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Open Educational Resources (OER)

What are OER?

 
Open Educational Resources
 
Open Educational Resources (OER) are learning materials in any medium – digital or otherwise – that are free of cost and carry legal permissions for open use, adaptation, and redistribution. OER can include open textbooks, multimedia materials, test banks, labs, slide decks, discussion questions, assignments, and anything else you might use in your classroom. 
 

OER are one option for instructors wanting to replace expensive commercial textbooks in their courses. Additionally, materials labeled as Affordable Course Materials -- those that are free or low-cost but do not allow for the adaption or redistribution of materials -- can be used by instructors wanting to reduce costs for students while increasing pedagogical flexibility. 

5Rs: Retain, Reuse, Revise, Remix, Redistribute

Open Educational Resources must either be in the public domain or carry an open license (generally a Creative Commons license) that provide users with free access and the legal permission to engage in the 5R activities: retain, reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute. 

 

An illustration of a flower with the 5Rs named and explained: retain (can make, own, and control copies of the content); redistribute (can share original and altered versions of content); reuse (can fully use content for any purpose, in different mediums); revise (the content can be adapted, adjusted, modified, or altered); remix (can mashup content with other material).

Image credit: 5Rs by Ellen September is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Why use OER?

"Student Icon" by designvector, The Noun Project is licensed under CC BY 3.0

Student Benefits

  • Digital course materials are free or can be printed at a low cost 

  • Course materials are available on day one of the class (i.e., no waiting on financial aid in to buy a textbook, no searching multiple websites to find the lowest price on used books) 

  • Instructors can customize the materials to ensure that they are specific to students' needs (e.g., offering local examples to illustrate a point, giving extra coverage to areas of particular importance for the course, etc.). 

     "Teacher Icon" by b farias, The Noun Project is licensed under CC BY 3.0 

Instructor Benefits

  • They are a concrete, meaningful way to help reduce the cost of higher education for students 

  • An instructor can provide more (and more engaging) resources for students without increasing costs 

  • Course materials are openly licensed and can be adapted to your students' needs, your teaching style, and your course objectives. 

What UNC Students Say About Textbook Costs

Some students already struggle to pay for rent, bills, transportation, tuition and even necessities like food. Imagine the relief if we had one less thing to worry about, like not purchasing books.
I spend less than I could on textbooks, but it is still a sizable chunk of money. Multiple times I have had to put off paying certain bills or repairing my car in order to pay for textbooks
“I know students who have failed because they can’t afford the textbook…it has caused me to stress greatly and I had to choose between getting food or getting the textbook.”
“Taking classes without the required materials is a lot like starting a course half-way through the semester; it feels like every assignment and lecture is in the middle of a topic that you’ve never even heard about before... It felt like I was getting half the education that I’d paid for simply because I wasn’t able to afford the materials for those classes.”