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Creative Commons: Open Educational Resources

Open Educational Resources

Open Educational Resources (OER) are materials for teaching, learning, and researching that are either in the public domain or licensed in a way that makes them free to access, use, and distribute. Associated with the Open Educational Resources are the 5 R's:

  • Retain: A user can make, own, and control copies of the content
  • Reuse: A user can use the content in many different ways
  • Revise: A user can adapt, modify, or adjust the content
  • Remix: A user can combine the content with other works to create something new
  • Redistribute: A user can share the content, the revisions, or the remixes with others

Looking at the 5 R's, you may make connections with the different CC licenses and how they can allow a creator to give permissions in advance. Also remember that all the licenses have attribution involved. OER's allow for educational materials to be more flexible with use and sharing, but they still require giving credit where credit is due. 

Why would I want to use OERs?

There are many reasons why OER's could benefit Palm Beach State College. Here are a few that particularly connect with your role as a faculty or staff member:

  1. OERs make education more accessible: Since OERs do not come with a high price tag, they can be offered to students at No-Cost or Low-Cost. This reduces barriers for many students who might not be able to afford costly educational materials.
  2. OERs can help you create rich and diverse educational materials: Since the 5 R's allow you to curate content to suit your learning outcomes and classroom community, you can offer students lessons that are even more engaging and relevant. 
  3. Students can benefit from understanding OERs: Challenge students to create work that matters to them and teach them how to license using Creative Commons licenses. This will give them a stake in the learning environment and help them connect their work to real-world situations. 

References

Creative Commons. (n.d.). Creative commons certificate for educators, academic librarians and GLAM. https://certificates.creativecommons.org/cccertedu/

CC License

"Creative Commons: Creative Commons and PBSC" by Danielle Campbell is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.