Open Educational Resources are defined as ‘technology-enabled, open provision of educational resources for consultation, use and adaptation by a community of users for non-commercial purposes.’ They are typically made freely available over the Web or the Internet. Their principal use is by teachers and educational institutions to support course development, but they can also be used directly by students. Open Educational Resources include learning objects such as lecture material, references and readings, simulations, experiments and demonstrations, as well as syllabuses, curricula, and teachers’ guides. -- Wiley, D. (2006) The current state of open educational resources. Blog. Iterating toward openness. Accessed January 2011, http://opencontent.org/blog/archives/247
As mentioned above, OER is not just textbooks. Because of information and communication technology, teaching and learning materials in any media or format, including syllabi, readings, assignments, exams, PowerPoint, videos, and more, emerge today in two dimensions -- the pedagogical and the digital. "...the key differentiator between an OER and any other educational resource is its license.Thus, an OER is simply an educational resource that incorporates a license that facilitates reuse – and potentially adaptation – without first requesting permission from the copyright holder." (A Basic guide to open educational resources (OER) p34). Please check "License information" for more details.
OER are free teaching and learning materials that are licensed to allow for revision and reuse. They can be fully self-contained textbooks, videos, quizzes, learning modules, and more. OER are distinct from public resources in that they permit others to use, copy, distribute, modify, or reuse the content. The legal permission to modify and customize OER to meet the specific learning objectives of a particular course make them a useful pedagogical tool (from Mavs Open Press operated by the University of Texas at Arlington).
For more information, check our library guide Open Educational Resources for Faculty
