FAQ

OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES BACKGROUNDER

What are OER?

Open educational resources (OER) are teaching, learning, and research materials in any medium that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits their free use and re-purposing by others. (Hewlett Foundation, 2012)

More simply put, OERs are open resources that can be remixed, modified, and redistributed by anyone.

How are OERs different from other digital or free resources?

OERs are distinguished by the fact that they are open, meaning that they can be modified and redistributed freely by anyone.

While all OERs are free and most are digital, it is important to distinguish resources that are digital and/or free but not open. Materials that are digital may or may not be free. Many require the payment of annual license fees and prohibit any modifications or redistribution. Similarly, most materials that are free (in terms of cost) do not allow for modification or remixing. In addition, free proprietary resources may not always be free and often present data privacy issues, especially for schools.

Why is OER important?

Because they are open, OERs give teachers and learners the ability to remix and customize content, which is an important part of differentiating instruction. In order to differentiate instruction, it is necessary to have a large amount of content that can be remixed and redistributed in a variety of ways and formats that meet different students' needs in terms of language level, learning style, interests, etc. OERs allow this remixability, both legally and logistically.

At a higher level, OERs serve the common public good. They can be used by all learners everywhere without paying license fees or risking legal challenges.

When the development or acquisition of educational materials is publicly funded, it is in the public interest to require or encourage open licensing as much as possible. Doing so leverages the public investment for the public good, guaranteeing that the benefits will be available to all forever.

Is this the same as “open source”?

Not really. Both open source software and OER are published under open licenses, so the concepts are similar. However, open source refers to software and its source code, which often is produced by a community of people who collaborate on its creation. OER, on the other hand, refers to content, not software. Because you can have OER built with open source or proprietary software, as well as proprietary content built with either, it is better to avoid overlap of the terms.

What OERs are already available?

There are many OERs currently available. Here a just a few examples:


 * CK12 Flexbooks
 * EngageNY CCSS curriculum
 * FreeReading
 * Curriki
 * MIT OpenCourseWare
 * Connexions

More resources are available here.

 What is Creative Commons?

Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization dedicated to making it easier for people to share and build upon the work of others through open licenses. They provide free licenses, such as CC BY, that creators can use to license their work so that others can share, remix, and/or use it commercially.

What license is best to use?

There are many choices for open licenses, and the specific choice is up to each work's creator. However, it is recommended that one of the Creative Commons licenses be used, because they are well thought out and legally tested; they are understood and recognized by many; and they are generally compatible with a considerable amount of other open content.

In order to have the most broadly open and compatible content, we recommend CC BY. This license is particularly recommended for any publicly funded work, because content licensed this way can be used most readily by others.

Where can I get more information?


 * Creative Commons
 * Why does "open" matter?
 * K12 Open Ed
 * P2PU School of Open