Locating and Sharing OER

Many websites from many different organizations provide OER. Finding them can be tricky. There are a lot of open repositories on the web, and this module only covers a sample of these resources. You can find more open repositories, and benefit from these resources by using and sharing. Sharing OER is also a vital part of the open educational movement. Note that OER repositories have different sharing requirements.

To learn more about these repositories and resources, look through each section below.

Learning Objectives

Search for OERs and OER repositories with the use of keywords and filtering.
Determine differences and similarities in sharing requirements between OER repositories.

This page is organized by types of OERs and include places to access materials through the web and engage in 5 Rs of open activities (Retain, Reuse, Revise, Remix, Redistribute). Each section includes links to the repositories. Brief explanations are also provided with each repository to enable readers get the main insights and learn more about these repositories.

Open Textbooks includes eight resources including OpenStax, Noba Project, and Open Textbook Library.
Open OER Repositories - introduces Open Educational Resources (OERs). This is a broader group where readers can access repositories with diverse resources, including open lessons. Some of the resources in this section are MERLOT, OER Commons, and the Internet Archive.
Open Data includes open data repositories. Readers can access data that are free from certain access limitations. Some of the repositories in this section are Google Dataset Search, Qualitative Data Repository, and Deep Blue Data.
Open Images introduces some of the open image repositories. Some of these repositories are Pixabay, Unsplah, and Pexels. People can access a lot of high-quality visuals through these repositories.
Open Audio and Video covers some of the most widely used learning resources; open audio and video. This section includes, in part, YouTube, Ted Talks, Open Culture, and Free Music Archive.
Open Tools includes tools that can be used to create digital artifacts and share them in online spaces. Some of the tools in this section are Padlet, OEDb, and H5P.org.
Resources for English Language Learners includes resources for English language learners. Some of foreign language related OER resources are Englishwsheet.com and Teachers pay Teachers.
OER Guides covers some of the repositories for OER guides. These guides help people learn to navigate the designing, developing, and operationalizing of open resources for diverse purposes. Some of the guides include but are not limited to Self-publishing Guide, Adaptation Guide, and OER Student Toolkit.
Open Courses introduces courses that can be accessed through the web. Some of the repositories in this section may require payment, as well. Learners can enroll in courses based on their needs and interests. They can also establish a network through these courses across the globe. Some of open course wares included in this section are MIT Open Courseware, Harvard Online Courses, edX, and Coursera.
OER Networks is curated for extending one’s network with OER related resources. These networks include members of diverse communities and help people keep up to date with the news and ideas in OER and open practices. Some of the networks in this section are Open Education Consortium, Open Education Global, and SPARC.
OER Podcasts introduces some of the podcasts that learners may use to extend their knowledge on OER. Topics include the history of OER, how instructors navigate their journey through this movement, creative commons licenses, and many more.

1. OPEN TEXTBOOKS

Noba Project: Noba serves free textbooks and educational materials released under a creative commons license. Teachers can also create their own open texts by choosing individual lessons. The content is created by experts in the field and reviewed for accuracy and quality. Currently, the platform includes 104 modules. Noba Project textbooks can be customized, and the changes can be saved to and shared from the platform.

OpenStax: OpenStax is a nonprofit educational initiative initiated by Rice University. This resource includes openly licensed textbooks freely available online and low cost in print. Currently, the library hosts 29 books for college covering Math and Science to Social Sciences and Humanities disciplines. OpenStax secures funding for a specific book then recruits a team to develop it.

Photo by Noba Project

Photo by OpenStax Blog

BC Campus Open Textbooks: BCcampus offers open textbooks across disciplines that are openly licensed and freely available online. This resource also provides tools to create, self-publish, use, and modify open textbooks. Subjects range from language learning and social sciences to business and computer science. Open textbooks can be suggested for the collection by completing an online form.

Bookboon: This repository includes free textbooks written by professors across diverse universities. These textbooks cover topics from Engineering and IT to Economics and Language. You can both suggest and create new books for the site. Authors receive a percentage of the revenue from their books.

