Open Educational Resources (OER)

Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching, learning and research resources released under an open license that permits their free use and repurposing by others, in accordance to their Creative Commons license.  OER include full courses, course materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge.

Open Educational Resources are broadly considered to meet the “5Rs Framework,” meaning that users are free to:

• Retain: Users have the right to make, archive, and "own" copies of the content;
• Reuse:  Content can be reused in its unaltered form;
• Revise: Content can be adapted, adjusted, modified or altered;
• Remix: The original or revised content can be combined with other content to create something new;
• Redistribute: Copies of the content can be shared with others in its original, revised or remixed form

Open Textbooks are a form of OER that are widely used and provide free, adaptable, openly licensed peer-reviewed quality textbooks and supplemental resources. Classes using OER allow for every student to own a copy of the textbook on the 1st day of class, without shipping or financial aid delays! 

BELOW are examples of two open textbooks. To find more open textbooks use the databases list on the Finding OER page

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