Open Educational Resources (OER) are freely available educational materials that are able to be downloaded, edited, and shared with an open license. OER can be used as main resources in a course or to supplement resources in a course. They can also supplement library materials, such as subscription databases and journals, provided at no cost to students.
OER are built upon the 5Rs:
CC BY David Wiley (adapted)
Learn more about how OER reduce costs, expand access, and improve quality of education with this presentation by Nicole Allen from SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition).
There are many benefits to using OER in your classroom! OER are...
CC BY intheacademia
Myth #1: Open simply means free
Fact: Open means the permission to freely download, edit, AND share materials to better serve all students
Myth #2: All OER are digital
Fact: OER take many formats, including print, digital, audio, and more
Myth #3: "You get what you pay for"
Fact: OER can be produced to the same quality standards as traditional textbooks
Myth #4: Copyright for OER is complicated
Fact: Open licensing makes OER easy to freely and legally use
Myth #5: OER are not sustainable
Fact: Models are evolving to support the sustainability and continuous improvement of OER
Myth #6: Open textbooks lack ancillaries
Fact: Open textbooks often come with ancillaries, and when they do not, existing oer can provide additional support
Myth #7: My institution is not ready for OER
Fact: Any institution can start with small steps toward OER that make an impact for students
CC BY SPARC (2017). OER Mythbusting. Washington, DC: SPARC. sparcopen.org/our-work/oer-mythbusting