Digital Technologies Librarian
License
This guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
What are Open Educational Resources (OER)?
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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.
By creating, adapting, and sharing open materials, faculty can provide an equitable and affordable course experience for students. Case studies have shown that OER adoption increases student engagement, improves retention, and allows for greater equity of outcomes.
This video, created by Abbey K. Elder at Iowa State University, provides an excellent introduction to what OER is, why faculty should consider using OER during the course development process, and how to get started using them. Her "Introduction to OER" video playlist explores additional topics in OER.
- Have You Seen How Much Textbooks Cost? Making the Case for Open Education: Resources as a Tool for Equity, Affordability, And AccessAccording to the American Association of Colleges and Universities, the cost of college textbooks has increased by 162% from January 2000 to June 2022. That’s faster than the average inflation rate of 74.4% over that same time period! Presented at SEAT at the Table Week 2023, Gemma Bartha, Joan Giovannini, and Sherri VandenAkker discussed Open Education Resources and how it can transform course materials and increase equitable access to content.
- InclusiveAccess.orgLearn the facts on "inclusive access" textbook models and why OER may be a better solution for students.
- PennState: Benefits of Using OERPennState authored this piece on the many benefits of faculty using OER.
- SPARC: Open EducationLearn about Open Education practices from SPARC.
- Texas Learn OERThis short, free course explains the basics of OER and copyright.
- What are Inclusive and Equitable Access Programs?This guide from The Virtual Library of Virginia (VIVA) details the pros and cons of Inclusive/Equitable Access textbook programs for faculty and studdnts.
- Introduction to Open PedagogyUniversity of Texas Arlington Libraries have provided an excellent introduction to open pedagogy for instructors.
Open Access vs. OER
Open access (OA) refers to freely available information available online. It is most commonly used in terms of scholarly publishing, though OER materials fall under the OA umbrella. PLOS is a well-known OA publisher
Authors publishing works under OA licenses from traditional publishers often retain the vast majority of their rights under U.S. Copyright Law, only allowing for their work to be shared without modification. Our Open Access guide may help if you want to publish an article via an OA model.
In contrast, the creators of OER explicitly grant permission for the public to remix their content to better suit the needs of their audience's intended use under Creative Commons license terms.
Getting Started with OER
Library Services is eager to assist faculty and instructional designers with finding appropriate OER materials to include in their courses. We know that it can be overwhelming -- and exhausting! -- to search for the perfect content for your course.
Your Library Liaison can help with:
- finding OER, low-cost, or library-licensed materials;
- providing rubrics for evaluating the appropriateness of OER material;
- advising on Creative Commons and copyright issues;
- teach information literacy concepts via OER;
- and more!
Don't be shy! We love this stuff.
Credits
This material was adapted from the chapter "Introduction to Open Educational Resources" in The OER Starter Kit by Abbey K. Elder and is used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.