Open education is an attitude, a practice, and a method of teaching that inspires inquiry, equal access to course materials, and sharing lessons and materials with the wider community. At the center of open education is the belief that education is strengthened when shared openly. Open education relies on open educational resources (OER) and open licensing. After watching, you may want to use Hypothesis and annotate your thoughts and questions.
What are Open Educational Resources (OER)?
Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching, learning, and research materials that are either (a) in the public domain or (b) licensed in a manner that provides everyone with free and perpetual permission to engage in the 5R activities.
The 5R Activities of OER
An open license permits users of a resource to participate in the 5R activities of OER:
- Retain: Make, own, and control your own copy of the content
- Reuse: Use the content as-is
- Revise: Adapt, adjust, modify, improve, or alter the content
- Remix: Combine the original or revised content with other OER to create something new
- Redistribute: Share your copies of the original content, revisions or remixes with others
Here are two more videos that introduce OER. If you have time, they provide a little viewpoint.
Introduction to OER highlights OER from a student equity lens, describes the benefits for faculty, explains the rights provided by an open license, and offers suggestions for ensuring that OER is high quality.
Open Educational Resources: A Brief Explanation is a video that explains OER, highlights reasons for using OER, offers a short explanation on how to use OER and where to find OER.