OER are freely accessible digital learning and teaching resources. They are available in different formats and can be reused, with a potential restriction. These resources are very diverse and cover different topics. Everyone can openly share their materials with the aim of supporting others in their education and/or research without having to pay for (licensing) fees. This way, you don’t have to keep reinventing the wheel.  Although Open Educational Resources should be accessible for everyone, this is not always the case yet. Sometimes, resources are kept behind an institution's login or you need to pay to receive a certificate afterwards. This is not the true aim of OER. These resources are meant to be shared and reused (in possibly adaptable forms).

There are many kinds of OER, as you can see below. OER often include a variety of resource formats within a single resource. In an e-module, for example, you may find videos and images, besides plain text. Below is an overview of the most common types of OER.

Types of educational resources

• Videos (e.g.: knowledge clips, such as screencast, instructional videos, and web lectures)
• Infographics
• Text books/study books
• E-modules
• Digital exercises
• Presentations
• Datasets
• Academic literature (often open access)
• Mixed media (e.g.: e-module with videos, images, etc.)

How open educational resources can be used depends on the licensing applied to a resource. Generally, the internationally recognised Creative Commons licences are applied to OER, providing a clear overview of the possibilities. These CC licences are explained further below. One or more CC licences can apply to an OER.

When you share your own educational resources, you can use CC licences to indicate how others may (re)use your material.

Is there no specific licensing attached to a resource? The material is then automatically protected by copyright (until 70 years following the year of the creator's death). This means it cannot be classified as OER. However, you can still cite from it (including source reference), refer to it using a link, or ask the creator for permission to use the material.

Searching for the educational resources most suitable for you can be time-consuming if you are uncertain where to look. You can start by using a general search engine, but there are also dedicated platforms where you can easily search and filter your results, depending on your own wishes and preferences.

General search engines

General search engines, such as Google, offer the option to refine your search for (partially) uncopyrighted material that can be reused. The image below shows an example of where this option can be found in Google Images:

Metafinders

Dedicated search engines, such as Metafinder, can be used to simultaneously perform search queries on several OER platforms. Two examples of these search engines are:

• OER Metafinder  - searches across 22 unique sources;
• OASIS – searches across 97 unique sources.

Platforms

Furthermore, there are platforms that are geared towards managing collections of open educational resources. On these platforms you are able to refine your search based on, for example, types of material, level, or language. These databases often offer study books as well as courses that can be used as educational material. Several important platforms are as follows:

• EduSources: A digital platform with open educational resources created by and for Dutch educational institutions. Stored and made available by the platform SURF;  
• Wikiwijs: The public and independent website of Kennisnet (a public organisation focused on education and ICT.);
• MERLOT: The Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching (MERLOT) grants access to compiled online educational resources and tools intended for creating materials, under the guidance of an international community of lecturers, students and researchers;
• Open Course Library: A collection of educational materials, developed by the Washington State Colleges, that can be used for university lectures, such as study books, syllabi, lecture assignments, and exams;
• Teaching Commons: open educational resources provided by several American colleges and universities;
• OpenAIRE CONNECT: Grants access to all publications that are archived in Dutch repositories.

Open (text)books: 

• TU Delft Open Books: A collection of ebooks provided by the Delft University of Technology;
• Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB): One of the platforms of OAPEN (a non-profit organisation located in The Netherlands) that provides peer-reviewed open access books;
• Open Textbook Library: A platform supported by the Open Education Network, which is also accessible via WorldCat;
• Open Access books on JSTOR: A collection of ebooks from multiple publishers;
• Project Gutenberg: A platform that offers access to ebooks of which the copyright has expired or is unknown;
• OpenStax: A platform managed and provided by Rice University;
• BC Campus: A platform for ebooks funded by the government of British Columbia in Canada;  
• Open Access Books: A platform operated by IntechOpen that provides access to peer-reviewed books;  
• Open Research Library: A worldwide oriented platform that collects open resource materials about various subjects in a myriad of languages.

Open courses and modules – MOOCs 

The abbreviation MOOC stands for Massive Open Online Course. MOOCs are free online courses primarily developed by universities. These courses can be followed free of charge. However, in some cases they contain paid features, such as receiving a verified certificate after completing a course.

• edX: Established by Harvard and MIT;
• TU Delft Open Course Ware: Courses from the Delft University of Technology; 
• Coursera: An online learning platform with over 275 affiliated universities and companies;  
• FutureLearn: A wide selection of content from various academic institutions;
• Udacity: A commercial learning platform from America;
• Suny OER Services: A learning platform managed by State University of New York; 
• MOOC list: A search engine for MOOCs.

Open images

For more information on searching for and using open images, please look at our subject guide.

Open educational resources (OER) have many benefits. Here are some of the main advantages of working with OER:

• Timesaving: OER can be used to lay the groundwork for your teaching material;
• Cost-saving: Students will have to purchase fewer textbooks. Moreover, the costs of creating and developing educational resources will be lower – especially with more expensive formats such as audiovisual content – as materials created by others can be reused;
• More accessible learning: There is a wide variation of learning materials available on a given subject. Students can learn and study in different ways when materials are offered in various manners;
• Instant access: OER can be downloaded immediately with no waiting or delivery time;
• Quality improvement: When teachers make their teaching material available as OER, it allows for the educational community to give feedback on the material, which can lead to quality improvement;
• Increased student satisfaction: OER allow students to study wherever and whenever they want. The diversity in available resources also offers students freedom in their learning methods and provides access to extra material to prepare for exams and assignments.