Open Textbook Library: This site currently includes 697 textbooks and there is a growing number of learning resources being included all the time. These textbooks cover subjects from Education and Social Sciences to Economics and Engineering. An original, open source book can be recommended for the site if it is affiliated with a higher education institution or professional organization.

Affordable Learning Georgia: This repository supports the implementation of open textbooks which are free and modifiable. This site includes multiple repositories directing users to open textbook resources. Content is provided through the Georgia university system.

OPEN SUNY Textbooks: This site includes openly licensed textbooks that are freely available to learners. These learning resources are curated by SUNY faculty and cover topics from Teaching Autoethnography and Gender Studies to Complex Systems and Critical Thinking. Content is provided by SUNY faculty.

LibreTexts: This repository provides learners with open textbooks that are freely accessible. These open textbooks cover subjects from Biology and Chemistry to Humanities and Social Sciences. An established multi-institutional collaboration network is used to generate new content.

Photo from The Orange Grove

Photo from OER Commons

Photo from OASIS

Photo from Open Washington

2. OPEN OER REPOSITORIES

Merlot: Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching - MERLOT project was initiated in 1997 at Sonoma State University. The MERLOT community includes staff, volunteers, and members and provides access to curated online learning and support materials, and content creation tools. The collection includes disciple specific learning materials covering 22 material types, learning exercises, bookmark collections, course e-portfolios, and language and translation. A free user account gives you access to a content builder and allows you to host your content from the MERLOT platform. Peer review reports are shown on the site with the author’s permission.

The Orange Grove: The Orange Grove is Florida's digital repository. This repository serves a collection of OERs, including open courseware, open textbooks, 3D object models, and learning modules. A contributor account can take a couple of days to establish, though you can suggest a one-time resource be included by emailing the help desk.

OER Commons: OER commons was launched in 2007. This repository includes a collection of resources across grades, subjects, and resource types, from full courses to lessons to activities. A free user account allows you to submit a URL to a resource hosted elsewhere or use the OpenAuthor content builder to create a new resource. After submitting a resource, the vetting process can take a few days.

BCcampus OpenEd: A repository of links to OER materials from various post-secondary colleges and universities. BCcampus also has links to other materials and resources that include lesson plans for teachers wanting to implement OER into their classrooms and numerous guides detailing how to create, use, adapt, and publish OER. The website also features a review section for individuals to share their experiences when using these resources. Open textbooks can be suggested for the collection by completing an online form.

Lumen Learning: Lumen Learning provides course materials to improve learning using open educational resources. To take courses, you will need to have access to Waymaker, Candela, Online Homework Manager (OHM) or Open Learning Initiative (OLI). Courses range from Art Appreciation and Business Communication to Public Speaking and Introduction to Sociology. Content is developed in-house.

Galileo Open Learning Materials: A collection of open educational resources from the University System of Georgia. Most materials have a Creative Commons license. Content is provided through the Georgia university system.

Teach Astronomy: A collection of textbook, audio, podcast, and video resources for instructors or self motivated learners wanting to know more about the field of Astronomy. Content is provided by the site author.

Open Course Library: The Open Course Library (OCL) is a collection of resources inclusive of shareable course materials, syllabi, course activities, readings. Some of the materials are associated with textbooks that are $30 or less. The materials are released under a creative commons license. New content is not being added.

OASIS: This tool enables users to search open content including but not limited to textbooks, courses, course materials, and audiobooks. Currently, this repository aggregates open content from 97 different sources and hosts 385,629 records.

Open Washington Open Educational Resources Network: This repository provides faculty with resources not only to learn and improve their understanding of OER but also enables them to find, use, and apply OER. They accept email request for suggestions of new sites to add to their list.

Internet Archive: The Internet Archive aims to provide access to all knowledge. This repository includes OERs and lectures inclusive of hundreds of free courses, video lectures, and supplemental materials. Many types of media can be uploaded to and shared from this site with a free user account.

