Open Educational Resources (OERs)

Term was first coined at a UNESCO conference in 2002 and was defined there as:

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. Open licensing is built within the existing framework of intellectual property rights as defined by relevant international conventions and respects the authorship of the work.

The definition has changed some since then, but OERs do have some consistent factors. They are free to use, openly available resources made available on the internet with the author's permission to use, modify, and share as much as needed.

OERs typically adhere to the "5 Rs."

1. Retain: Make, own, and control copies
2. Reuse: Use in a wide range of ways
3. Revise: Adapt, modify, and alter
4. Remix: Combine with other material
5. Redistribute: Share the original and revisions

They are often licensed using Creative Commons, but are sometimes made available under other licenses as well. Make sure to read the permissions and what they allow when opting to adopt any content. OERs can be any variety of content, such as open textbooks, articles, lessons, videos, modules, assessments, software, simulations, or even whole courses. Anyone can create and post their own OER content.

OERs are best found by using dedicated databases and search providers.