Apart from this, there are also disadvantages to consider when (re)using open educational resources. Here are some of the main disadvantages:

• No design nor quality standard: OER are not subjected to an official guideline for a design or quality norm. This means you can lose a significant amount of time researching whether the quality of the content is adequate.
• Tailoring for educational objectives can be time-consuming: Before implementing OER in your courses, you have to review how the materials relate to your educational objectives. This can be a lengthy task.

There is no specific quality standard for sharing educational content. Anyone can put their materials online, whether it is a PowerPoint, a lesson plan, or a video. Therefore, It is imperative to consider the quality and usability of the material when you create or use open educational resources. For example, consider these questions:

• Do you think this open educational resource contains all information you want students to comprehend?
• Do you think the provided information is correct?
• How accessible is the material? Is it available for you and your students?
• In what way are you allowed to reuse the material? Look at the licensing.
  • Are you allowed to make adjustments?
  • Do you have to acknowledge the creator and how exactly does that work?
• How old is this open educational resource?
• Once you know in what way you are allowed to use the educational material, how are you going to do that?
  • Do you only use part of the material?
  • Do you combine different types of OER?
  • Is the library in possession of any other secondary articles/books on this subject?

Always pay close attention to both the quality and the instated copyright of the materials. Are you only allowed to copy a course exactly as is or are you allowed to make some alterations? If you want to share your own material, make sure that the copyright is properly determined since your material will suddenly be used more widely. The licenses mentioned above can help you figure this out.

Professional communities are networks in which students, researchers, teachers, and institutions work together within a specific field of study. On a broader scale, professional communities strive for easily and widely accessible high-quality digital educational material. Together, they work on an extensive range of educational resources by sharing information, inspiration, and knowledge. Keeping contact and staying connected with each other strengthens their respective fields of study. The collective goal is to improve the quality of education and educational resources on a large scale.

Several important professional communities can be found on:

• Edusources 
• Open Education 
• SURF 
• Npuls 
• OSCL (Open Science Community Leiden) 

Numerous specific professional communities can often be found within these organisations, for example in the field of information literacy or nursing.  

These communities frequently organise community days. These moments not only offer professionals a chance to meet and share materials but also stimulate the collaboration between educational institutions and publishers.

The educational ICT cooperative SURF has developed the platform EduSources for open educational resources. EduSources offers clear road maps to develop a variety of open educational tools and offers a place to share these resources. When making and sharing your own resources, make a careful consideration of what information you are comfortable sharing with othersKeep in mind to not share any sensitive information. To receive help from the university with the development of open educational resources, you can contact the faculty support department. They are the most informed department on the possibilities and can offer advice and help.

Tips

Here are a few steps you might take in the evaluation process. If this process seems lengthy, think about the process you follow to review textbooks and other materials for your course. You can use a similar or modified evaluation process.

1. Does this OER cover the content you'd like your students to learn in this course or module?
2. How accessible is this content? Will it be accessible for your students, or is it too technical? Or is it robust and challenging enough for your students?
3. How can you use the content? Verify the license that the resource is under. Can you remix or revise the OER as long as it isn't for commercial purposes? Who do you have to recognize if you use it? Will you be able to do so? For more help with this, please contact the library.
4. Once you determine how you can use the OER, what would you like to do with it? Does only a portion of it apply to your class? Would you possibly want to combine this OER with another OER or resource? Does the library have access to articles that could act as supplemental readings?
5. As you collect more OER and other resources, save them in a central location. Take note of how you envision using them. Align these resources with the learning objectives and weekly lessons on your syllabus in order to identify gaps. 

Adapted from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Library's Evaluate OER page: https://guides.library.illinois.edu/c.php?g=246992&p=1645967 and Lindenwood Uni, Evaluate OER: https://lindenwood.libguides.com/c.php?g=1047371&p=7600572 

In March 2022 the Universities of the Netherlands, the Vereniging Hogescholen, and SURF collectively signed the 'Statement and report on the National Approach to digital and open educational resources'. This agreement emphasises the cooperation in creating, sharing, re-using and acquiring of educational resources.

Because of the ever-developing digitalisation of education, the University of Leiden is actively committed to improving open educational resources and their use. Faculties support this notion by organising orientation days and facilitating initiatives. Below are some examples of open educational resources developed by Leiden University: 

• Open anatomy teaching materials 
• Preventing plagiarism
• Microscopy 
• Miracles of Human Language 
• EU policy and implementation: making Europe work! 

You can find more materials developed by Leiden University on Edusources.

• Albert S. Cook library, Towson University  
• Open leermateriaal - Impuls Open Leermateriaal 
• Lindenwood University - Open Educational Resources 
• University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Library's Evaluate OER
• Schuwer, Een raamwerk voor ordenen van typen digitale leermaterialen
• Creative Commons
• Edusources