Open Educational Resources (OER)

"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." -- The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

In short, OER are educational materials that are openly licensed, customizable, and free to access online.

Textbook costs have risen 812% - 1,041% over the past three decades. Consequently, 65% of students in a national study did not purchase textbooks and 82% of students agreed that free online access to textbooks would help them do “significantly better” in their courses. Open Educational Resources (OER) offer a solution. 

For Faculty:

• OER support academic freedom. Faculty are not locked into publisher platforms or the rigid structure of a commercial text.
• OER are openly licensed, so faculty can modify OER content to make it more accessible, inclusive, and tailored to student needs.
• OER support open and engaging teaching practices.
• OER are easily integrated into Canvas and into courses regardless of teaching modality.

For Students:

• OER save students money. Textbook costs have risen. When students cannot afford their textbooks, nearly two-thirds of students will opt out of buying their textbooks.
• OER contribute to student well-being by eliminating anxiety around course material affordability.
• OER are freely available online to all students on the first day of class, providing equitable access to course content and positively impacting student success and retention.
• OER provide students with unlimited, permanent, and portable access to course materials. OER can be accessed online, accessed on any number of devices, and downloaded, printed, and retained indefinitely.

One of the most important aspects of OER is that they carry legal permission for open use, which is typically defined in terms of the 5R activities (Retain, Revise, Remix, Reuse, and Redistribute). Open use is possible when: 1) a work is in the Public Domain or 2) a creator has assigned an open license to their work. The most widely used type of open licenses are the Creative Commons (CC) licenses. 

CC licenses let creators decide which rights they would like to keep and clearly convey to those using their work how they’re permitted to use it.