Open Educational Resources are materials that have had an open license applied to them. These materials could be much more than just a textbook. These could be a single unit, a worksheet, an interactive activity; basically, anything that helps with teaching and learning.
OER’s don’t always have to remain in digital formats; most of the time, these can be printed out for a very low cost and given to the students.
What truly makes an OER an OER are the Five R’s…
The Five R’s of OER’s
OER’s are different from traditionally published resources because the license they carry allow adaptations to be made to materials.
True OER’s carry the following permissions:
Reuse: take a resource and use it in any context you want
Remix: take multiple resources and mix them together to create a new resource
Revise: make a copy of the resource and change it to the local context
Retain: keep a copy and control a resource forever
Redistribute: freely share whatever you’ve created
OpenStax Books and Content
All OpenStax books, currently over 30 titles, and other OpenStax learning resources are true OER materials. They are openly licensed, peer-reviewed and completely free to use. Meaning students will pay $0.00 for using their books!
Other OER Materials & Affordability Counts
Of course, there are thousands of other OER materials out there besides those offered via OpenStax and the Affordability Counts group is ready to assist in helping you find those materials. We can help you transition from using expensive course materials to low-cost or completely free course materials.
Reach out today via firstname.lastname@example.org or via our form and we will be glad to assist in any way we can.