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Open Educational Resources (OER) are freely and publicly available teaching and learning resources that have been released under an open license, which grant permission(s) to use these materials in unique ways.
The 5 OER permissions define how materials can be used:
There are three ways to use OER as an instructor:
Authors use open licenses to extend permissions beyond traditional copyright limitations. Open licenses do not replace copyright; instead, they compliment it.
Creative Commons licenses are the most commonly used open licenses for open educational resources (OER). These licenses come in a variety of forms, providing authors with multiple options for how their works can be used (the 5R permissions).
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 508), as well as good teaching practice, require that all online educational materials be accessible to students with disabilities. There is often an assumption that OER materials have been created with accessibility in mind. Please know that this is not always the case. Instructors should evaluate resources for closed captioning on videos and screen reader functionality for online OER materials.
Open textbooks offered by the major OER publishers are likely highly accessible, but still require some due diligence. This is true of OpenStax and Lumen Learning. In general, accessibility varies by text, but the open license gives you permission to revise the content to improve accessibility.
Open pedagogy is the practice of engaging with students as creators of information rather than simply consumers of it. It's a form of experiential learning in which students demonstrate understanding through the act of creation. The products of open pedagogy are student created and openly licensed so that they may live outside of the classroom in a way that has an impact on the greater community. Open projects frequently result in the creation of open educational resources (OER).