| The concept of Open Educational Resources (OER) was originally coined during a UNESCO Forum on Open Course ware for Higher Education in Developing Countries held in 2002. During a follow-up, online discussion, also hosted by UNESCO, the initial concept was further developed as follows:
“Open Educational Resources are defined as technology-enabled, open provision of educational resources for consultation, use and adaptation by a community of users for non-commercial purposes. They are typically made freely available over the Web or the Internet. Their principle use is by teachers and educational institutions to support course development, but they can also be used directly by students. Open Educational Resources include learning objects such as lecture material, references and readings, simulations, experiments and demonstrations, as well as syllabuses, curricula, and teachers’ guides.(Wiley 2006)”
Bringing the two dimensions – the pedagogical and the digital – together, the concept of OER has emerged as having powerful trans formative potential. It is because of the ease with which digitized content can be shared via the Internet that has the potential to unleash the full power of resource-based learning. Importantly, as with ‘Open Source’, the key differentiator between an OER and any other educational resource is its licence. Thus, an OER is simply an educational resource that incorporates a licence that facilitates reuse – and potentially adaptation – without first requesting permission from the copyright holder.
The Central Board of Secondary Education envisions a robust, vibrant and holistic school education that will engender excellence in every sphere of human endeavor. The Board is committed to provide quality education to promote intellectual, social and cultural vivacity among its learners. It works towards evolving a learning process and environment, which empowers the future citizens to become global leaders in the emerging knowledge society. The Board advocates Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation with an emphasis on holistic development of learners. The Board commits itself to providing a stress-free learning environment that will develop competent, confident and enterprising citizens who will promote harmony and peace.It is hoped that CBSE OER initiative will support the vision of the Board by providing open access to quality Educational Resources
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