Open Educational Resources (OER): Getting started

Open Educational Resources (OERs) are any type of educational materials that are in the public domain or introduced with an open license. The nature of these open materials means that anyone can legally and freely copy, use, adapt and re-share them. OERs range from textbooks to curricula, syllabi, lecture notes, assignments, tests, projects, audio, video and animation. 

(UNESCO, 2017)​

OERs are beneficial to students and educators because they facilitate 

• free and legal access to high-quality content
• adaptation to suit a student's situation
• the increased usage of resources due to the removal of barriers to access

Why use OERs?

• BOLD strategy alignment: Resources are born digital and can be used without the constraints applied to traditionally created (and copyrighted) materials
• Cost-effectiveness: OERs are (mostly) free to use, and they have been shown to reduce barriers for first in family students (Salem, 2017)
• Opportunities for collaboration and innovation in teaching
• Student retention: Evidence that using OER aids retention through reduced costs and increased flexibility of the use and delivery of resources (McBride, 2015).

Many thanks to the University of Queensland Library, for permission to use and adapt sections of their OER libguide. 

https://guides.library.uq.edu.au/how-to-find/open-educational-resources/evaluate