The best definition the Library has found for Open Educational Resources (OER) may be this one from the Creative Commons website:
Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching, learning, and research materials that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits their free use and re-purposing by others.
This definition is extended by the larger context that it supports: the Open Education movement. This paragraph from the SPARC.org website succinctly defines the interests of the Open Education movement.
Open Education encompasses resources, tools and practices that are free of legal, financial and technical barriers and can be fully used, shared and adapted in the digital environment. Open Education maximizes the power of the Internet to make education more affordable, accessible and effective.
Some faculty at Piedmont University are already using open educational resources (OER) to replace course textbooks or to enhance course content. Some are interested in doing so, but don't know where to start learning about this new teaching and learning environment.
This guide aims to be a resource to make everyone aware of what others are doing with Open Educational Resources and what resources are available.
