Open Educational Resources (OER) are defined as
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.
- William and Flora Hewlett Foundation definition
Open educational resources include full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, images, software and many other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge.
OER are only OER if they have an open license. Creative Commons (CC) licenses are most often used for OER. You can also choose a specially suitable open license such as ODbl, ODC-BY or PDDL to be legally compliant.
Learn more about OER at the UFS from our guide, or visit our UFSOER platform.
How can you ensure quality of materials?
This is not always a given. So far there is no quality seal for OER materials. Open user comments, peer review, and the publication of materials on platforms of established institutions like universities can provide a first indication of quality. Just as with printed text materials, quality can not be guaranteed. This unsettles many users. The actuality and adaptability of the materials nevertheless speaks for the use of OER. At the end of the day, you only know yourself whether the selected material is suitable for the intended purpose and whether its content is correct.