Open Access: Open Educational Resources
OER are educational materials produced by one party that are licensed to be used free of charge by others. OER come in many forms—from curriculum to homework assignment[s] to textbooks. And OER exist for all levels of education, from kindergarten through college. ~ David Wiley, Cable Green, and Louis Soares, February 7, 2012
Share, reuse, remix… providing free and open access to your own creative works is an easy task with Creative Commons licensing, but what about providing free and open access to educational materials?
Building on the ideal of a free education for everyone, the Creative Commons organization is actively encouraging proposals for open education models. The Open Educational Resources Policy Registry lists 83 current and proposed US and international policies designed to increase distribution of textbooks, courseware, video tutorials, and other educational resources to a wider audience for maximum educational and minimal economic impact.
Read a great overview of OER and how it can dramatically decrease the cost of education from American Progress, and find resources in the OER Commons.
OER logo from Wikimedia Commons.
