As the delivery of educational content shifts from ‘brick and mortar’ classrooms to online delivery, two practices have emerged to support the needs of online learners: providing Open Educational Resources (OER), and applying Inclusive Educational Practices (IEP). OER permits
the transformation and redistribution of material into other languages and formats. IEP aims to enable access for individuals of diverse capabilities, backgrounds, and ages.

Not much research has been done on how OER and IEP mutually reinforce each other. For example, text-based OER materials have an open copyright, which allows for their revision and conversion into formats that are compatible with assistive technologies, such as a screen reader, whereas non-open copyrighted materials would prohibit similar conversions and their distribution. Likewise, IEP provides guidance on how open materials should be presented to students, such as encouraging early and complete availability of full course materials to students; this would help differently-abled students find their own ways through the materials.

This Major Research Project examined these mutually reinforcing practices through two interrelated
phases: a theoretical phase conceptualizing a set of dimensions that describe how these two practices share mutually reinforcing underlying themes; and a practical phase operationalizing these theoretical dimensions to design an online survey to further explore whether and how faculty value and make use of these practices along these dimensions. The survey can generate empirical data to further understand these mutually reinforcing dimensions and can also inform advocacy for open and inclusive practices.