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Open Educational Resources at Stevenson University

What are open educational resources?

The Maryland Open Source Textbook (M.O.S.T.) Initiative defines open educational resources as:

Open educational resources (OER) are freely available, fully accessible instructional materials that either reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits the use, revision, improvement, and redistribution by others. OER include full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support learning (adapted from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation’s definition).

OER are “openly licensed,” typically under a Creative Commons (CC) license, which enables the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted work.

Different groups have slightly different definitions of OER.  However, most agree that to qualify as OER, materials must be:

  • Produced under an open, non-commercial license, such as Creative Commons
  • Freely available and accessible in full-text
  • Able to be retained and used forever
  • Able to be revised, remixed, and redistributed without needing to ask permission

Why would I use OER?

OER isn't just textbooks.  These items can all be freely, openly accessible:

  • Lesson plans
  • Videos
  • Learning objects
  • Modules
  • Syllabi
  • Quizzes, tests, and exams
  • Assessments
  • and more

Faculty choose to use OER in their courses for a variety of reasons:

  • It's free or low cost.  Both faculty and students can use these materials, as many as they want, without having to pay additional fees.
  • It's flexible.  Faculty can customize their course materials and incorporate different perspectives.
  • It's convenient.  Materials can be accessed from anywhere, even before the course starts, as long as internet access is available.
  • It's current.  There's no need to wait for a publisher to produce a new edition of a textbook.
  • It augments intercultural knowledge and competency (IKC).  OER materials are a great way to represent different perspectives in your course without requiring additional paid resources.  See more information about what IKC is and the process of certifying a course.
  • They have philosophical reasons.  Some authors like the idea of using materials that are not subject to the traditional publishing process, or of giving back to their academic community by creating their own OER.

OER isn't all-or-nothing.  Many faculty may be cautious about the idea of immediately switching from a traditional textbook to OER.  Here are some ideas for easing into the process:

  • Require students to buy the traditional textbook for your course, then supplement with OER to fill in gaps, represent different viewpoints, or explain things in a different way.
  • Combine OER with library materials and/or copyrighted material under fair use.
  • Review your syllabus or current textbook and identify the strengths and weaknesses.  Search for multiple OER that fills in the gaps.
  • Use multiple OER materials for the same course.  This way, if one covers one topic well but not another, you can make sure your students are getting the full picture.

Can I use materials that are already in the library?

Yes! There are many books, eBooks, journals, articles, and more that are available through the library's existing subscriptions.  These items are not true OER because the library has paid for them, but they are still freely accessible to SU students and can expand the scope of your course materials.

What materials are already in the library?

Through the SU Library's subscriptions, you and your students have access to thousands of eBooks. A large percentage of these books allow unlimited numbers of users, making them ideal for an entire class to use. Whether you want your students to read the entire book, or if you just need links to a specific chapter or two, these books are always freely available and can be accessed from anywhere.

You can search for eBooks in these library databases.

The Library can host materials on E-Reserve. Faculty may request that limited portions of a book be scanned and made available digitally, as long as there is no copyright infringement. 

The library requests that faculty get their course materials in as soon as possible before the semester begins so that permission can be obtained and staff have time to physically scan the item. To put an item on E-Reserve, fill out the Reserves Form.

Films and documentaries can be a good way to expand your course materials and provide different perspectives on a topic.  Check out Kanopy to see if there are streaming videos that would be appropriate for your course, or search our collection of DVDs and Blu-Rays in the library catalog.

I found some OER, but what do I do now?

It's easy to find OER on almost any topic, but making sure it's the right OER is another question.  There are several rubrics that will help you assess whether the resources you've found are right for your students or your course.  Try these sites and checklists:

Once you've chosen the OER, you need to direct your students to it.  The easiest way to do so is to link it from your syllabus and/or a content area in your Blackboard course, such as Week 1, Readings, Activities, etc.

We suggest linking to the OER on the web rather than downloading a copy and uploading it as a file.

You can also include a link to the OER on your printed syllabus.  Consider using a URL shortener such as Bitly so that your students can easily type in the address on the web.

If you'd like some support at any stage of this process, your liaison librarian and ZCETL are here to help.  They can make suggestions about where to search for OER, send possible materials for your review, help assess the appropriateness of the OER for your course, and more.

You can find your liaison librarian here, or you can email ZCETL at ctl@stevenson.edu.

I thought OER was free. Why are traditional publishing companies like Gale and Pearson selling it?

One of OER's core features is that it's openly licensed.  Many authors choose a Creative Commons license that allows others to adapt, reuse, and remix it, which is useful for those who want to adapt and reuse it.  However, some authors do not choose the NC license, which signifies that only noncommercial uses of the work are permitted.  If that's the case, then anyone can sell and make money off it, including traditional publishing companies.  It may feel a bit distasteful, but it's legal.

If you publish your own OER material and would like to make sure no one makes any money off it, choose the CC-BY-NC license, which allows others to adapt and remix the content for noncommercial purposes only.