Open and Affordable Educational Resources (OAER) Definitions

Definitions

Penn State University uses the definition for Open Educational Resources provided by Congress:

“(6) OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE.—The term ‘open educational resource’ means a teaching, learning, or research resource that is offered freely to users in at least one form and that resides in the public domain or has been released under an open copyright license that allows for its free use, reuse, modification, and sharing with attribution.”

Penn State University defines Affordable Educational Resources from the PSU OER Task Force Report:

“Any required course material that students purchase for less than $50. This may include low-cost or no-cost options and library materials that do not have an open license.”

Other OER Definitions:

OER Commons

“Open Educational Resources are teaching and learning materials that you may freely use and reuse, without charge. OER often have a Creative Commons or GNU license that state specifically how the material may be used, reused, adapted, and shared.”

The Cape Town Open Education Declaration

“[O]pen educational resources should be freely shared through open licences which facilitate use, revision, translation, improvement and sharing by anyone. Resources should be published in formats that facilitate both use and editing, and that accommodate a diversity of technical platforms. Whenever possible, they should also be available in formats that are accessible to people with disabilities and people who do not yet have access to the Internet.”

UNESCO

Open Educational Resources (OERs) are any type of educational materials that are in the public domain or introduced with an open license. The nature of these open materials means that anyone can legally and freely copy, use, adapt and re-share them. OERs range from textbooks to curricula, syllabi, lecture notes, assignments, tests, projects, audio, video and animation.

William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

Open Educational Resources 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 repurposing by others. OER include full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge.