Open Educational Resources (OER)

According to the OER Commons, Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching materials that are freely accessible and used without charge, because the creator of the materials chooses to retain few, if any, ownership rights. Most OER materials have a Creative Commons or GNU license that stipulates how the material may be used, reused, adapted, and shared. Educators around the world are tapping into OER as a cost-saving source of curriculum, and because of the opportunity it provides for the support of learning in a flexible and equitable environment.

The 5Rs of OER

The 5R permissions of OER present a powerful opportunity to enhance student learning by allowing for the freedom to craft an engaging and adaptable curriculum, directly addressing student needs.

1. Retain: Keep the work forever
2. Reuse: Use the work for your own purpose
3. Revise: Adapt, modify, or translate the work
4. Remix: Combine it with another resource to make a new work
5. Redistribute: Share the work with others

While OER reduce the financial burden on students, their value goes beyond cost-effectiveness. A key advantage of OER lies in their inherent openness, the 5R permissions facilitates the adaptation of existing materials to address specific pedagogical requirements. Furthermore, it enables the dissemination of these adapted resources, fostering a collaborative learning environment.

Course Material Flexibility & Increased Engagement

The Hewlett Foundation defines open educational resources (OER) as, "teaching, learning and research materials in any medium – digital or otherwise – that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits no-cost access, use, adaptation and redistribution by others with no or limited restrictions.”

OER offset the cost of traditional course materials while also providing learners with full access to quality learning resources. A growing body of literature on OER is proving what may seem obvious: students succeed when they have guaranteed access to required course materials.

Faculty gain unmatched flexibility with OER, aligning course content around the needs of their students. Activities faculty may adopt range from an open textbook to creating and remixing their own OER with students as co-creators, not just consumers. Rollins College has the resources and know-how to make OER-based activities a reality.

Students as co-creators, not just consumers, report higher course engagement through Renewable assignments which provides opportunities to engage in meaningful work and add value to their community and beyond. All while giving a foundation for future students to learn from and build upon.

Faculty can review several examples of Renewable Assignments from various disciplines at the DOER Fellowship (Design Open Educational Resources). These assignments are created via a partnership between Faculty and Instructional Designers. Openly licensed, the assignments are available now, and created to be used in higher education courses.

Increased Student Success & Textbook Affordability

Textbooks are a significant cost for students in all programs. According to the college board, students of private, 4-year institutions spend an average of $1,244 on textbooks per year. Some of the most expensive textbooks at Rollins cost over $350.

The results from the 2022 Textbook and Instructional Materials Survey indicates that the high cost of textbooks continues to negatively impact students' academic progress. Of the 13,800 Florida college students surveyed:

Only 24% reported that financial aid covered all of their textbooks. 

OER significantly reduces the financial burden on students, making education more accessible. Aside from the financial benefits for students, the shift towards OER allows instructors to:

• Adapt: Open textbooks and other OER can be adapted to align with your teaching style and specific learning objectives for the course.

• Access: Avoid issues with students not being able to immediately access their textbook by having it available on day 1 of the course (or earlier).

• Integrate: The flexibility of OER allows for the seamless integration of multimedia components, interactive activities, and other engaging resources to deepen student understanding.

• Be Cutting-Edge: The open nature of OER allows you to incorporate the latest research and adapt materials as knowledge in your field progresses.

Inclusive Material

While the benefits of OER are available to all learners and educators, OER draws on the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion, allowing an opportunity for more people to enter into open scholarly dialogues and to contribute via authorship while also protecting ownership of ideas. 

At its core, OER provide opportunities of expression for diverse authors from various backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives. This level of diverse authorship in OER can ensure that the content is more inclusive, representative, and relevant to a wider range of learners.