Open educational resources (OER) refer to teaching and learning materials that reside in the public domain or are licensed to permit open use. OER include full courses, modules, syllabi, activities, games and other materials that can be openly accessed online by educators and students without cost. OER allow users to retain, reuse, revise, remix and redistribute educational content under open licenses. Examples of OER include textbooks, videos, images, audio files and other resources covering a wide range of subjects.

2.  Open educational or learning resources are teaching, learning and research
materials in any medium, digital or otherwise that reside in the public
domain or have been released under an open license that permits no cost
access, use, adaptation and redistribution by others with no or limited
restrictions.
 Any educational resources which are openly available for use by educators
and students without an accompanying need to pay royalties or license
fees.
 Examples of OER include;
full courses, course module, syllabi, lab and classroom activities,
pedagogical materials, games, simulations, any many more resources
contained in digital media collections from around the world.

3. William and Flora Hewlett Foundation define OER as, “ open
educational resources are teaching, learning and research materials in any
medium digital or otherwise that reside in the public domain or have been
released under an open license that permits no cost access, use, adaptation
and redistribution by others with no or limited restrictions.”
This definition states that OER can include both digital and non-digital
resources. Also it lists several types of use that OER permit, inspired by 5R
activities of OER.
1. Retain
The right to make own and control copies of the content (eg : download,
duplicate, store and manage).

4. 2. Reuse
The right to use the content in a wide range of ways ( eg : in a class, in a
study group, on a website, in a video).
3. Revise
The right to adapt, adjust, modify or alter the content itself ( eg : translate
the content into another language).
4. Remix
The right to combine the original or revised content with other material to
create something new ( eg : incorporate the content into a mashup).
5. Redistribute
The right to share copies of the original content your revisions or your
remixes with others ( eg : give a copy of the content to a friend).

5. A. OER based on media
1. Text / Print
2. Visual / Photograph
3. Audio
4. Video / Audio-visual
5. Animation
B. OER based on quality
1. Self published
2. Reviewed
3. Peer reviewed
4. Option of post review
C. OER based on authorship
1. Individual
2. Open authoring
3. Collaborative work

6. D. OER based on presentation
1. Slide sharing
2. Class presentation
3. E-content presentation for OER
4. Formal public presentations
E. OER based on licensing
1. Copyright protected
2. Creative commons
3. Public domain
F. OER based on nature or format
1. Reading materials
2. Text / units
3. Modular course

7.  Expanded access to learning – can be accessed anywhere at
any time.
 Ability to modify course materials – can be narrowed down to
topics that are relevant to course.
 Enhancement of course material – texts, images and videos
can be used to support different approaches to learning.
 Rapid dissemination of information – textbooks can be put
forward quicker online than publishing a text book.
 Cost saving for students – all readings are available online,
which saves students hundreds of dollars.

8.  Quality / reliability concerns – some online materials can be
edited by anyone at anytime, which results in irrelevant or
inaccurate information.
 Limitations of copyright property protection – OER licenses
change “ all rights reserved”, into “some rights reserved”. So
that content creators must be careful about what materials they
make available.
 Technology issues – some students may have difficulty
accessing online resources because of slow internet
connections or may not have access to the software required to
use the materials.

9.  www.wikipedia.com
 www.investopedia.com
 www.slideshare.net.com
 www.libguides.unisa.ac.za.com