WNC OER Project

Bringing OERs to WNC

Western Nevada College, along with other NSHE institutions, is seeking to expand its offering and use of Open Educational Resources (OERs) in an effort to decrease some of the costs associated with higher education and support the recruitment and retention of students.

What is an OER?

OERs are educational materials that are either currently in the public domain or have been published under a license that allows for their free use, distribution, and alteration in ways that would normally be prevented by copyright or trademark limitations. The creator or publisher has specifically made the materials available for use in teaching and learning. While permission to use or alter the materials does not need to be obtained, users are still expected to cite and give proper attribution to the creator(s).

How Can OERs be Used?

OER uses are generally referred to as the 5Rs.*

1. Retain - make, own, and control a copy of the resource 
2. Revise - edit, adapt, and modify your copy of the resource 
3. Remix - combine your original or revised copy of the resource with other existing material to create something new 
4. Reuse - use your original, revised, or remixed copy of the resource publicly 
5. Redistribute - share copies of your original, revised, or remixed copy of the resource with others 

*This list has been adapted from "Defining the 'Open' in Open Content and Open Educational Resources," by David Wiley and published freely under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license at http://opencontent.org/definition/. 

Why Use OERs?

There is new information being published about many subjects on an ongoing basis, making it difficult and expensive to keep up with the current literature using traditional resources. OERs allow instructors and students to mix and match materials for their own needs.

"An Introduction to Open Educational Resources" by Abbey Elder is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 International license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/