Open Educational Resources

"Open Educational Resources are teaching, learning, and research materials in any medium - digital or otherwise - that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits no-cost access, use, adaptation and redistribution by others with no or limited restrictions" - UNESCO

OERs:

• Are of the same quality as traditional textbooks
• May be peer-reviewed
• Can include ancillary materials such as presentation slides, simulations, and assessments.
• Free for the end users (This is important, as the rising cost of textbooks has a negative correlation with student success and retention rates).
• Freedom to (do the 5R's): Retain, Reuse, Revise, Remix, Redistribute
• Encourages equity = equal access for all

Adopting OER in your course can provide several benefits, including:

• Promotes academic freedom by allowing for customization of course materials that best meet instructional needs
• Improved student satisfaction with materials designed to help students succeed in their courses
• Reduced or eliminated cost of course materials
• Every student has access to the material on Day 1 of the course

OER allows us to (creatively) rethink the materials that we use for our course rather than rethinking our course around available textbooks.

Reuse: Use the resource in a variety of ways, as it currently exists.

Remix: Combine two or more OERs to create a content mashup.

Redistribute: Share the original, revised, or remixed OERs.

Revise: Adapt, modify, and improve the resources to fit your needs.

Retain: Make, own, and control your copies of the content.

Image Credit: "5Rs-7(transparent)", Making Open Educational Resources: A Guide for Students by Students is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0 

• OERs are always free but must be used with permission which is usually identified by a Creative Commons License. 
  • The license they are shared under allows others to update, alter, or redistribute without the need to gain permission from the copyright holder. (CC BY, CC BY-SA, CC BY-NC, or CC BY-NC-SA)
• Open Access enables anyone to access scholarly publications and primary source materials released under an open license for free or at very little cost.
  • They are still free resources but they may have licensing that doesn't allow for adaptation (CC BY-ND, CC BY-NC-ND).

Clarification of Free Cultural Works, Open Educational Resources and Open Access, by Paul G. West, CC-BY 4.0