Orientation: Open Education Resources

Open Education Resources

A] What are OER?

Definition: Any educational resource/materials that may be freely accessed, reused, modified and shared ….openly available for use without paying royalties or licence fees. OER have open licenses that reserve certain rights but also encourage sharing and in many cases repurposing.

B] What is an open license and how do you get one?

An open license allows you to use/adapt and share educational content freely. The most common open licenses are those of Creative Commons. All open licenses have one common element – the obligation to provide information on the source of the material. This is referred to as ‘Attribution’. The Creative Commons website defines this as;

Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.

C] Understanding Open Licenses

*Symbols*	*Definitions*
Attribution Non Commercial - Share Alike	This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms.
Attribution - No Derivatives	This license allows for redistribution, commercial and non-commercial, as long as it is passed along unchanged and in whole, with credit to you.
Attribution - Non Commercial - No Derivatives	This license only allows others to download your works and share them with others as long as they credit you, but they can’t change them in any way or use them commercially.
Attribution	This license lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation.
Attribution - Non Commercial	This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially, and although their new works must also acknowledge you and be non-commercial, they don’t have to license their derivative works on the same terms.
Attribution - Share Alike	This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work even for commercial purposes, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms. All new works based on yours will carry the same license, so any derivatives will also allow commercial use.

D] Why are OER important?

OER provide a means for sharing educational information in a cost-effective and collaborative manner. UNESCO and other international institutions have recognized the benefits of OER in supporting access to quality education. In 2012, the UNESCO hosted the World OER Congress which adopted the ‘Paris OER Declaration’. A key element of this Declaration is to ‘encourage the open licensing of educational materials produced with public funds’.