What are..? Open educational resources (OER)

"Open educational resources (OER) are any resources available at little or no cost that can be used for teaching, learning, or research. The term can include textbooks and other learning content; simulations, games, and other applications; syllabi, quizzes, and assessment tools and virtually any other educational material.

Open resources are issued under a license that spells out how they can be used - some may only be used in their original form; in other cases, resources can be modified, remixed, and redistributed."

Why am I mentioning these here...? Because not only is it becoming more common for providers to share resources or access shared resources through channels such as JORUM, but recent funding initiatives are also encouraging learning providers to share and develop resources together, so its useful to know what OER are and what's out there currently.

The "7 Things You Should Know About..." series from the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) provides concise information on emerging learning technologies. Each brief focuses on a single technology and describes what it is, where it is going, and why it matters to teaching and learning.

Hopefully this brief can offer you a no-jargon, quick overview of this topic which you can share them with time-pressed colleagues.

In addition to the "7 Things You Should Know About…" briefs, you may find other ELI resources useful in addressing teaching, learning, and technology issues at your institution. To learn more, please visit the ELI Resources page.


To read more of Wobble click here.