Open Educational Resources (OER) - are openly-licensed, freely available educational materials that can be modified and redistributed by users. They can include any type of educational resource, from syllabi to full courses. OER is one of the pillars of Open Education, an initiative aimed at promoting learning and teaching according to one's own needs and intuition, encouraging experiments and creative activity. OER’s are created at leading universities such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge University, Harvard University, Stanford University, Technical University of Delft. They are intended to be a modern teaching aid for students and academic teachers from all over the world.
Open Educational Resources are most often textbooks, books, online courses, lecture slides, podcasts, video materials, music, tests, quizzes and even computer software. They are usually found in electronic form, although they can also take more traditional, printed forms.
Following David Wiley, it is assumed that OER’s should meet the 5R principle:
- Reuse - use your original, revised, or remixed copy of the resource publicly (e.g., on a website, in a presentation, in a class).
- 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).
- 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).
- Retain - make, own, and control a copy of the resource (e.g., download and keep your own copy).
More information about the idea of open education, creating, reusing and sharing open educational resources is available on the YouTube channel as part of a series of meetings prepared by the European Network of Open Education Librarians (ENOEL) team:
