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Open Educational Resources
What are Open Educational Resources?
The term "Open Educational Resource" was coined in 2002 by UNESCO for an open source approach to academic books and publishing. Much like Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) revolved around open licenses like GNU Public License (GPL) with its "copyleft" approach, OER hopes to similarly use open licenses (such as Creative Commons) for artworks. OER is now taking over the Do-It-Yourself digital publishing world, with hundreds of new OER textbooks being written and digitally published each year by academics. The books are forever available to share openly with anyone in the public domain.
The eight "R's" of OER are the rights to:
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Retain
- Make and own copies of the work (e.g., download, duplicate, store, and manage)
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Reuse
- Use the work in a wide range of ways (e.g., in a class, in a study group, on a website, in a video)
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Revise
- Adapt, modify and translate the work (e.g., translate the content into another language)
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Remix
- Combine it with another resource to make a new work (e.g., incorporate the content into a mashup)
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Redistribute
- Share the work with others (e.g., give a copy of the content to a friend)
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Redistributive Justice
- Equity: This aspect of social inclusion is concerned with issues of access to and affordability of learning materials, especially to learners who may otherwise be excluded due to lack of financial or technological means. Social justice as access. (Hollich 4)
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Recognitive Justice
- Diversity: This aspect ensures that the learning materials and resources we use are truly reflective of and inclusive of folks from marginalized communities. Social jusice as participation. (Hollich 4)
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Representational Justice
- Inclusion: This is social justice as true inclusion and is the logical next step in the process of openly creating and sharing educational resources. Not only is it important for learners to be represented in their educational materials, but it is important the those groups are allowed to speak for and represent themselves, especially when those groups are, like those listed above, ones that are typically and historically marginalized by society. (Hollich 4)
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Accessibility
- A11y ensures anyone, regardless of ability, is able to participate in some form of the learning experience. A11yship in the web equally applies to a11yship in digital textbooks - screen reader compatibility, ALT text image captions, alternatives to applied exercises that require mobility/sight/hearing, etc.
These rights are made possible through open licensing. For example, Creative Commons help creators retain their copyright while allowing others to reproduce, distribute, and make use of their work for free, while other "free" licenses (like CC-ND or Gold Open Access) allow creators to release their work for free while still preserving important cultural contexts (such as indigenous knowledge) assured by the No Derivatives clause.
OER is bringing down the cost of academic study, as well as providing rich source material for lifelong learners and library patrons. Whatever your aim, you can probably find an OER to your liking. Dive in! Get acquainted with OER! And study academic material all you want for free!
EMBED: https://vimeo.com/13590841
EMBED: https://youtu.be/dTNnxPcY49Q
OER at Washburn University's Mabee Library: https://libguides.washburn.edu/Open
OER Textbooks
Open Textbooks Library - UMN's Open Textbook Library provides a growing catalog of free, peer-reviewed, and openly-licensed textbooks. One of the best sites on the internet regarding OER discovery!
LibreTexts - LibreTexts is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization committed to freeing the textbook from the limitations and costs of traditional textbooks. Their open and freely accessible LibreTexts provide a more engaging learning experience for students without the financial burden.
OpenStax - Founded at Rice University, OpenStax provides free access to dozens of open textbooks in various disciplines.
eCampusOntario Open Library Portal - The eCampusOntario Open Library provides educators and learners with access to more than 1,200 free and openly-licensed educational resources.
BC Campus OpenEd Textbooks - Find textbooks and full course material packages in our new, streamlined collection.
Archive.org - OER is often uploaded to Archive.org, so it is a reliable place to find textbooks on a subject, especially when their Controlled Digital Lending (CDL) stacks are considered.
Palace Bookshelf - The open source app is called "Palace Project"; a free ebook reader by Digital Public Library of America that uses Public Domain/FLOSS books for its database but also accesses proprietary books through partnering public libraries, if you have a card. Also has an awesome open source mobile app ebook reader ("Palace Project") for iOS and Android integrated with its catalog! Check it out!
Library of Congress - Open Access Books - This is a growing online collection of contemporary open access e-books. All of these books have been made available for download on the Library's website in keeping with the intent of their creators and publishers, which chose to publish these works under open access licenses to allow the broadest possible access and reuse.
