Open Educational Resources (OERs)

A few semesters ago, I took a course on Open Educational Resources (OERs), so it was helpful to revisit the topic this week. As I explored resources related to OERs, Creative Commons licensing, and ethical use of educational materials, I found myself returning to concepts I first encountered in that course.

Since some of my classmates may be learning about OERs for the first time, I thought it would be useful to begin with a basic explanation of what they are.

To understand OERs, it is important to first understand the concept of open content. Open content includes materials such as books, videos, images, and other creative works that people can freely access and use. The content is considered "open" because it is either in the public domain for free use or shared under a license that gives users permission to keep, use, and share the material with others (Wiley, 2023). 

These permissions determine how the open content and resources may be used. The clip below provides a deeper explanation of the 5 Rs. It is from a presentation I made a few semesters back on OERs!

The 5 Rs

If you are interested in watching the full presentation, click here!

OERs are one type of open content and often include educational materials such as textbooks, lesson plans, presentations, and videos. Because these resources are openly licensed, educators can modify and share them to better meet the needs of their students. The University of Texas Health Science Center defines OERs as "publicly accessible materials and resources for any user to use, re-mix, improve and redistribute under some licenses" (UT Health, 2026).

It is also important to note that not all OERs work in exactly the same way. Many OERs include specific rules about how they can be used. For example, some resources allow you to use and share the material, but do not allow you to change it or redistribute a modified version.

Sources: 

Caswell, T., Henson, S., Jensen, M., & Wiley, D. (2008). Open educational resources: Enabling universal education. International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 9(1). https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED500517.pdf 

UT Health San Antonio Libraries. (2026, April 7). Open educational resources (OER). https://libguides.uthscsa.edu/c.php?g=1067226&p=8969779

Wiley, D. (2023, September 26). Defining the "open" in open content and open educational resources. OpenContent.org. https://opencontent.org/definition/