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Open Educational Resources: Introduction

Quick Definition

Open educational resources (OER) are teaching, learning, and research resources that are created with the intention of being freely available for anyone to use - educators, students, and the general public. They may include, but are not limited to, textbooks, readings, multi-media files, software, assessment tools, lectures, syllabi, and even entire courses. Most are covered by licenses that allow for using, re-mixing, and sharing, such as Creative Commons.

The Five Rs

5rs-OER

Retain - The right to make, own, and control copies of the content

Reuse - The right to use the content in a wide range of ways (e.g. in a class, in a study group, on a website, in a video)

Revise - The right to adapt, adjust, modify, or alter the content itself (e.g., translate the content into another language)

Remix - The right to combine the original or revise content with other open content to create something new (e.g., incorporate the content into a mash-up)

Redistribute - The right to share copies of the original content, your revisions, or your remixes with others 

Open Access

Search BCcampus OER

 

The B.C. Open Textbook Collection is home to a growing selection of open textbooks for a variety of subjects and specialties. Discover open textbooks that have been reviewed by faculty, meet accessibility requirements, and/or include ancillary materials (quizzes, test banks, slides, videos, etc.).

Search For OERs Using OASIS

 

Openly Available Sources Integrated Search (OASIS) is a search tool that aims to make the discovery of open content easier. OASIS currently searches open content from 117 different sources and contains 388,707 records. This search tool is being developed at SUNY Geneseo's Milne Library:

Copyright at UFV

For general information on copyright, including use of licenced resources, photocopying, and fair dealing, see the UFV Copyright guide:

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