3. OPEN DATA

Qualitative Data Repository: This repository provides users with a space for storing and sharing digital data particularly collected through qualitative and multi-method research in social sciences. The Deposit Data link on the site summarizes the process for posting a data project to the site. Depositors work with repository staff to make the transfer. A deposit fee of about $300-$600 may apply.

Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research - ICPSR: This open data repository enables users to access rich data resources. Currently, there are 10 countries across the globe using data from this repository which includes 75,000 publications, 5,000,000 variables, and 10,500+ studies. The Start Sharing Data link provides instructions for posting data to the site. After the data is uploaded, it is reviewed to receive approval for distribution. It is free to deposit data.

National Center for Education Statistics - NCES: This is a primary federal data repository geared toward collecting and analyzing data related to education in the U.S. and other nations. The site hosts education data and data summaries created by government personnel.

Google Dataset Search: This search enables users to connect with thousands of repositories across the web. This is a search tool for finding open data. Google SEO tools may help data be more easily discovered.

Deep Blue Data: This data repository is offered by the University of Michigan Library. Users can openly access research data shared by diverse authors. These data resources include but are not limited to interview transcripts and interview protocols. Hosted data is from University of Michigan staff.

U.S. Government’s open data: This site provides data, tools, and resources across diverse disciplines from Agriculture and Climate to Education and Health. Data and data summaries are created by government personnel, including demographic, education, and more.

Photo by Devanath from Pixabay

Photo by Umberto on Unsplash

4. OPEN IMAGES

CC Search: This tool is a gate to public domain images. Currently, CC search aggregates results across diverse repositories hosting more than 300 million images. This is a search tool that crawls the web for content.

Pexels: This repository hosts high quality and free stock photos licensed under Pexels. Only free images are included; users can freely use and modify photos. Registered users can submit photos. A curation team will choose the photos to be added to the collection.

Pixabay: This repository includes copyright free images. All contents are licensed under Pixabay. Registered users can submit photos. A curation team will choose the photos to be added to the collection.

Unsplash: The content on this repository is released under Unsplash license and users are free to do whatever they want to do with the content provided through this repository. Registered users can submit photos. Photos that meet the submission guidelines will be hosted.

Skuawk: This online repository includes public domain photos. The users can copy, modify, and distribute the content even for commercial purposes without asking permission and making attributions.

Curated collection of artistically loud open source images.

Wikimedia Commons: This repository includes publicly available and accessible resources. While there are many contents on this resource, there are also open images that users can adopt and share across diverse platforms. This repository hosts open resources in different languages.

Registered users can submit media. Media that meet the submission guidelines will be hosted.

5. OPEN AUDIO & VIDEO

Open Culture: This data repository provides users with cultural and educational media including audio and video for free. Fill out an online form or email site personnel to request a resource be included in the listing.

Free Music Archive: This data repository enables users to download CC licensed music. Registered users can submit audio. A curation team will choose the audio to be added to the collection.

Free Sound: This data repository enables users to download freely available sounds. Registered users can submit sounds. A curation team will choose sounds to be added to the collection.

YouTube: YouTube provides access to CC licensed videos. Through filters, users can access to CC licensed videos and repurpose these contents based on their needs. Registered users can submit videos.

TED Talks: TED provides inspiring talks on Technology, Entertainment, and Design. The contents on this platform including audio and video files along with transcripts are released under a creative commons license. Users are recommended to follow terms of use and TED policies to benefit from audio and video content. A partnership with TED provides a mechanism to create TED content.

Vimeo: This platform hosts videos released under a creative commons license. Filtering option enables users to access CC licensed videos. Registered users can create and host videos from the site, even with the free account option.

Photo from padlet

6. OPEN TOOLS

OEDb: Open Education Database provides users with a list of 80 online resources. These resources enable users to access open tools that they can engage in collaborative publication and development activities. Resources are sourced from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System provided by the National Center for Education Statistics.

Padlet: Learners can create up to three free learning resources with the option of leaving them private to be shared with a given link. There are options for upgrades with a purchase that gives greater access to a larger repository and more editing features. Registered users can share resources created on the site.

