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Open Educational Resources (OER)

What are Open Educational Resources?

Open Educational Resources are teaching, learning, and research resources released under an open license that permits their free use and repurposing by others. OER can be full courses, course materials, lesson plans, open textbooks, learning objects, videos, games, tests, software, or any other tool, material, or technique that supports access to knowledge.

Open Educational Resources are broadly considered to meet the “5Rs Framework,” meaning that users are free to:

  • Retain: Users have the right to make, archive, and own copies of the content;
  • Reuse:  Content can be reused in its unaltered form;
  • Revise: Content can be adapted, adjusted, modified or altered;
  • Remix: The original or revised content can be combined with other content to create something new;
  • Redistribute: Copies of the content can be shared with others in its original, revised or remixed form.
    See more at: http://www.sparc.arl.org/issues/open-education

Why are Open Educational Resources Important?

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