Open Educational Resources are teaching, learning and research materials in any medium – digital or otherwise – that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits no-cost access, use, adaptation and redistribution by others with no or limited restrictions.
OERs can come in a variety of forms including open textbooks, open courses, individual lectures, assessments, video lectures, and more. They can also include content like images, videos, and sound recordings.
The open resource movement has been around for a while, starting with static learning objects (about 2000), and transitioning to OERs that allowed for revision and reuse. It is the ever increasing cost of textbooks and materials for students that is now pushing the OER movement forward. Textbooks and learning materials cost students approximately $1,100 per year. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, 7 in 10 students didn't purchase a textbook because it was too expensive. Through OERs the cost of student materials can be drastically reduced. OERs also give instructors the ability to customize the materials, creating the "perfect" textbook instead of being bound to traditional print resources.
The first step is finding OERs, and that is what this guide is designed to do, so check out the open textbook collections page in the right navigation bar, or:
Password: OER from Laura Rachfalski on Vimeo.
Open Textbooks Could Help Students
As the price of college textbooks continues to increase, more students are opting to skip the books even if their grades suffer, a survey conducted by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group has found. In a report released on Monday, the group said open textbooks—written by faculty members, peer-reviewed, and available free online—could help make textbooks affordable again.
The Cost and Quality of Open Textbooks:
The Cost and Quality of Open Textbooks: Perceptions of community college faculty and students. by TJ Bliss, John Hilton, David Wiley and Kim Thanos.
7 Things You Should Know about OERs
This PDF comes from EDUCAUSE
On Quality and OER
Blogpost by David Wiley
Report: Make Textbooks Affordable
As publishers keep costs high by pumping out new editions and selling books bundled with software, students are forced to forgo book purchases or otherwise undermine their academic progress.