Open educational resources, also known as OER, are teaching, learning and research materials that are in the public domain and have been released under an open license. OER materials are most commonly digital, yet they can come in other mediums. The open license gives users access to materials at no cost, thereby reducing textbook costs for students. It also allows for collaborations on documents over time that produce high quality and up to date resources for teaching, learning and research.
What does Open Licensing mean?
Open educational resources, also known as OER, are teaching, learning and research materials that are in the public domain and have been released under an open license. OER materials are most commonly digital, yet they can come in other mediums. The open license gives users access to materials at no cost, thereby reducing textbook costs for students. It also allows for collaborations on documents over time that produce high quality and up to date resources for teaching, learning and research.
Want to know more about Creative Commons licensing?
Let’s start by comparing Creative Commons licensing with Copyright. Did you know that anytime you produce a new creative work, such as a study guide, a PowerPoint slide deck, or a handout for students, you are automatically granted copyright? This means that your work is protected, and all your rights are reserved without any action from you.
Open Licensing /Creative Commons licensing provides you the opportunity to freely share your work simply by selecting from a range of permissions available. The Creative Commons agreement is structured into 5 categories of permission, commonly known as the 5 R’s.
David Wiley introduced the 5 R’s framework as a means for thinking about copyright permissions. It permits curators of resources to select an appropriate level of permission based on their desire to openly create and to collaborate at the global level.
The 5’s are organized as follows:
- 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.
- Revise– the right to adapt, adjust, modify, or alter the content itself.
- Remix– the right to combine the original or revised content with other material to create something new.
- Redistribute– the right to share copies of the original content, your revisions, or your remixes with others.
To learn more about Creative Commons licensing, and ideas about collaborative models for working together in a digital world, watch this 3 minute video.
Why use OER?
Many educators believe that OER provides opportunities to explore, create, and collaborate with others from around the world, ultimately improving curricula for all. OER Commons acts as a public digital library and facilitates such sharing and collaboration. We live in a digital world where books, journal articles, and other educational resources can be copied and readily distributed at essentially no cost, which forgoes the idea of ownership of documents and ideas in service to providing access to information for all (Wiley, 2014).
Cost-saving for students!
One of the most compelling and driving forces behind the use of Open Textbooks is the significant cost-savings that are passed on to the student. Here in BC, BCcampus reports that the adoption of digital Open Textbooks between 2012 and 2023 has resulted in a total savings for students amounting to $34,988,090. Savings as significant as these ultimately impact the student experience and their overall access to education.
There are over around 300,000 students in BC using Open Textbooks and more than 40 institutions currently adopting them. For more information on Open Textbook Stats, please visit BCcampus OpenEd
Are you interested in writing and self-publishing an open textbook?
We are proud to say that there are many faculty at VIU that have written and self-published open textbooks over the past few years, and there are many others that have adopted and adapted open textbooks. To support you in getting started with this process, BC Campus provides a Self-Publishing Guide.
Are you interested in adopting and/or adapting an open textbook?
BC Campus Open Education offers a substantial selection of openly licensed textbooks and associated resources. Many of which have been developed collaboratively and are available electronically, free of charge.
The BCcampus Library contains hundreds of Open Textbooks ranging in subjects from Academic /Career Success, through Biological/physical Sciences, Commuter Science, Earth and Ocean Sciences, to Education, Health and Medical, Humanities, Trades, and beyond. Search the collection.
eCampusOntario is another great resource, housing 611 open textbooks available at no charge.
Openstax.org is part of Rice University which is a non-profit charitable corporation. Its mission is to transform learning so that education works for every student by making textbooks freely available to faculty and to students. The use of their open textbooks has saved students many millions of dollars as they pursue their studies.