Open Educational Resources (OER)
Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching, learning, and research materials that are free to access, adapt, and share thanks to open licenses that explicitly permit retention, reuse, revision, remixing, and redistribution —the “5 R rights”.
Why Use OER?
- Cost savings for students by replacing high-priced textbooks with free alternatives.
- Pedagogical freedom for instructors to customize, localize, and update materials.
- Equitable access for learners worldwide, removing paywalls and permission barriers.
Major OER Platforms & Repositories
| Platform | Primary Focus | Key Features | License Scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| MERLOT | Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning & Online Teaching | 100,000+ peer-reviewed learning objects across disciplines; member ratings and comments | Varies; most under Creative Commons |
| MIT OpenCourseWare | Full course content from MIT (syllabi, lectures, assessments) | 2,600+ courses; high-quality STEM & humanities materials; translated into multiple languages | CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 |
| OER Commons | Aggregator of lesson plans, textbooks, simulations, etc. | Advanced search, alignment to curricula, authoring & remix tools, hubs for institutions | Predominantly CC licenses |
| Open Textbook Library | Peer-reviewed open textbooks | 1,400+ titles; faculty reviews; PDF & editable formats | CC BY or similar |
| Wikimedia Commons | 95+ million media files (images, audio, video) | Free cultural & educational media; integrates with Wikipedia; category and quality ratings | CC BY, CC BY-SA, or public domain |
| OpenStax | High-quality college textbooks | Professionally developed textbooks with ancillaries; print copies at low cost | CC BY 4.0 |
| LibreTexts | Dynamic, modular textbooks & homework systems | 400+ books in STEM, social sciences, humanities; Remix tool; integration with LMS | CC BY-NC-SA (default) |
| Teaching Commons | Aggregated scholarly teaching materials from university repositories | Faculty-authored syllabi, modules, multimedia | Varies; mostly CC licenses |
| NOBA Project | Psychology textbooks & modules | Customizable texts authored by scholars; instructor ancillaries | CC BY-NC-SA |
| Open Case Studies | Real-world case studies (public policy, health, environment) | Editable case repositories; interdisciplinary | CC BY |
Evaluating & Adopting OER
- Search strategically: Start with discipline-specific hubs or use OER Commons’ aggregated search.
- Check licensing: Confirm the Creative Commons license permits your intended adaptation.
- Assess quality: Look for peer reviews (MERLOT, Open Textbook Library) and version history.
- Align to learning outcomes: Map OER content to course objectives and accreditation requirements.
- Plan accessibility: Ensure materials meet WCAG standards; many repositories flag accessibility features.