Tes Blendspace: A repository in which users can duplicate and transform existing teaching and learning resources, as well as create their own. Users do not have the option of keeping their resources private. They are immediately published and reusable by other users. Registered users can create a course and share it with a class; the resource then becomes available to others.

H5P.org: H5P is a completely free and open tool for creating interactive HTML5 content released under MIT license. Users can create, share, and reuse interactive learning resources easily.

Photo from OEDb

7. OPEN ENGLISH LANGUAGE RESOURCES

ESL Printables: This site uses a point system. You have to upload worksheets to earn points and download other worksheets. Registered users can upload ESL content. Uploading content generates points the user can spend on resources created by others.

English Worksheets: This site has a large variety of free worksheets. They cover a wide range of grammar points and vocabulary. Contact the website staff with suggestions for additional resources to list.

ISL Collective: You can download as many of these free worksheets as you please. Registered users can upload a worksheet or use a tool on the site to create a video lesson.

Teachers Pay Teachers: Materials often cost money, but there are some free samples. A free basic seller account provides unlimited postings. The content author receives a percentage of the payouts when other users buy the resource.

The Center for Open Educational Resources & Language Learning (COERLL): This repository is funded by the U.S. Department of Education to produce and disseminate open access content related to foreign language learning. Content is created by COERLL staff.

8. OER GUIDES

These resources all provided by BCCampus. They are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License so they can be shared and adapted with proper attribution.

Self-publishing Guide: This guide is a reference for writing and self-publishing an open textbook. The guide covers topics from preparing to write to editing and reviewing. The users can download the open textbook in multiple formats including but not limited to EPUB, Digital PDF, and HTML Book.

Accessibility Toolkit: This is a free toolkit that provides content creators, instructional designers, educational technologist, librarian, administrator, and teaching assistants with guidelines to create open and accessible textbooks.

Adoption Guide: This guide provides instructors, institutions, and students with a reference for using open textbooks. The book is freely available online in multiple formats including but not limited to EPUB, Digital PDF, and HTML Book.

OER Student Toolkit: This guide provides students with a reference to help them comprehend the benefits of open educational resources. This guide also provides guidance on how students can promote OER adoption. The formats include EPUB, Digital PDF, and HTML Book.

Adaptation Guide: This guide provides people with a reference for modifying an open textbook for specific needs. This guide is an open access resource and freely available online. The readers can download the open textbook in multiple formats including but not limited to EPUB, Digital PDF, and HTML Book. Some of the subjects covered in this textbook are why and how to adapt open textbooks and selecting licenses for the modified textbook.

Photo from BCcampus

The Learning Portal College Libraries Ontario OER Toolkit: This toolkit enables faculty and library staff to comprehend, engage with, and sustain OER in their work and practice. This toolkit targets users from publicly funded colleges in Ontario.

Open Government Data Toolkit: This toolkit helps governments, Bank staff and users to get familiar with the basic concepts of Open Data. Resources are provided by The World Bank. Users can email suggestions. One of the aims of this resource is to speed up the planning and implementing an open government data program.

Dwight Marvin Library: This guide hosts resources particularly for faculty members. Some of the topics covered in this guide includes accessibility toolkit, authoring open textbooks, creative commons licensing, and OER podcasts, stories, and videos. Resources are provided by Hudson Valley Community College and are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License so they can be shared and adapted with proper attribution.

Photo from coursera

Photo from OERu

9. OPEN COURSES

Coursera: This platform serves courses taught by universities and companies. Learners can also access specializations to master their skills, or they can earn professional certificates. There are both free courses and paid courses. Some courses are free. Credit and verification of completion varies per course.

edX: This is a non-profit organization founded by Harvard and MIT. Learners can access to a variety of courses provided by universities and institutions. Some of the subjects are Architecture, Art & Culture, Chemistry, Communication, Computer Science, and Communication. Some courses are free. Credit and verification of completion varies per course.

