LibGuides: Faculty Guide: OER Open Educational Resources

Open educational resources (OER) are teaching, learning, and research materials intentionally created and licensed to be free for the end user to own, share, and in most cases, modify. The term "OER" describes publicly accessible materials and resources for any user to use, re-mix, improve, and redistribute under some licenses. These are designed to reduce accessibility barriers by implementing best practices in teaching and to be adapted for local unique contexts. (Wikipedia 10/16/2024)

Publishing Models

Traditional Textbooks

Publisher pays the author
Publisher charges students
Students pay the publishers for textbooks
Copyright is retained by the publishers

External Funding

Government, foundations, or consortia grant funding to Institutions
Colleges/Universities print textbooks
Authors are paid by their Institutions
Copyright is licensed through Creative Commons
Students are not charged for textbooks

(Open Education Network)

Additional Resources

Websites

OER LibGuide (University of Memphis) https://libguides.memphis.edu/open_education/home
OER LibGuide (Regent University) https://libguides.regent.edu/OER/home
OER LibGuide (Zhang, Qinqin, Trinity Western University) https://libguides.twu.ca/oer/home

Journal Article

Parker, Jeanette A. Open Education Resources and the Academic Library. (2021) The Christian Librarian 64:2.(https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/tcl/vol64/iss2/13)

Collections of Textbooks

OER Commons
OER Commons is a public digital library of open educational resources. Explore, create, and collaborate with educators around the world to improve curriculum. A repository of several of the largest collections of OER materials.
MERLOT - Browse Materials
The MERLOT system provides access to curated online learning and support materials and content creation tools, led by an international community of educators, learners and researchers. Originally associated with the CSU system.
Open Education Network
Transform Higher Education and Student Learning
Open textbooks are licensed by authors and publishers to be freely used and adapted. Download, edit and distribute them at no cost.

Glossary of Terms

New online educational resources are picking up steam not only with online instructors but also traditional on-ground professors. What does it mean to have a DRM free resource? What is OER? Here are some important terms to understand when choosing online readings for students.

eBook (electronic book) - a book publication in digital form.
eBook readers - devices for reading eBooks (such as Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook) designed to allow reading of specific proprietary eBook formats.
DRM (Digital rights management) refers to access control technologies for restricting the use of proprietary hardware and copyrighted works.
DRM-Free eBooks with unlimited access to users with no restrictions on printing, saving, or copying.
OER (Open Educational Resources) are teaching, learning and research materials that are freely accessible for use, adaptation, and redistribution with little or no restrictions. (UNESCO)