Open Educational Resources: What is OER?

The materials and information presented here do not constitute legal advice and are presented for informational purposes only. For legal guidance, please consult with a licensed attorney. 

OER is an acronym for Open Educational Resources. Open Educational Resources include educational material published under open access licensing. Usually, this license is a Creative Commons license.This material is free to use and share without cost. Open Educational materials are free to use and distribute. In many cases they are also free to revise and remix. 

North Carolina Public Schools

• The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction has GoOpenNC, an OER resource hub for K-12 educators. 

NCLive Subscribers 

• NCLive launched the Open Education North Carolina project with input from North Carolina higher education institutions. UNC Schools have recommended core courses to be covered by the content in OENC.

Individual Higher Education Institutions

• Several North Carolina schools make up the more than 150 members of the Open Textbook Network. This is one membership-based community for Open Educational Resources that includes major United States educational institutions in its membership list. Other members include Virginia Tech, Florida State, Brown University, and Clemson University. 
• Individual institutions provide guidance and information on incorporating OER into the classroom.
• Many individual professors independently take the initiative to use and create Open Educational Resources for their classes.

For Students

• 43% of students reported skipping meals to afford textbooks

• 31% of students reported taking fewer classes to save on textbook costs

• 81% of students report that digitally-accessible course materials would improve the quality of their educational experience

• 72% count cost effectiveness as VERY important when selecting digital course materials 

• Of college costs, the cost of textbooks was the main stressor for students, more than food and healthcare.

Cengage Learning. (2018). Today's Learner: Student Views. Retrieved from: https://news.cengage.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/CengageMC-Affordability-Survey-letter.pdf. 

For Higher Education

• Use of Open Educational Resources positively correlates to enrollment and retention. 

Hilton III, J. L., Fischer, L., Wiley, D., & William, L. (2016). "Maintaining Momentum Toward Graduation: OER and the Course Throughput Rate." The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning. 17(6). https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v17i6.2686

• Faculty are able to contribute to open scholarship and promote information equity, while customizing materials for their courses. 

• Cost kept 2.4 million middle and low income college-qualified high school students from completing college.

Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance. (2006).  "Mortgaging Our Future: How Financial Barriers to College Undercut America's Global Competitiveness. A Report of the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance." Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED529499

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