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Guidelines for Open Educational Resources (OER) in Higher Education

A joint COL-UNESCO OER Publication

Home  | Acknowledgements  |  Glossary of terms  |  Introduction  |  Guidelines for Higher Education Stakeholders  |  References  |  Appendix 1  |  Appendix 2  | 

The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) is an intergovernmental organisation created by Commonwealth Heads of Government to encourage the development and sharing of open learning and distance education knowledge, resources and technologies.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was founded on 16 November 1945. UNESCO is a specialized United Nations agency promoting international cooperation among its Member States and Associate Members in the fields of education, science, culture and communication.

The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The authors are responsible for the choice and the presentation of the facts contained in this book and for the opinions expressed therein, which are not necessarily those of UNESCO and do not commit the Organization.

Commonwealth of Learning, 2011

Any part of this document may be reproduced without permission but with attribution to the Commonwealth of Learning. CC-BY-SA (share alike with attribution) Creative Commons BY-SA/3.0 Share alike Copy Licences
Guidelines for Open Educational Resources (OER) in Higher Education ISBN 978-1-894975-42-1

Published by:

Commonwealth of Learning 1055 West Hastings, Suite 1200 Vancouver, British Columbia V6E 2E9 Canada +1 604 775 8200 +1 604 775 8210 COL email

UNESCO Section for Higher Education 7 place de Fontenoy Paris 75352 France +33 1 45 68 10 00 +33 1 45 56 32 UNESCO Education Sector email

Back cover of physical booklet

Open educational resources (OER) are materials used to support education that may be freely accessed, reused, modified, and shared. These Guidelines outline key issues and make suggestions for integrating OER into higher education. Their purpose is to encourage decision makers in governments and institutions to invest in the systematic production, adaptation and use of OER and to bring them into the mainstream of higher education in order to improve the quality of curricula and taching and to reduce costs.