Introduction to open educational resources (OERs)

What are OERs?

Educause, a nonprofit association working in higher education and technology, defines open educational resources
(OERs) as “any resources available at little or no cost that can be used for teaching, learning or research. The term can
include textbooks, course readings and other learning content; simulations, games and other applications; syllabi,
quizzes and assessment tools; and virtually any other educational material.”

How can OERs help faculty?

Faculty members are often asked to teach
Faculty members want to integrate Freshman and sophomore-level classes at
PROBLEM

courses that are outside their areas of

multimedia-enhanced materials into their NCCU often have gaps in student readiness.
expertise. It can be challenging to design a
instruction, but lack the technical know-how Some students may need additional
syllabus and course on a subject without
or the time to create original content. instruction with certain topics.
expert knowledge of the topic.

Searching through OERs can help faculty

HOW OERs CAN HELP

OERs are pre-produced modules that require identify themes and key materials to include The instructor can find supplemental
little technological know-how to incorporate in a course. OERs can provide a framework learning materials for the students who need
them into instructional materials on from which to design a course. Because OER additional help. These resources could
Blackboard, a PowerPoint presentation or an repositories are cross-disciplinary, the include materials that are targeted toward
email. However, time is required to search instructor could find content from outside his alternative learning styles that may be more
for and find the appropriate materials.   discipline, but relevant to the topic, to include effective for reaching certain learners.
in the course.

What’s the catch?

There is no catch. The only requirement for using OERs is that you cite the work and obey the licensing restrictions the content author placed on
the work.

Where can I find them?

There is a list of OER repositories on the back of this handout. OERs can be found on This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.
websites operated by universities, nonprofit organizations and for-profit companies.
The Center for University Teaching and Learning
A Title III Activity | North Carolina Central University
www.nccu.edu/CUTL | CUTL@nccu.edu | 919-530-6218
Open Educational Resources Repositories
Fields of Scope
Name Web address Object types Sponsor/Owner Description Licensing
study (approx.)
GENERAL REPOSITORIES
This repository links to many OER
Institute for the Study of
OER repositories, including Connexions, Varies,
www.oercommons.org All types All fields Knowledge Management 24,000
Commons OpenCourseWare Consortium, Open check asset
in Education
Learning Initiative.
Varies,
MERLOT www.merlot.org All types All fields California State University Many objects are peer-reviewed 14,000
check asset
DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC
Copyright
A digital library of educational
with All
Information Villanova University and resources for the computing field,
CITIDEL www.citidel.org/ All types Rights 480,000
Technology Virginia Tech University harvested from 10 different source
Reserved,
collections.
Fair Use
Access, use
Earth System National Center for Materials to support earth science
DLESE www.dlese.org/library/ All types and modify 25,000
Science Atmospheric Research system education
for free

Tutorials, International Association

Health Materials to support medical students Creative
HEAL www.healcentral.org/index.jsp images, videos, of Medical Science 22,000
Education and professionals Commons
animations Educators (IAMSE)

Materials to support applied science

SMETE
Sciences (see and math, engineering, computer Varies,
Digital www.smete.org/smete/ All types SMETE Open Federation 16,000
description) science/information technology and check asset
Library
engineering technology education
VIDEO AND IMAGE REPOSITORIES
Creative Searches Creative Commons-licensed
Images, videos, Not discipline- Creative Commons — Creative
Commons search.creativecommons.org/ works on Flickr, Google Images, blip.tv Millions
music specific nonprofit Commons
Search (video), Jamendo (music)
Not discipline- TED — a small nonprofit Short lectures from the world’s leading Creative
TED www.ted.com Videos Hundreds
specific organization thinkers Commons
Lectures, presentations and interviews
YouTube Varies,
www.youtube.com/education Videos All fields Google and other videos from universities in Thousands
EDU check asset
the US.
This list was adapted from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) wiki and used under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 License.
View the original list here: http://oerwiki.iiep-unesco.org/index.php?title=Repositories.

All types = “textbooks, course readings, and other learning content; simulations, games, and other applications; syllabi, quizzes, and assessment tools; and virtually any other educational material." (Educause)