History
What can I do with OER?
Open content uses free license that grant users permission to:
Retain - Make, own, and control (download, duplicate, store, and manage)
Reuse - Use the content in a wide range of ways (in class, study group, website, video, anthology, in software)
Revise - Adapt, adjust, customize, or alter the content (translate, modify, reorganize, change formats)
Remix - Combine original or revised content with other material to create something new (mashup, anthology, package)
Redistribute - Share copies of the original content, your revisions or remixes (share publicly online, give a copy to a friend)
See also: Best practices for attribution of Creative Commons licensed works
This material is based on original work by David Wiley, and you can download, edit, and share the original for free under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license from: http://www.opencontent.org/definition
The direct relationship between textbookcosts and student success by Oregon State University is licensed under CC By NC 4.0
How to Adopt
Adoption Steps
Step one: Set aside time.
Searching for these materials takes time and persistence, just like research!
Step two: take a look to see if someone else has created a similar, complete OER course or textbook.
See the "Complete Courses" and "Complete Textbooks" sections of the "Find" tab.
Example: Go to the Open Textbook Library and browse their open business texts.
Step three: Get cozy with your learning objectives.
Instead of focusing on the textbook that you would like to replace, focus on what you would like students to know or be able to do. You will likely need to search for several materials to address different topics or components of your complete class.
Example: instead of searching for “biology” materials, search for “cell structure” or “DNA” or “evolution” materials.
Step four: Use Google “Advanced Search” to search for open resources.
Step five: Search within some of the specific OER repositories/OER search engines:
See the "Find" tab for a list.
*OER Pro Tip* Use the browsing tools that the repository or search engine presents to you! Don’t rely solely on keyword searching.
Step six: Look for library materials like ebooks, articles and streaming videos to fill in gaps.
Visit the library's homepage to search the collection.
Step seven: Consider creating and sharing your own OER.
Check out the 60 minute webinar “Finding and Selecting High Quality OER” below: