Open Educational Resources: Answering Some Basic Questions Presented by Joan Hatfield Faculty Commons Program Manager

Presentation Topics What are Open Educational Resources (OERs)? What is the history of OERs? Why use OERs in education? What are barriers to using OERs? What is meant by Public Domain? What is meant by Intellectual Property License? Where can you find OER license options? What are Creative Commons (CC) licenses? What is Open Course Library in Washington?

What Are Open Educational Resources (OERs)? “OERs are teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use and re-purposing by others. Open educational resources include full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge." (Hewlett Foundation)

What Is the History of OERs? 2002: MIT puts entire course catalog online (MIT OpenCourseWare) 2002: “Open Educational Resource” term was adopted by UNESCO 2002: free OER licenses released to the public by the Creative Commons 2009: 350 million OERs licensed by Creative Commons

Why Use OERs in Education? Cost reduction for students Greater educational access for students Easy delivery with little or no cost Course enhancement with new materials Content sharing among educators Innovation and talent showcased Ease of mind knowing they are free to use Q

What Are Barriers to Using OERS? Quality and accuracy may be compromised They may not be updated regularly Students may not have technology access Lack of availability in multiple languages They may not be suitable for all cultures

What is the Public Domain? Public domain works are not restricted by copyright and do not require a license or fee to use. Examples of works in the public domain are: 1.Government documents 2.All books published in the U.S before Works whose copyrights have expired 4.Works assigned to the public domain by their creators

What is an Intellectual Property License? It protects intellectual property rights by law; it may be territorial (e.g., valid in U.S.), time-based (e.g, expires in 20 years), and use-limited. Examples of intellectual property licenses are: 1.Trademarks 2.Patents 3.Copyrights 4.OER licenses (the “new kid on the block”)

Where Can I Find OER Licenses? Creative Commons ( “Creative Commons (CC) is a nonprofit organization that enables the sharing and use of creativity and knowledge through free legal tools. They have free, easy-to-use licenses to provide a simple, standardized way to give the public permission to share and use their creative work — on conditions of their choice. CC licenses let people easily change their copyright terms from the default of ‘all rights reserved’ to ‘some rights reserved.’”

What Are CC License Options?

What Is Open Course Library? Washington State's Open Course Library Project is a collection of expertly developed educational materials – including textbooks, syllabi, course activities, readings, and assessments – for 81 high-enrolling college courses. All courses have now been released and are providing faculty with a high-quality option that will cost students no more than $30 per course.Washington State's Open Course Library Project

OER Exploration

How Can I Learn More About OER? Go to the Washington State Board for Community & Technical Colleges website. Take the free SBCTC Canvas course “How To Use Open Educational Resources” Course dates: October 21- November 1 egV2.aspx

What Are the Other OER Events? October 25, 12:00-1:30 in D-104 Cable Green, Director of Global Learning for the Creative Commons and Connie Brighton, Director of eLearning and Open Education at SBCTC, will present on OER. November 4, 12:00-1:00 in D-104 Panel Discussion on OER with Dr. Rule, BC faculty, librarians, and bookstore manager