OER Defined
"Open Educational Resources are teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use and repurposing by others. OER include full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge." William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
OER Licensing
OER are released under either the Public Domain or under a Creative Commons License.
Public Domain items are those in which either:
- Copyright has expired
- Federal Government publication
- Creator has explicitly given up all rights.
Creative Commons are licenses that allow creators to share their works in specific ways without relinquishing copyright. These licenses allow people to use the works without contacting the creator.
Readings
- 7 Things You Should Know About Open Educational ResourcesQuick overview of OER from EDUCAUSE
- An Introduction to Open EducationThis book provides a brief introduction to the topic of open education and was created as part of a graduate class project at Brigham Young University.
- On Quality and OERDr. David Wiley from Lumen Learning compares OER with traditionally published materials.
- Survey: Course Materials' Costs Impact Student SuccessPublished November 15, 2023, this article from Inside Higher Ed details how students textbook prices are harming students.
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