Open Educational Resources (OER): OER Basics

• Save Money 💲〽️

OER are generally free and play a crucial role in cutting down educational expenses.

• Customizable ✂️♻️

OER are created by educators worldwide. They could be repurposed and adapted with proper credit to the original creator. This allows educators to customize content to suit their students' needs and goals. These materials encompass a wide range of resources such as textbooks, lesson plans, assignments, exams, and classroom activities. 

5 R's of OER

OER allow you to...

1. Retain – make, own, and control a copy of the resource (e.g. download and keep your own copy)
2. Revise – edit, adapt, and modify your copy of the resource (e.g. translate into another language)
3. Remix – combine your original or revised copy of the resource with other existing material to create something new (e.g. make a mashup)
4. Reuse – use your original, revised, or remixed copy of the resource publicly (e.g. on a website, in a presentation, in a class)
5. Redistribute – share copies of your original, revised, or remixed copy of the resource with others (e.g. post a copy online or give one to a friend)

Defining the "Open" in Open Content and Open Educational Resources
by David Wiley and published freely under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license

OER Evaluation Rubric

To assess the quality of OER collections, the BC Open Education Librarians working group has developed a valuable assessment tool to hep you in evaluating OERs effectively.

Collection Evaluation Rubric

Creative Commons license

Creative Commons (CC) licenses are a set of public copyright licenses that enable creators to share their works while retaining certain rights. Each license allows creators to retain copyright while permitting others to copy, distribute, and build upon their work in ways that the creator defines. 

Creative Commons licenses provide the legal framework that enables OER to be freely shared and modified. 

Learn More

Different types of CC License

There are six main types of Creative Commons licenses, each with different levels of permissions.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Creative_Commons_Licenses.png.
by JoKalliauer is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license