Announcing Bridging the Gap: The OER Workforce Playbook for Higher Education and Industry
The Rebus Foundation, in partnership with the DOERS Collaborative, is excited to announce the release of Bridging the Gap: The OER Workforce Playbook for Higher Education and Industry.
Designed as a practical, reader-friendly guide, Bridging the Gap helps educators and employers work together to close the divide between education and workforce needs. Our goal was to create a resource that’s actionable, relevant, and genuinely useful for higher education, industry, and most importantly, students. The playbook’s content reflects extensive input from workshop attendees, focus group participants, facilitators, and the collective expertise of the DOERS Workforce Working Group and the broader open education community.
The playbook is organized into four connected chapters, starting with an introduction that lays out or guiding vision, process, scope, and key terminology. A built-in glossary ensures that every reader starts on the same page. “OER as a Strategic Tool” offers a primer on Open Educational Resources (OER), including why they matter for workforce development and what that looks like in practice. The “Current Landscape” shares findings from our research, including employer perspectives on post-secondary education, the readiness of graduates, the state of education-industry partnerships, and what these insights mean for your work. In the final chapter, we introduce SKILLBRIDGE, a practical framework that prompts readers with concrete strategies for using and co-creating workforce-aligned OER that build durable skills, reduce training costs, and give learners tangible experience. SKILLBRIDGE offers actionable approaches for integrating OER into workforce development initiatives and partnerships, ensuring a seamless, confident transition for students from education to industry, while simultaneously equipping employers with work-ready talent that meets evolving demands.
“This playbook is a practical guide that bridges the gap between educators and employers. I like how it addresses the complexity of workforce alignment and makes it feel more accessible. The structure, clarity, flow, and ideas in the playbook are consistent, clear, and well thought out. I particularly like how it simplifies complex ideas into actionable steps that anyone could start right away. It actually enlightened me to think differently about collaboration and how small steps are still steps towards progress.”
- Dr. Latoya Paul, Louisiana State University
We truly believe that when education and industry speak the same language, everyone wins. Whether you're an educator looking to better prepare your students, an employer seeking talent that fits your needs, or a learner navigating the path from classroom to career, this playbook was made with you in mind. We invite you to explore it, share it, and use it. Happy reading!