OERu: This platform is an independent, non-profit network offering online courses freely available for students across the globe. This platform also offers users access to networking and business opportunities through OERu partners. Moreover, OERu News enable users to keep up to date with the latest issues. The contents on OERu are released under a creative commons license. Learners can earn credits towards academic qualifications.

Harvard Online Courses: This platform serves online courses. Subject area includes but are not limited with Computer Science, Humanities, Mathematics, Programming, and Social Sciences. There are both free and paid courses on this platform. Some courses are free. A certificate is provided upon completion.

MIT Open Courseware: This platform is a web-based publication of MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) course content. The course materials are open and available to the world. The platform is released under a creative commons license. Some of the course topics are Business, Engineering, Fine Arts, Humanities, Social Science, and Teaching and Education. Resources are free to use without an account. Official course credit is not available.

Saylor Academy: This platform is a non-profit initiative offering free and open online courses on diverse topics. Some of the courses are Art History, Communication, Computer Science, Economics, and History. The contents released under a creative commons license. This platform provides free certificates of completion based on their learning. Learners can enroll in programs where they can earn college credits.

10. OER NETWORKS

Network members in each of these sites can contribute to the open educational resource movement.

Open Education Consortium: This consortium (OEC) is a non-profit, global, members-based network of open education institutions and organizations. OEC organizes Open Education Week (@OEWeek, #OEWeek), the Open Education Global conference, and Open Education Awards for Excellence.

Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources (CCCOER): This repository provides openly licensed open educational resources inclusive of OER repositories, open textbooks, open courseware, open access journals, and digital media. This consortium also provides resources, support, collaboration opportunities for learning, planning, and implementing open educational programs at community and technical colleges. This consortium shares best practices through regular webinars, hosts online conferences, and disseminates news, and ideas.

Open Education Global (OE Global): This is a global community of organizations committed to improving access to education, along with establishing affordability, success and quality for all. Some of the efforts of OE Global and its members focus on Open Educational Resources (OERs), Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), and Open Data.

The Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC): SPARC aims for open sharing of research outputs and educational materials to contribute to the democratization of educational processes. SPARC also collaborates with other stakeholders to empower Open Access, Open Data, and Open Education.

Open Textbook Network (OTN): OTN promotes student success, access, and affordability using open textbooks, and it brings together network members who bring their expertise and promote best practices.

Photo from Open Education Global

Photo from SPARC

11. OER PODCASTS

Cengage Journey to OER Podcast Series: This is a series of episodes introducing how some instructors navigated their personal journeys with Open Educational Resources (OERs). Currently, there are six episodes spanning across diverse issues related to OER. Podcasts are from invited speakers.

SUNY OER Services: This podcast series currently has a few episodes. On these episodes, people share their stories on navigating OER. Podcasts are from invited speakers associated with SUNY.

My Tech Toolbelt: This is a podcast addressing how teachers use educational technology. One of the episodes is on Open Educational Resources (OERs) addressing issues around OER, the available resources, licensing, and how to use these resources. Podcasts are created by a small crew to highlight technology use in the classroom.

Teaching in Higher Ed Growing Up Open: Teaching in higher ed produces a weekly podcast, blog posts, and recommendations on facilitating learning. One of the podcast episodes covers open education and growing up open. Podcasts guests and topics can be recommended through a web form.

Gettin’ Air - The Open Pedagogy Podcast: This podcast hosts conversations on technology-enabled and open learning practices in post-secondary education. There are lots of episodes and learners can engage in local, contextual, and practical aspects of open learning practices. Existing podcasts, guests, and topics can be recommended through a web form.

The Cult of Pedagogy Podcast: In this podcast series, Jennifer Gonzalez interviews educators, students, administrators, and parents about education and schooling. In the podcast titled “A Closer Look at Open Educational Resources,” Jennifer shares her perspectives on OER. Interviewees are selected by the host.

