Understanding Open Educational Resources (OER): A Guide for Educators

Educational resources have undergone a massive transformation over the past century. What started with projectors and film strips in classrooms has evolved into a global movement of freely accessible digital learning materials. At the centre of this transformation lies the concept of Open Educational Resources (OER) – a powerful idea that is reshaping how educators create, share, and use teaching content. Whether you are a school teacher, university professor, or instructional designer, understanding OER is essential for staying relevant in today’s digital education landscape.

Evolution of OER: from audio-visual aids to reusable learning objects 🔗

The journey toward OER began long before the internet existed. In the early 20th century, audio-visual aids were the primary tools for enhancing classroom instruction. Projectors, film strips, cassette tapes, and slide shows helped teachers present content in more engaging ways. The concept of using visual materials in teaching can be traced back even further – to John Amos Comenius in the 17th century, who used illustrations as teaching tools in his book Orbis Sensualium Pictus.

Audio-visual education gained significant momentum during and after World War II, when the armed forces produced hundreds of training films and film strips for military personnel. After the war, many of these techniques and technologies made their way into civilian classrooms. However, these resources were expensive to produce, difficult to share, and tightly controlled by copyright restrictions.

The real turning point came in the late 1990s and early 2000s with the rise of digital technology and the internet. Educators began creating Reusable Learning Objects (RLOs) – modular digital resources that could be used, repurposed, and adapted across different educational contexts. Unlike traditional audio-visual aids, RLOs were designed for flexibility. A single digital module on, say, photosynthesis could be used in a school science class, a university biology course, or a self-paced online tutorial.

This shift from static, single-use materials to dynamic, reusable digital content laid the groundwork for the OER movement. In 2001, MIT OpenCourseWare made a landmark announcement – it would put its entire course catalogue online for free. This sparked a global movement. Shortly after, at UNESCO’s 2002 Forum on Open Courseware, the term “Open Educational Resources” was officially coined, giving this growing movement a name and a shared identity.

Defining OER: what exactly are open educational resources? 🔗

With OER becoming a global topic of discussion, it was essential to have clear, authoritative definitions. Two organisations have provided the most widely cited ones.

The UNESCO definition 🔗

According to UNESCO’s 2019 Recommendation on OER, Open Educational Resources are learning, teaching, and research materials in any format and medium that are either in the public domain or released under an open licence. This open licence permits free access, reuse, adaptation, and redistribution by others at no cost. This definition was formally adopted at UNESCO’s 40th General Conference in November 2019 and represents the first international normative instrument dedicated to openly licensed educational materials.

The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) definition 🔗

The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) describes OER in a similar but slightly broader way – as materials that are available for free use, modification, and redistribution. The COL has been particularly active in promoting OER across developing nations, supporting countries in the Commonwealth with implementation strategies and capacity building through initiatives like the Pacific Partnership for Open Distance and Flexible Learning.

What both definitions have in common 🔗

Both definitions highlight the same core principle: it is the open licence that makes a resource an OER, not merely the fact that it is free or available online. A PDF textbook shared on a website without a licence is not OER. A video lecture posted on YouTube with standard copyright is not OER. Only when a resource carries an open licence that explicitly grants permissions to access, reuse, adapt, and share does it qualify as a true Open Educational Resource.

Key characteristics of OER 🔗

Open Educational Resources have several defining features that distinguish them from traditional educational materials. Understanding these characteristics helps educators identify, evaluate, and effectively use OER in their practice.

Open licensing 🔗

The most fundamental characteristic of OER is open licensing. Most OER use Creative Commons (CC) licences, which allow creators to retain copyright while granting the public specific permissions. These licences range from very permissive (such as CC BY, which only requires attribution) to more restrictive (such as CC BY-NC-SA, which prohibits commercial use and requires derivative works to carry the same licence).

The importance of open licensing cannot be overstated. As noted by open education scholars, simply sharing a resource online for free does not make it OER. The resource must carry an open licence that explicitly permits reuse and modification. Without this legal permission, educators who adapt or redistribute the material could be violating copyright law.

The 5R framework 🔗

Open licensing enables what educator David Wiley calls the “5R” permissions – a framework that has become central to understanding OER:

Retain – the right to make, own, and control copies of the resource (for example, downloading and storing a copy locally). Reuse – the right to use the content in various ways, such as in a classroom, on a website, or in a presentation. Revise – the right to adapt, modify, or translate the content to suit specific needs. Remix – the right to combine the resource with other materials to create something new. Redistribute – the right to share copies of the original, revised, or remixed resource with others.

These five permissions form the practical backbone of OER. A resource that allows all five activities is considered fully open. Resources with restrictions (such as “no derivatives” or “non-commercial only”) are less open but may still qualify as OER depending on the specific licence used.

Digital availability and accessibility 🔗

OER are predominantly digital resources, making them available to anyone with internet access. This digital nature allows for easy distribution, modification, and collaboration across geographical boundaries. OER can take many forms – textbooks, course modules, lecture videos, simulations, lesson plans, assessments, and more.

Accessibility is another important aspect. The best OER are published in open, editable formats (such as HTML, ODT, or ePub) rather than locked or proprietary formats. This ensures that users can not only access the content but also meaningfully edit and adapt it. Wiley’s ALMS Framework encourages OER publishers to consider factors like access to editing tools, level of technical expertise required, and whether the content is published in a meaningfully editable format.

Examples of OER repositories 🔗

A growing number of repositories around the world host OER for educators and learners. Here are three significant ones that every educator should know about.

