Introduction to OER

Created Feb. 7, 2024 by Lauren Anstey

When it comes to creating and sharing your own OER, there are four steps to the process:

  1. Identify or create an educational resource to share as OER
  2. Create an open license (such as a Creative Commons (CC) license) for your work
  3. Mark your resource with the license you've created 
  4. Make your resource available for others to access 

This page focuses on some pointers and resources for achieving these steps. 

Identification or Creation of a Resource to Share

So you have (or are planning to create) a course, module, learning object, video, photo, etc. that you would like to share with others as an OER. Any educational resource has the potential to be shared as an OER. but before you share, there is one key question to ask yourself and that is: Am I within my rights as an author of this content to licence it under a creative commons licence? 

In answering this question for yourself, consider:

  • What institutional policies have impact upon your rights as an author? The UWOFA Collective Agreement outlines rights related to Intellectual Property for faculty, as an example.
  • Are there co-authors of the work who also hold rights?
  • ​Was the resource created for or as part of a commissioned work? If so, what were the terms of agreement regarding copyright?

Once you've determined that you have a resource to share, creation of a resource is as simple as licensing and sharing it as per the Creative Commons (CC) licence of your choosing. 

Creating an Open Licence 

Once you've determined that you have a resource to share, creation of a resource is as simple as licensing and sharing it as per the Creative Commons (CC) licence of your choosing. The following video is a tutorial on how to select and create a Creative Commons license for your work:

Creating OER: Selecting and Creating a CC Licenseby WesternuTSC (CC BY)

Marking your Resource with your Licence 

The following resource from Creative Commons details how to mark your OER with the license you've created for it: 

Download: Licensing and Marking your Content

Make your Resource Available to Others

The final step in creating your own OER is to share it with others using avenues through which they might easily locate and access the resource. Consider sharing the resource through:

  • the same OER repository through which you first found the resource you've used
  • a discipline or resource specific repository 
Return to top