Open education is an attitude, a practice, and a method of teaching that inspires inquiry, equal access to course materials, and sharing lessons and materials with the wider community. At the center of open education is the belief that education is strengthened when shared openly. Open education relies on open educational resources (OER) and open licensing.
Why Open Educational Resources Matters? by Brendan Walsh, Why Open Education Matters, U.S. Department of Education is licensed under CC BY 3.0
What are Open Educational Resources (OER)?
Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching, learning, and research materials that are either (a) in the public domain or (b) licensed in a manner that provides everyone with free and perpetual permission to engage in the 5R activities.
The 5R Activities of OER
An open license permits users of a resource to participate in the 5R activities of OER:
- Retain: Make, own, and control your own copy of the content
- Reuse: Use the content as-is
- Revise: Adapt, adjust, modify, improve, or alter the content
- Remix: Combine the original or revised content with other OER to create something new
- Redistribute: Share your copies of the original content, revisions or remixes with others
5R Definition is an adaptation of Defining the “Open” in Open Content and Open Educational Resources, which was originally written by David Wiley and published freely under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license at http://opencontent.org/definition/.
Introduction to OER
The first of 5 OER tutorials by CCCOER, the video below discusses making the case for OER – including student, faculty, and institutional benefits – and understanding the basic rights that an open license provides.
Video: