunities**
Open educational resources (OER) provide a number of significant benefits for teachers and learners, but the process of finding, evaluating, and implementing OER can also present many challenges for instructors. This session gave participants an opportunity to discuss these challenges and brainstorm strategies for overcoming them.