Directory of Open Access Books - A search of over 79 thousand open access books. Focused on liberal arts.
Subject-Specific
MATH: American Institute of Math - Open Textbook Initiative - Free math textbooks curated by the American Math Institute.
COMPUTER SCIENCE: EbookFoundation - Free Programming Books - Free programming books curated by github contributors.
PSYCHOLOGY: Noba Project - Free psychology texts to teach yourself psychology!
TECH: Free Tech Books - Curated open source/OA technology books.
NURSING: Open RN - The Open RN project is led by Chippewa Valley Technical College as part of the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) consortium. OER nursing textbooks and virtual simulations are collaboratively developed by faculty based on the WTCS State Nursing curriculum and the current NCLEX-RN Test Plan.
SCIENCE: EbookFoundation - Free Science Books - Free science books curated by github contributors.
OER Repositories
OASIS - (Openly Available Sources Integrated Search) - Open-content search discovery tool from 95 different sources and over 367,883 records.
MERLOT - Provides access to curated online learning and support materials and content creation tools, led by an international community of educators, learners and researchers.
OER Commons - OER Commons is a public digital library of open educational resources. Explore, create, and collaborate with educators around the world to improve curriculum.
Open Oregon Search - This page lists course materials that Oregon community college and university instructors are using to reduce textbook costs in their courses.
SOL*R - A repository service provided by BCcampus that allows educators to access FREE online learning resources. It facilitates sharing, discovery, reuse, and remixing of a growing collection of content created by BC post-secondary educators.
Mason OER Metafinder - Multi-search platform from over 20 different sources of open educational materials.
Open Access Journals
Directory of Open Access Journals - DOAJ is a unique and extensive index of diverse open access journals from around the world, driven by a growing community, committed to ensuring quality content is freely available online for everyone.
Google Scholar - Google-ran search engine for journal articles. Some are Gold OA or Green OA.
Internet Archive Scholar - Internet Archive-ran search engine for OA journal articles. Spans centuries.
Digital Commons Network - The Digital Commons Network brings together free, full-text scholarly articles from hundreds of universities and colleges worldwide.
arXiv Pre-Print Archive - arXiv is a free distribution service and an open-access archive for 2,254,199 scholarly articles in the fields of physics, mathematics, computer science, quantitative biology, quantitative finance, statistics, electrical engineering and systems science, and economics. Materials on this site are not peer-reviewed by arXiv.
OSF Pre-Print Archive - Preprint archive including other disciplines than on arXiv, such as engineering, agriculture/allied sciences, psychology, and social sciences. Materials on this site are not peer-reviewed by OSF.
Dimensions - Search millions of OA articles. Account required.
Core - A comprehensive bibliographic database of the world’s scholarly literature.
JSTOR OA and Free - Thousands of Open Access ebooks are available from top scholarly publishers.
Open Access Theses and Dissertations - Theses and dissertations, free to find, free to use.
Openly-Licensed Images/Videos/3D Models/Audio
Creative Commons Search - CC's media search of open licensed digital materials.
Getty Images Open Content Images - Getty Image's search of open licensed images.
UBC Open Images Search Guide - A guide with recommended links to find open images.
Open Data
Open Science
PhET Interactive Simulations - Creates free interactive math and science simulations. PhET sims are based on extensive education research and engage students through an intuitive, game-like environment where students learn through exploration and discovery.
MIT Press Open Access Books - Open access books from MIT Press.
Open Courseware
Class Central OCW Search - A aggregator of free courses offered on the internet. Warning: Includes ads.
MIT Open Courseware - MIT began and coined OpenCourseware in 2001 when it began offering video recordings of its professors teaching classes, with associated class materials like lecture handouts and problem sets.
freeCodeCamp - A non-profit dedicated to teaching people how to code and make websites for free.
Khan Academy - A non-profit dedicated to teaching math and HS/first year college-level courses via videos and automated multiple choice quizes.
Stanford Online - Free Stanford online courses.
Open Learn - Free online classes from Open University in the UK.
Conclusion
There are thousands of free resources for learning a subject matter! Use the above resources to find more materials about what interests you. Dive deep into the worlds opened up to you! With OER, there is no catch, and you can keep your studies low-cost and sustainable. Best of luck to you in your academic endeavors, we look forward to your contributions to the world!
