Types of OER

Remember, OER refer to educational materials that include permission for anyone to use, modify and share. In its simplest form, the term open educational resource describes any educational resource (including curriculum maps, course materials, textbooks, streaming videos, multimedia applications, podcasts, and any other materials that have been designed for use in teaching and learning) that is openly available for use by educators and students, without an accompanying need to pay royalties or license fees.

Materials that are under full copyright, or which are not accompanied by a specific license allowing anyone to copy, adapt and share them, are not open educational resources. An example of this would be resources only available through institutional library subscriptions such as eBooks, online articles, and streaming media.  You can use these materials only within fair use provisions or copyright exceptions.

Perhaps the most useful first step when searching for OER is knowing what you are looking for. Are you seeking OER video lectures that discuss Microeconomics? Alternatively, are you looking for a full OER course in Psychology? If you can narrow your search to a particular discipline and have an idea of the types of OER content you are seeking, your search will be much easier.

In addition to the steps and considerations outlined above, as you begin your search for relevant open educational resources, take a few more pre-planning steps before diving into the various search tools available. For a moment, put yourself in the shoes of your students when they are asked to research a topic for a paper. They identify a topic, outline keywords, plan their search strategy, compile relevant resources, and evaluate their results. Your search for OER won’t be very different from this approach. Below is a great list of questions to ask yourself BEFORE you begin your search.

• What sparked your interest in OER?
• What type of OER are you looking for? A textbook? A video? A set of lesson plans?
• Identify Course Objectives, Topics, & Outcomes the OER will need to cover.
• List what you like (or love) about your current course materials.
• List what you don’t like about your current course material.
• Think about the effectiveness of the textbooks and course materials.
  • Rank your top 5 elements (Are they current? Accurate? Cover course outcomes? Professionalism?)
• Have you used any open educational resources before? If yes, make a list.

Once you’ve answered the above questions, you’ll have a better sense of where to start your search for OER.