What is OER?

Open Educational Resources or OER are openly available educational materials that may be accompanied by flexible copyright usage instructions called Creative Commons Licenses.

The Creative Commons License Options

There are six different license types, listed from most to least permissive here:

CC BY: This license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for commercial use.

CC BY includes the following elements:
BY – Credit must be given to the creator

CC BY-SA: This license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for commercial use. If you remix, adapt, or build upon the material, you must license the modified material under identical terms.

CC BY-SA includes the following elements:
BY – Credit must be given to the creator
SA – Adaptations must be shared under the same terms

CC BY-NC: This license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator.

It includes the following elements:
BY – Credit must be given to the creator
NC – Only noncommercial uses of the work are permitted

CC BY-NC-SA: This license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. If you remix, adapt, or build upon the material, you must license the modified material under identical terms.

CC BY-NC-SA includes the following elements:
BY  – Credit must be given to the creator
NC  – Only noncommercial uses of the work are permitted
SA  – Adaptations must be shared under the same terms

CC BY-ND: This license allows reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for commercial use.

CC BY-ND includes the following elements:
BY – Credit must be given to the creator
ND – No derivatives or adaptations of the work are permitted

CC BY-NC-ND: This license allows reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator.

CC BY-NC-ND includes the following elements:
BY  – Credit must be given to the creator
NC  – Only noncommercial uses of the work are permitted
ND  – No derivatives or adaptations of the work are permitted

The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication

CC0 (aka CC Zero) is a public dedication tool, which allows creators to give up their copyright and put their works into the worldwide public domain. CC0 allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, with no conditions.

OER vs OA

Open Access (OA) resources can be made available via institutional subscriptions and made available to members of an institution but have more restrictive copyright rules regarding using, remixing, and distributing.

Library subscriptions offer institutional (and often community) members open access content, allowing individuals within their networks to access multimedia, publications both popular and scholarly, and various other resources.

Instructors can choose to integrate a library resource into their curriculum such as an article from a newspaper in a database or a book in the fiction collection, making that content open access to students who then do not have to pay for the use of the specific item directly.

Why OER?

What's the Matter with Traditional Textbooks/Textbook Publishers?

Textbook costs have risen dramatically, associated inflation outpacing childcare expenses and housing. Since 2000, textbook costs have hit 160% increase though we have seen a small decrease in the late 2010's.

How are students adapting to high textbook costs?

Results of the 2022 Textbook and Instructional Materials Survey from Florida Virtual Campus.

What can I do to reduce textbook costs for students?

Create or find and adopt OER to replace costly privately published academic materials. Instructors can also choose to adopt library resources already licensed and accessible to enrolled students in lieu of requiring students to purchase individual learning materials.

What can my institution do to reduce textbook costs for students?

Institutions can incentivize the conversion of course curriculum from using high cost privately licensed educational materials to creating or adopting low-no cost course materials. Institutions can also designate courses in the course catalog with Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) Course indicators to show students which classes require little to no additional cost beyond tuition.

Benefits for...

Students:

Immediate access to learning materials on the first day of classes
Low-No Out of Pocket Cost
Minimizes frustration when a text or learning object ends up not being used during the class
Potential for greater representation of viewpoints/authorship without the gatekeeping bias of traditional publishers

Faculty:

Opportunity to customize content
Engage students through greater collaborative features
Increases student trust

Potential issues for...