Skip to content

Open Educational Resources

Open Educational Resources (OER) are freely accessible, openly licensed educational materials that can be used, adapted, and redistributed by anyone. They are designed to support teaching, learning, and research without the typical restrictions of traditional copyrighted educational content.

Key Characteristics of OER:

  1. Free Access -- Available at no cost to users.
  2. Open Licensing -- Typically licensed under Creative Commons or similar licenses, allowing modification and redistribution.
  3. Diverse Formats -- Can include textbooks, videos, quizzes, simulations, course modules, and full online courses.
  4. Customization -- Educators can adapt content to fit specific learning needs.
  5. Scalability -- Institutions and individuals can distribute OER widely without legal or financial barriers.

Is There a Central Listing of OER?

There is no single, universally recognized central repository for OER, but several well-known platforms and organizations curate and distribute them:

Major OER Repositories and Platforms:

  1. OER Commons (https://www.oercommons.org) -- A broad collection of open educational materials for various subjects and levels.
  2. MIT OpenCourseWare (https://ocw.mit.edu) -- Free course materials from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
  3. OpenStax (https://openstax.org) -- High-quality, peer-reviewed open textbooks.
  4. MERLOT (https://www.merlot.org) -- A curated collection of free learning materials.
  5. LibreTexts (https://libretexts.org) -- Open textbooks and learning materials in STEM, humanities, and social sciences.
  6. Wikibooks (https://en.wikibooks.org) -- A Wikimedia project with freely available textbooks.
  7. Europeana (https://www.europeana.eu) -- A European digital library that includes open educational materials.
  8. Creative Commons Search (https://search.creativecommons.org) -- A tool for finding openly licensed content.
  9. Open Education Global (https://www.oeglobal.org) -- A network promoting open education initiatives.
  10. UNESCO OER Platform (https://www.unesco.org/en/open-educational-resources) -- UNESCO's global effort to promote OER.

Each of these platforms has its own focus, audience, and scope, making them valuable resources for educators, students, and institutions. Let me know if you need recommendations based on specific subjects or use cases!