Open Educational Resources (OER)
Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits repurposing by others. In other words, “OER” is a very broad term. We apply it towards anything that helps students master course concepts.
The key distinguishing factor is the copyright status of the material. If the course content is copyrighted under traditional, all-rights-reserved copyright, then it’s not OER. If it resides in the public domain, or carries Creative Commons or similar open copyright status, then it is OER.
Examples of OER
Types of OER include (but are not limited to) syllabi, lesson plans, learning modules, lab experiments, simulations, course videos, discussion prompts, assignments, assessments, library guides, and course design templates.
Faculty
Many faculty already use OER in their classes — showing YouTube videos, using worksheets created and shared by other faculty, and using online simulations as learning activities. Faculty can create and share syllabi, lesson plans, and even full textbooks for their courses. They can collaborate with faculty at their own institutions, or other institutions around the world. They can access and remix existing OER and republish them to share with others.
Students
Students can play a significant role in creating OER as well — from simple assignments to full textbooks. As an example, at the University at Buffalo (SUNY), students in Jessica Kruger’s public health course worked in groups and together to research, write, and create a full OER textbook. The result became the book Models and Mechanisms of Public Health. The book will live on in upcoming semesters as future students edit and provide updated content to the book as needed.
Instructional Designers
Instructional Designers can work with faculty and students to integrate OER into teaching and learning, and can also share and publish their course design templates as OER. Many instructional designers and technologists work with librarians and IT services to help integrate OER into learning management systems and other course learning platforms.
Librarians
Librarians play a key role in OER initiatives – advocating, developing, exploring, and managing OER. Along with helping you find OER, librarians can help you better understand copyright and licensing concepts, and guide you through your Creative Commons licensing options if you choose to create materials yourself.
As the use of OER becomes more widespread, we have access to more repositories where you can search for OER. Keep in mind that while you may not find OER that perfectly suit your needs, most OER can be modified and customized to fit within the context of your course, or meet the needs of your students. Yes, that takes time and consideration, but that time and consideration can greatly benefit your own teaching and research, as well as the overall learning experience that your students have.
“Defining OER.” By Lumen Learning. Retrieved from: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-oercommunitycourse-understandingoer/chapter/defining-oer/ Licensed under: CC-BY
