b1Bank Library: Fletcher's Open Educational Resources: Open Educational Resources for Faculty

Open Educational Resources

Open Educational Resources (OERs) are any type of educational materials that are in the public domain or introduced with an open license. The nature of these open materials means that anyone can legally and freely copy, use, adapt and re-share them. OERs range from textbooks to curricula, syllabi, lecture notes, assignments, tests, projects, audio, video, and animation.

The terms "open content" and "open educational resources" describe any copyrightable work (traditionally excluding software, which is described by other terms like "open source") that is licensed in a manner that provides users with free and perpetual permission to engage in the 5R activities

Retain - the right to make, own, and control copies of the content (e.g., download, duplicate, store, and manage)
Reuse - the right to use the content in a wide range of ways (e.g., in a class, in a study group, on a website, in a video)
Revise - the right to adapt, adjust, modify, or alter the content itself (e.g., translate the content into another language)
Remix - the right to combine the original or revised content with other material to create something new (e.g., incorporate the content into a mashup)
Redistribute - the right to share copies of the original content, your revisions, or your remixes with others (e.g., give a copy of the content to a friend)

This material was created by David Wiley and published freely under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license at http://opencontent.org/definition/.

Helpful Links

Adoption Guide
A reference on how to adopt an open textbook for the classroom.
Attribution Builder
This is a tool to help you build attributions.
Faculty OER Toolkit
The Faculty OER Toolkit is an information resource about and guide to adapting and adopting Open Educational Resources. Included are definitions and examples, information about Creative Commons licensing, and tips on how to adapt and/or adopt OER for classroom use.
Open Education Resources by Subject Disciplines from Washtenaw Community College
Washtenaw Community College has Open Educational Resources sorted by subject disciplines. Use this guide to help you select open educational textbooks and other education material related to many subject areas.
A Guide to Making Open Textbooks with Students
A handbook for faculty interested in practicing open pedagogy by involving students in the making of open textbooks, ancillary materials, or other Open Educational Resources. This is a first edition, compiled by Rebus Community, and we welcome feedback and ideas to expand the text.
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A Guide to Making Open Textbooks with Students by Rebus Community is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
OER-Enabled Pedagogy
The purpose of this page is to provide a list of concrete examples of how OER-enabled pedagogy, is implemented in the real world. Descriptions are brief and, where possible, linked directly to the artifacts students have created or to articles that provide more information on what they did.
OER Mythbusters
This site has one purpose – to bust myths about Open Educational Resources! There are two parts – a mythbusting guide and a quick introduction to OER. Both will help you find fast, simple and useful answers to myths, statements and unsupported claims about how Open Educational Resources (OER) do not work or do not suite educational systems and environments.
5 Ways to Use OER in Your Class
An infographic on five ways to use open educational resources in your class.