For more information on these services, please contact Stephanie Chen at stephanie.chen@ucc.ie.
Image: Giulia Forsythe OER is sharing shared under CCBY 4.0 license https://flic.kr/p/212JrPx
OER, or Open Educational resources, refers to materials licensed to provide open, unrestricted access. It is an extension of Open Access material, with an emphasis on educational content. This material is shared with the intention of being used for the ‘5R activities’:
Retain - make, own, and control a copy of the resource (e.g., download and keep your own copy)
Revise - edit, adapt, and modify your copy of the resource (e.g., translate into another language)
Remix - combine your original or revised copy of the resource with other existing material to create something new (e.g., make a mashup)
Reuse - use your original, revised, or remixed copy of the resource publicly (e.g., on a website, in a presentation, in a class)
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)
From ‘Defining the "Open" in Open Content and Open Educational Resources’ by David Wiley, published in his blog opencontent.org, licensed under a CC BY license
OER is intended to complement existing, and more traditional educational resources, such as books, lectures and lecture notes, journals, and videos. OER has applications for all sides of teaching and learning. The open nature of the material allows for a broader range of content than just using traditional models. The wide scope of OER also facilitates the sharing of scholarship, research, and educational tools from diverse areas, and as a future-focused model, OER also fosters participation in teaching and learning that benefits from a focus on continued modernisation.
OER can take a wide variety of forms, including digital copies of articles, eBooks, videos, podcasts, slide shows and interactive material. Depending on how the material is licensed, it is open to varying levels of modification and re-application, and it is also a robust means of furthering academic and educational material in modern, open, and dynamic means.
The “open” nature of Open Educational Resources refers to:
“Any copyrightable work (traditionally excluding software, which is described by other terms like "open source") that is either (1) in the public domain or (2) licensed in a manner that provides everyone with free and perpetual permission to engage in the 5R activities”
From ‘Defining the "Open" in Open Content and Open Educational Resources’ by David Wiley, published in his blog opencontent.org, licensed under a CC BY license
That is, material which is shared under Creative Commons licensing (see below), which is intended for widespread and unrestricted use, and which may be modified and edited to further its use and applications.
|
Material Type |
Openly Licensed |
Freely Available |
Modifiable |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Open educational resources |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Free online resources under all rights reserved copyright |
No |
Yes |
No |
|
Materials available through the University Library |
No |
Yes |
No |
|
Open access articles and monographs |
Yes |
Yes |
Maybe |
From Components of an OER, Iowa State University
While Open Access material and OER material are similar, and follow many of the same principles, one of the key distinctions is that, while open access allows free access and distribution of material, OER also allows, and encourages, modification of resources and redistribution of these following modification, while working within the framework of Creative Commons Licensing.
Here is a useful definition of the differences between OER and OA
“OA refers to teaching, learning and research materials that are freely available online to read and distribute, such as scholarly articles and journals.
OER are part of the open access ecosystem, and the term 'open educational resources' can be applied to any material that is either in the public domain or which has a Creative Commons license (provided it doesn't contain a NoDerivatives (-ND) clause. OER encourages the remixing and redistribution of the resource, without the need to ask permission, as long as the work is attributed to the copyright owner. They include a wide range of materials such as course materials, textbooks, videos and podcasts.”
From "OER Toolkit - Introducing OER" University of York White Rose Libraries
OER is submitted by users once a Creative Commons license is applied to it. You can submit OER to repositories, which will then act as a method of dissemination.
OER has applications for all sides of teaching and learning. As a teaching resource, it can bolster existing materials, providing additional, easily accessible, and diverse materials for recommended reading lists, and assisted self-directed reading and researching for students. As a learning resource, OER can provide easy to find and diverse research materials, learning tools, and perspectives for all disciplines.
OER can be used in teaching by providing access to a diverse range of source materials, providing introductory or specialised materials such as publications and articles and allowing the dissemination of the same. Video or audio material can be sourced, or shared, allowing for you to access existing teaching materials from elsewhere, and bolstering your own teaching portfolio by generating and sharing your own resources.
OER can be used for research, to grow and strengthen references, to find new introductory or in-depth materials and to allow for free and easily accessible materials beyond core material such as reading lists.
Due to the collaborative nature of OER, participants engaged in teaching and learning can also collaborate, sharing materials found and engaging in a dialogue based around learning.
The open nature of OER also allows creators of OER to participate in their own evaluation process before submission. As OER is modifiable, there can be specific considerations taken in when material is created and submitted as OER, and this can then be modified for further uses. Below are some considerations in evaluating OER:
Does this OER cover the content you'd like your students to learn in this course or module?
How accessible is this content? Will it be accessible for your students, or is it too technical? Or is it robust and challenging enough for your students?
How can you use the content? Verify the license that the resource is under. Can you remix or revise the OER as long as it isn't for commercial purposes? Who do you have to recognize if you use it? Will you be able to do so? For more help with this, please contact the library.
Once you determine how you can use the OER, what would you like to do with it? Does only a portion of it apply to your class? Would you possibly want to combine this OER with another OER or resource? Does the library have access to articles that could act as supplemental readings?
As you collect more OER and other resources, save them in a central location. Take note of how you envision using them. Align these resources with the learning objectives and weekly lessons on your syllabus in order to identify gaps.
From University of Illinois Library, Evaluate OER
At this link from Achieve.org, there is a video detailing eight rubrics to evaluate the use of OER material. This may be useful in guiding the process of determining the use and value of OER material and how to engage actively and critically with available material.
The rubrics are as follows:
Rubric I. Degree of Alignment to Standards
Rubric II. Quality of Explanation of the Subject Matter
Rubric III. Utility of Materials Designed to Support Teaching
Rubric IV. Quality of Assessment
Rubric V. Quality of Technological Interactivity
Rubric VI. Quality of Instructional and Practice Exercises
Rubric VII. Opportunities for Deeper Learning
Rubric VIII. Assurance of Accessibility
From “Rubrics for Evaluating Open Education Resource (OER) Objects” Achieve.org
Creative Commons licensing is a form of licensing that aims to encourage shared use of resources, while ensuring a robust legal framework for licensees. In the context of OER, this allows for a means to share material while ensuring legal protection of work. Creative Commons define themselves as follows:
“CC is an international nonprofit organization that empowers people to grow and sustain the thriving commons of shared knowledge and culture we need to address the world’s most pressing challenges and create a brighter future for all.
Together with our global community and multiple partners, we build capacity and infrastructure, we develop practical solutions, and we advocate for better sharing: sharing that is contextual, inclusive, just, equitable, reciprocal, and sustainable.”
From https://creativecommons.org/
Creative Commons licensing allows for a wide range of protections for materials, a guide can be found here: Creative Commons Kiwi.
Image: CC license spectrum by Shaddim, CC BY 4.0
Below are some OER repositories and other relevant resources related to OER.
Below are some related links, including related areas within UCC’s Library service.
UCC Library's Digital Scholarship Studio
Open Access Publishing at UCC Library
CORA (Cork Open Research Archive)
Using OER and OEP for Teaching and Learning from the National Forum
National Resource Hub from the National Forum
Open Educational Resources (OER) LibGuide is licensed under CC BY 4.0 
