Open Educational Resources Subject Guide: Home

Open Educational Resources are teaching, learning, and research materials in any format that are created using open licenses or in the public domain.  They are free to use by others.  They include tests, videos, books, textbooks, data, images, tutorials, and many other learning objects.

Open licenses let you participate in what David Wiley calls the 5 Rs of Openness.  The 5 Rs mean you can: 

1. Retain - make, own, and control a copy of the resource (e.g., download and keep your own copy)
2. Revise - edit, adapt, and modify your copy of the resource (e.g., translate into another language)
3. Remix - combine your original or revised copy of the resource with other existing material to create something new (e.g., make a mashup)
4. Reuse - use your original, revised, or remixed copy of the resource publicly (e.g., on a website, in a presentation, in a class)
5. Redistribute - share copies of your original, revised, or remixed copy of the resource with others (e.g., post a copy online or give one to a friend

This material is an adaptation of Defining the "Open" in Open Content and Open Educational Resources, which was originally written by David Wiley and published freely under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license at http://opencontent.org/definition/.

Image 5Rs-7 (transparent) taken from O'Neil et al. "Making Open Educational Resources: A Guide for Students by Students", a free OER textbook published by E-Campus Ontario.