OER Commons Review for K-12 Teachers

This guide provides an in-depth review of OER Commons:

A Brief Guide to Open Textbooks for Teachers

This guide can help teachers find the best open textbook:

OER Commons Review for Teachers.pdf

A Brief Guide to Open Textbooks for Teachers.pdf

Lesson Plan

Use this Locating and Sharing Lesson Plan pdf to teach others how to find and share OER:

OER Communities and Events

Locate and Share OER Lesson Plan.pdf

EME5250-OER-Communities and Events.docx (1).pdf

OER by Subject

Use the table below to access OER for specific subjects of interest.

OER by Subject

Annotated Bibliography

Chae, Boyoung. (n.d.). What is an open license? How to Use Open Educational Resources. Retrieved April, 23, 2020, from https://training.instructure.com/courses/1276118/pages/what-is-an-open-license

In this webpage, the author describes what an open license is and including the difference between open and all rights reserved licenses. The author provides a brief overview of Creative Commons Licenses starting from its initial use for computer software. They go on to describe how this license began its use in the education and learning fields to its use in other fields.

This resource provides a brief and simplified overview of the history of Creative Commons Licenses. Also, it outlines the various types of open licenses that came from the original open software license.

Creative Commons. (n.d.) Downloads. Creative Commons. Retrieved April, 23, 2020 from https://creativecommons.org/about/downloads/

This webpage provides users with a list of commonly used Creative Common Licenses logos, buttons, icons, stickers, physical media, videos, and colors. This style guide provides an outline of the various styles to indicate when Creative Commons Licenses are used.

Users can use the images found on the webpage in their own Creative Commons works. They can also use it to identify works that fall under the Creative Commons umbrella.

David Wiley. (n.d.) Defining the "Open" in Open Content and Open Educational Resources. [Weblog]. Retrieved from https://opencontent.org/definition

In this webpage, Wiley describes the 5R permissions of open content resources including examples of how to use each R. The author then provides an overview of the legal requirements and restrictions for using open content permissions. The author ends with a list of ALMS Framework questions to ask when working with OER to make sure other users may use the open content.

This resources provides a brief and simplified overview of the 5R permissions for those new to OER. It specifies what types of activities may fall into each permission. The author focuses on specific licenses that may be needed for general and indidivudal OER repositories. Finally, the author encourages readers to ask some questions to make sure future users do not have barriers in terms of implementing the 5Rs for their own use/for content updates.

Foter. (2015). How to Attribute Creative Commons Photos. Retrieved from https://foter.com/blog/how-to-attribute-creative-commons-photos/

This infographic provides users with facts and implementation information about OER photography. It explores the Creative Commons licenses attribution requirements and statistics. The infographics provides common features of Creative Commons licenses and the conditions for each type of use.

The infographic summarizes the main aspects of using photography, with proper attribution, when implementing the 5R permissions. It asks users questions so they can better understand what type of permission an OER has so they know what can and cannot be done with it.

Kreutzer, Till. (n.d.) Open Content – A Practical Guide To Using Creative Commons Licenses. Retrieved from https://ia902701.us.archive.org/27/items/open_content_en/open_content_en.pdf

In this digital book, Kreutzer provides an overview of open licenses from conception to application. The author also summarizes the various open content licenses that are available for OER. They describe the benefits for these types of licenses and the legal aspects in implementing and remixing open content. Kreutzer provides the audience with practical guidelines when they work with OER including how to choose the appropriate license and how to attach Creative Commons licenses to different types of works.

This work provides new users of OER with a comprehensive overview of the concept and how to actually apply these permissions to the different types of works that the user may want to create and/or modify under open content licenses.

Lehman College. (n.d.) Open Educational Resources: Creative Commons. Retrieved April 23, 2020, from https://libguides.lehman.edu/c.php?g=612694&p=4255724

This webpage provides a mix of graphical and text-based information about Creative Commons licenses. The author shows when to use the various types of logos to identify the appropriate license for a work. It also outlines what a user can do to the work according to the specific license. The webpage includes a graphic to show the categorization of each type of license from “most open” to “least open” with links to each type of license described.

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