OER: Open Educational Resources

This guide is under construction, but the Finding OER page is complete. 

OER is the acronym for Open Educational Resources. OER can include textbooks, full courses, course materials, assignments, streaming videos, tests, software, music, images, and more.

According to UNESCO, "Open Educational Resources (OER) are learning, teaching and research materials in any format and medium that reside in the public domain or are under copyright that have been released under an open license, that permit no-cost access, re-use, re-purpose, adaptation and redistribution by others."

• Digital OER are free for students, with low-cost print options. This can help reduce financial barriers to education and student debt. Textbook costs rose over 70% since 2006, and the cost disproportionately affects community college students, who have to use more financial aid to buy books. (COVERING THE COST - Student PIRGs)
• Faculty gain academic freedom and can customize course materials, making them more relevant, engaging, and/or diverse, and use open pedagogy techniques to increase student engagement. OER pair well with open education and open pedagogy techniques.
• Having print and digital versions provides greater accessibility options.
• Research is emerging that OER may improve student grades and student success, partly because students can access the textbook on the first day of class instead of avoiding purchasing it due to cost.

The terms "open content" and "open educational resources" describe any copyrightable work (traditionally excluding software, which is described by other terms like "open source") that is either (1) in the public domain or (2) licensed in a manner that provides users with free and perpetual permission to engage in the 5R activities.

The 5R Activities:

1. Retain - the right to make, own, and control copies of the content (e.g., download, duplicate, store, and manage)
2. Reuse - the right to use the content in a wide range of ways (e.g., in a class, in a study group, on a website, in a video)
3. Revise - the right to adapt, adjust, modify, or alter the content itself (e.g., translate the content into another language)
4. Remix - the right to combine the original or revised content with other material to create something new (e.g., incorporate the content into a mashup)
5. Redistribute - the right to share copies of the original content, your revisions, or your remixes with others (e.g., give a copy of the content to a friend)

Creators often use Creative Commons licenses to clearly define what is and is not allowed. 

This explanation was created by David Wiley and adapted by Western Technical College under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.

Openly licensed resources are always free, but free works are not always open. Free works may have all rights reserved or other license restrictions that prevent alterations, which means they are not considered open.