Open Educational Resources: Definition

Definition

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization defines Open Educational Resources (OERs) 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."

OER Infographic

BCOER Infographic
Infographic created by BCOER. Opens a new tab.

Effectiveness of OERs

OERs vs. Free to Access

OER Bookmark
Bookmark of the 5R's. Opens a new tab.

There are many materials students and faculty can freely access online, including library resources. Only materials that have an open license or are in the public domain are OERs. This is because OERs must be open as defined by the 5R's:

From Rosario Passos. Licensed under CC By 4.0.

Accessibility

The 5 Rs of Open

Retain: Make and own a copy
Reuse: Use in a wide range of ways
Revise: Adapt, modify and improve
Remix: Combine two or more
Redistribute: Share with others

OERs and Copyright

According to the Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources, "Open licensing does not replace copyright. Open licenses work with copyright to promote shared use. This changes the copyright from “all rights reserved” to “some rights reserved.”

"Creative Commons: A User Guide" by Simone Aliprandi, Creative Commons Attirubtion-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported.

Linscheid Library Copyright Guide
Learn more about copyright in this guide. Opens a new tab.