Open Educational Resources - OER

The term ‘open educational resource’ is defined by US Congress to mean, "(6) a teaching, learning, or research resource that is offered freely to users in at least one form and that resides in the public domain or has been released under an open copyright license that allows for its free use, reuse, modification, and sharing with attribution."

Other Definitions:

• OER Commons
• UNESCO
• William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

Affordable resources can be defined as teaching, learning, or research resources available and low cost to students, such as library materials or low-cost textbooks. True OERs are considered open and available at no cost to all users, following the 5Rs of openness.

The 5Rs of Openness

The “5 Rs” is a framework that encourages educators to capitalize on the unique rights associated with open content. These rights include the ability to:

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 mash-up)
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)

"The 5 Rs of Openness" by David Wiley is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 license