Open Educational Resources (OER)
What are OER?
"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" (UNESCO). OER can be in the form of textbooks, videos, full courses, lecture notes, syllabi, assessments, projects, and more. Although OER are frequently distributed through electronic media, they can be printed by the user or professional at cost.
Open Educational Resources (OER)
What is OER?
The 5 Rs of OER
OER differ from traditional learning materials by their licensing and permissions. The 5R Framework, proposed by David Wiley, defines the conditions of openness:
Retain: the right to make, own, and control copies of the content.
Reuse: the right to use the content in a wide variety of ways.
Revise: the right to adapt, modify, or alter the content.
Remix: the right to combine the content with other openly licensed or public domain content to create a new work.
Redistribute: the right to share copies of the original, revised, or remixed content with others.
The "5R Framework" was proposed by David Wiley in his blog post, "The Access Compromise and the 5th R" and licensed CC BY 4.0.Â
How do OER benefit students and instructors?
Benefits to students:
Provide cost savings.
Create equitable access to course materials for all learners.
Retain access to course content following course completion.
Benefits to instructors:
Customize content to meet the needs of the context and curriculum.
Remix content to create a new work.
Distribute with ease and little to no cost.
Expedite distribution of information.
Enhance learning through course content available in multiple formats (e.g. supplemental videos).
