Introduction to OER

Locating OER

Numerous online repositories have been established for curating OER. UBC defines an Open Educational Resource Repository (OERR) as "an online storage system that allows educators to share, manage and use education resources. The repository contains a collection of learning items that support instruction." 

There is great diversity in the OERRs available on the internet - some are general while others are specific to different disciplines or types of resources. The following two links connect you to webpages that have judiciously reviewed, annotated, and/or prioritized the many repositories available:

Western Libraries page for Open Educational Resources: lists common repositories and repositories specific to certain resources like photographs, video, and multimedia. 

UBC Guide to Open Education Repositories: All of the repositories on this page have been assessed with a repository rubric. 

Evaluating OER

In the past, you've made thoughtful and critical decisions about what resources to include in your course. Using OER is no different - you will want to evaluate potential resources for their accuracy, relevance, and utility before adding them as a course resource. Consider using the following checklist, developed by BCOER Librarians, to help you evaluate OER:

Using OER

Once you've identified an OER you'd like to use in your teaching, consider the following steps for putting it to use:

1. Review the open license on the content

What open license was selected for your selected OER? Be sure to review the licence and develop a plan for how you will address the features of the license. The following image outlines what actions are possible under the various CC licenses:

Creative Commons Licences by Foter (CC BY-SA)

2. Adoption or Adaption? 

Based on your review of the open license, you may choose to adopt or adapt the OER. If you aim to adapt the work, remember that the work cannot have a No Derivatives feature as part of its license. 

Common adaptations include:

• removing/omitting sections of the resource
• editing text to change or add what is communicated
• creating a mashup or remixing works (incorporating various works together to create something new)
• modification of the resource to be more accessible (i.e. addition of subtitles to a video)

3. Distribution

The final step in putting an OER to use is to incorporate it into your course and distribute it to students. How this is accomplished will vary depending on the resource and application.