Open Educational Resources
This article will include an ever-changing list of external resources to support instructors' use of OER, as well as basic information about what OER is. These resources will help you whether you are looking for individual resources to complement the content you already have or whether you are considering adopting an OER textbook for your class.
What is OER?
- OER are learning resources, materials and textbooks in the public domain or created under an open license (such as Creative Commons) instead of traditional copyright permitting free use of the material
- Material with a license and presentation that promotes the 5Rs - Revise, Remix, Reuse, Redistribute, Retain
- More info at the Open Education Consortium - oerglobal.org
Why OER?
- Traditional Course materials are expensive
- Students don’t have to search for discounts or decide whether to do without the textbook
- Available from the start of the class
- Supports collaborative educational model
- Can modify to suit your needs
Where can I get OER materials?
- Curated and “clearinghouse” sites of OER material
- Any website licensing material under a CC license (YouTube, flickr, Google images, etc)
- Google allows you to search for CC material (advanced search)
- Content (electronic and physical) already licensed by the library (not OER, but can be complementary)
What are some good sites for OER materials and information?
- Open SUNY textbooks - https://textbooks.opensuny.org/
- Open Textbook Library - https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/
- BC Campus - https://open.bccampus.ca
- Openstax - openstax.org
- Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources - cccoer.org
- Mason OER Metafinder - library.gmu.edu/oermetafinder
- Merlot - merlot.org
- M.I.T. Open Courseware - ocw.mit.edu
- OER Commons - oercommons.org
- Skills commons - skillscommons.org
- Open Learning Initiative - oli.cmu.edu
- Saylor Foundation - saylor.org
- CARLI open Illinois initiative - https://www.carli.illinois.edu/products-services/collections-management/open-ed-resource-overview
Some Challenges with OER
- Not always clear that material is public domain or CC licensed
- Quality can vary
- Building your own OER “textbook” can take considerable effort
- Difficulty in replacing textbook publisher supplemental materials
- Is all work within an OER work properly licensed? Copyright status is an issue.
Who Can Help?
- Library staff for using library licensed materials and copyright questions
- TLC staff for making materials available in Moodle and using OER sites
- Bookstore for providing bound copies of some OER textbooks for students