OERs

Defining Open Education Resources (OERs)

The term "Open Educational Resources" (OERs) was first adopted at UNESCO's 2002 Forum on the Impact of Open Courseware for Higher Education in Developing Countries funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Open Educational Resources are digitized materials offered freely and openly for educators, students and self-learners to use and re-use for teaching, learning and research. Open Educational Resources include:

• Learning Content: Full courses, courseware, content modules, learning objects, collections and journals.
• Tools: Software to support the development, use, re-use and delivery of learning content including searching and organization of content, content and learning management systems, content development tools, and on-line learning communities.
• Implementation Resources: Intellectual property licenses to promote open publishing of materials, design principles of best practice, and localization of content.

Resources

• Personal Reflections from academics and faculty using OERs