Open Educational Resources

The term "open" can be used to describe any copyrightable work that is licensed in a manner that provides users with free and perpetual permission to engage in the 5R activities:

1. Retain - the right to make, own, and control copies of the content (e.g., download, duplicate, store, and manage)
2. Reuse - the right to use the content in a wide range of ways (e.g., in a class, in a study group, on a website, in a video)
3. Revise - the right to adapt, adjust, modify, or alter the content itself (e.g., translate the content into another language)
4. Remix - the right to combine the original or revised content with other material to create something new (e.g., incorporate the content into a mashup)
5. Redistribute - the right to share copies of the original content, your revisions, or your remixes with others (e.g., give a copy of the content to a friend)

"5R Permissions" by David Wiley, used under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license / modified text from original.

Follow these steps to integrate OER into a course:

"Six Steps to OER" by Northwestern Michigan College (NMC) Librarians, used under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License / Modified text from original.

Traditional Copyrighted Resources

• A resource under copyright is not an OER
• Traditional textbooks, print-based supplementary reading, and other resources requiring a purchase typically fall under this category

Websites and Web-Based Resources

• Something you find for free online is not necessarily and OER
• If a resource is not in the public domain or doesn't carry an open license such as a Creative Commons license, it isn't an OER

Subscription-Based Resources

• Digital subscriptions made available through the library have restrictive permissions and are not OER

Open-Access Resources

• Just because a resource is freely available - as in the case of open access academic journals and theses - does not mean that you can adapt or remix them for your own use
• However, you can directly link to them in Blackboard to provide access for your class
• Authors of open access articles may retain copyright and/or assign rights to publishers, so permission may be required to copy and adapt these works
• Some resources may be openly labelled to encourage some free uses of their work
• To this goal, many creators label their work with a Creative Commons (CC) license
• Not every license will allow the 5 R's (retain, reuse, revise, remix, redistribute)

Source: NAIT

Learn OER - Open Washington Modules

Self-paced modules created by Open Washington to learn about OER and why it matters.

Adopting OER in the Classroom (Lumen Learning)

A faculty resource for adopting, using, and re-purposing openly licensed educational resources.

Free to Learn

An Open Educational Resources Policy Development Guidebook for community college governance officials.

Introduction to Open Educational Resources (Openstax)

Openstax open textbook about OER.

OER Handbook for Educators

This wiki-style handbook is designed to help educators find, use, develop, and share OER to enhance their effectiveness online and in the classroom.

Ryerson Open Moments

Erin Meger, et al., 2020. "[A] book that describes the journeys of eight educators who came to discover open education through projects in which they developed open educational resources.  Each of these stories recounts a different journey towards open and what open education comes to mean for each of our storytellers." CC BY-NC-SA.

Source: Tacoma Community College

Unless otherwise noted, MHC's OER website is licensed under a  Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License