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Open Educational Resources (OERs): Understanding OERs

A guide to using freely available online resources, including Open Educational Resources (OERs) for teaching and learning.

Using Open Educational Resources (OERs)

 

OERs are made available under open licences such as Creative Commons, giving you freedom to use them in many ways. To qualify as an OER, five freedoms must be permitted:

  • Retain: You may archive, store, or otherwise keep your own copy of the material in any form that you see fit. This would include being re-uploaded into UTS Online or other learning software; or being kept on your own computer for later use.

  • Reuse: You may use the material in any form you see fit. Feel free to take visual elements from the work and include them in a video, include sections in your lesson slides, or take sections and use them to produce worksheets.

  • Revise: You may edit the work as required. For example, you may wish to take an OER from overseas and then revise it to match the Australian context.

  • Remix: You may use more than one resource and combine them; provided that you adhere to the licences of both resources.

  • Redistribute: You may share this resource in any way you want.

While these rights must be present, some may come with a few strings attached. For example, some may be licensed under a Creative Commons ShareAlike licence which would require you to share any derivative works you create under the same license. However, this does not take away from the fact that OERs are incredibly powerful resources that can be used in any number of ways.

Understanding Creative Commons (CC)

 

While not the only open licensing scheme available, Creative Commons (CC) is the most popular of them and the one most likely to govern open-educational resources. Understanding how they work is therefore important for using OERs.

There are a number of Creative Commons licences available:

Creative Commons Zero logo

Creative Commons Zero

Creative Commons Zero is the most permissive licence. Any work released under this licence can be considered in the public domain, and therefore may be used without restriction. Material released under this licence does conform to the Five R freedoms discussed above.

Creative Commons Attribution logo

Creative Commons Attribution

Creative Commons Attribution licences allow you to use the content in any way you see fit; however, you must also provide correct attribution for the work. You must note the author or creator, provide a link to the work, and indicate if any changes were made. Material released under this licence does conform to the Five R freedoms discussed above.

Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Logo

Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike

Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike can also be considered an appropriate license for an OER. In addition to attribution, the licence says that any derivative works that you might create using it must be released under the same licence. Material released under this licence does conform to the Five R freedoms discussed above, but do keep in mind that any learning material derived from it must likewise be so licensed.

Creative Commons NonCommercial and NoDerivatives Logos

Creative Commons NonCommercial and NoDerivatives

These two licences, Creative Commons NonCommercial and NoDerivatives are not considered appropriate for OERs, as they place substantial restrictions upon use. Material released under these licences does not conform to the Five R freedoms discussed above.

NonCommercial licences, in addition to the attribution requirements, prohibit the use of licensed materials for commercial purposes. NoDerivatives licences, in addition to the attribution requirements, prohibit any adaptation or alteration of the original work.