National Repository of Open Educational Resources (NROER) 🔗

India’s NROER is a collaborative platform developed by the Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET), NCERT, in partnership with the Department of School Education and Literacy, Government of India, and powered by Gnowledge Labs at the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education. Launched on 13 August 2013, NROER was designed to bring together all digital and digitisable resources for the Indian school system – across all classes, subjects, and languages.

The repository hosts videos, audio files, interactive media, images, and documents. All content on NROER is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) licence, ensuring free access and reuse. A distinctive feature of NROER is its pedagogical organisation – concepts are arranged in the form of concept maps, highlighting the interconnected nature of knowledge across disciplines.

MERLOT 🔗

MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching) is one of the oldest and most established OER platforms globally. The project began in 1997 at the California State University Center for Distributed Learning. Unlike many repositories, MERLOT does not host content directly – instead, it functions as a curated collection of links to online learning materials, along with peer reviews, user ratings, and learning assignments.

MERLOT’s collection includes over 100,000 learning resources across multiple disciplines. It operates through an international consortium of higher education institutions, industry partners, and professional organisations. The peer review system, managed by discipline-specific editorial boards, helps ensure quality and relevance.

OER Commons 🔗

OER Commons is a digital library and network supported by ISKME (Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education). Operational since 2007, it serves as a single search source that draws from multiple OER collections, including MERLOT and Connexions. Educators can search, browse, evaluate, and even create or remix open resources directly on the platform.

OER Commons provides tools for quality evaluation and alignment with curriculum standards, making it particularly useful for teachers looking for classroom-ready materials. Its collaborative features allow educators to build and share custom collections, making resource discovery more efficient and community-driven.

Legal aspects of OER: copyright and open licences 🔗

One of the most important – and often misunderstood – aspects of OER is the legal framework that governs them. Understanding how copyright and open licences interact is critical for any educator who wants to use, create, or share OER responsibly.

Copyright basics 🔗

Under international copyright law (governed by frameworks like the World Intellectual Property Organization treaties), creative works are automatically protected by copyright the moment they are created. This means that any educational material – a textbook, a video, a diagram, a presentation – is copyrighted by default. Without explicit permission from the copyright holder, others cannot legally copy, distribute, or modify the work.

This default “all rights reserved” approach creates significant barriers in education, where sharing and adapting materials is essential. Traditional educational resources like commercial textbooks are protected under these conventional terms, making it expensive and legally complex for educators to reuse or modify them.

How open licences change the equation 🔗

Creative Commons licences provide a standardised, legally recognised way for creators to grant the public specific permissions beyond what traditional copyright allows. CC licences function as a layer on top of existing copyright – the creator retains ownership but grants others certain freedoms.

There are six main Creative Commons licences, built from four licence elements: Attribution (BY) – requires credit to the original creator. ShareAlike (SA) – requires derivative works to carry the same licence. NonCommercial (NC) – restricts use to non-commercial purposes. NoDerivatives (ND) – prevents modification of the work.

These combine into six licence types: CC BY, CC BY-SA, CC BY-NC, CC BY-NC-SA, CC BY-ND, and CC BY-NC-ND. Of these, licences with the ND element are generally not considered true OER, because they prevent adaptation – a key aspect of the 5R framework. The most open licence, CC BY, only requires that users give appropriate credit to the original creator.

Why open licensing matters for educators 🔗

For educators, understanding these licences is not just a legal formality – it has practical implications. If you find a resource online labelled CC BY-SA, you know you can download it, translate it into your regional language, combine it with other materials, and share the result with colleagues – as long as you provide attribution and apply the same licence to your new creation.

On the other hand, if a resource carries a CC BY-NC-ND licence, you can share it but cannot modify it or use it for any commercial purpose. Knowing these distinctions helps educators make informed decisions about which resources to adopt and how to use them legally.

It is also worth noting that many governments and institutions are now adopting open education licensing policies that require publicly funded educational materials to be released under open licences. The rationale is straightforward: if the public pays for the development of educational content, the public should have the right to access and use that content freely.

The road ahead for OER 🔗

The OER movement has come a long way from its origins in early audio-visual education. Today, with global frameworks like the 2019 UNESCO Recommendation on OER and growing institutional support, OER is positioned to play an increasingly central role in education worldwide. The UNESCO OER Dynamic Coalition, established in 2020, continues to bring together governments, organisations, and stakeholders to promote collaboration and implementation of OER initiatives globally.

For educators, the practical takeaway is clear: OER offers a legally sound, cost-effective, and pedagogically flexible way to access and share high-quality teaching materials. The key is to understand the licensing, know where to find resources, and participate in the growing community of open educators.

What do you think? How could open educational resources change the way you plan your lessons or design your courses? And what challenges do you see in adopting OER in your specific teaching context?

References

1. https://www.britannica.com/topic/audiovisual-education
2. https://www.unesco.org/en/open-educational-resources
3. https://www.unesco.org/en/legal-affairs/recommendation-open-educational-resources-oer
4. https://pacificopencourses.col.org/oer/
5. https://creativecommons.org/2017/06/05/open-education/
6. https://opencontent.org/definition/
7. https://creativecommons.org/2013/08/14/india-launches-national-repository-of-open-educational-resources/
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MERLOT
9. https://www.oercommons.org/
10. https://guides.temple.edu/oer/CClicenses
11. https://www.oerdynamiccoalition.org/about