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Open Educational Resources (OER)

This guide explains what Open Educational Resources are and provides examples.

USING OERs AND OPEN ACCESS

OER at Boise State
Boise State has a dedicated group of instructional designers, faculty, and librarians who use and champion the use of OER and can help you incorporate OER into your courses. Visit their page at https://www.boisestate.edu/oer/

"At Boise State, open educational resources (OER) are free, openly-licensed materials that permit use, revision, and redistribution. While the benefits of OER are available to all learners and educators, OER draws on the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion. As such, it is developed for the empowerment and with the participation of marginalized learners who may be underrepresented in educational contexts."

OER projects at Boise State can be found here: https://www.boisestate.edu/alm-oer/oer-projects-at-boise-state/

Why use OERs? 
"OER is consistent with UNESCO’s constitutional commitment to “the free exchange of ideas and knowledge”. Learning materials freely available for adaptation and re-purposing can expand access to learning of better quality at lower cost. The rapid expansion of technology-mediated approaches to deliver learning worldwide has accentuated the sharing and relevance of OER and amplified this global phenomenon."
("What is the story behind Open Educational Resources?", UNESCO.org)

What is the difference between OER and Open Access Publishing?
"Open access publishing is typically referring to research publications of some kind released under an open licence. OER refers to teaching and learning materials released under such a licence." ~From: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:A_Basic_Guide_to_Open_Educational_Resources.pdf/15