The document discusses open educational resources (OER) and the Skills for Scientists project. The project supported academics in turning existing teaching materials into open resources that could be shared and reused by others. Participants learned about making resources accessible, selecting an open license, adding metadata for discovery, and sharing on appropriate sites. As a result of the project, over 600 credits of material have been released as OER, and participants reported being more engaged with OER creation and reuse.

1. Open Educational Resources – a force for change
What are OER? What is the Skills for Scientists project?
Open educational resources (OER) are This project has been supporting physical sciences academics at a range of HEIs. Participants were supported through the
teaching and learning materials typified by process of turning their existing resources into open educational resources and sharing them with potential reusers:
having an open licence (one that means no fee
or royalty will be due for use of the material.) ACCESSIBILITY LICENSING METADATA SHARING
Why create/use OER? • taking into account the • selecting the correct • selecting the correct • selecting the
accessibility of the type of open license metadata that allows appropriate sites that
content, file type, file for the OER and the the potential reuser to enable the potential
Resources are already being shared between size and site where the IPR owner(s) locate the OER reuser to locate the
OER is shared OER
academics. The advantage to offering your
resources for reuse as OER is that you can
stipulate how they should be reused (e.g. if Typically, those involved with the project had been sharing their academic resources before but not as OER; the vast
changes are permissible). The advantages to majority had never used an open licence before.
reusing OER is that you can avoid ‘reinventing
the wheel’ but still be sure that you are not As a consequence of being involved in this project, participants indicated that they would be engaged in many activities
infringing copyright when you reuse someone included turning other resources into OER and creating resources with OER in mind from the start. They reported
else’s work. that they would use open licenses, approach using third-party material with more thought and add metadata to
resources. Helping others was also part of their plan; they reported that they would tell or show others how to create
Skills for Scientists Project Partners OER, and how and where to find OER.
Respondents believed that, as a consequence of their being involved with the project, their institutions were more aware of
Project lead: OER, showed an interest in becoming more involved and some were developing policy around OER.
UK Physical Sciences Centre
Project Partners:
University of Edinburgh
OER Released
University of Hull
University of Leeds To date, material equivalent to over 600 credits has been released
University of Leicester through this project. Links to the OER pictured and all the others can
University of Liverpool be found on our website:
Loughborough University http://bit.ly/skillsforscientists
University of Manchester
Newcastle University Further Information
Open University Full details of this project can be found on our website:
University of Plymouth http://bit.ly/skillsforscientists
University of Reading
The UK Physical Science Centre has produced a Briefing Paper on
Sheffield Hallam University
producing OER:
University of Southampton http://bit.ly/oer_briefing_paper
Staffordshire University
Universidade de A Coruña and contributed to a wiki of detailed guidance on all aspects on OER:
The Institute of Physics stemoer.pbworks.com
The Royal Society of Chemistry
UK Physical Sciences Centre
Tel/Fax: 01482 465418 Skills for Scientists was funded by HEFCE
University of Hull email: psc@hull.ac.uk
Hull HU6 7RX www.heacademy.ac.uk/physsci through the Academy/JISC OER Programme