LibGuides: Open Educational Resources (OER): Free the Textbook: Open Educational Resources

About OER

What are OER?

Open Educational Resources (OER) are free digital learning materials that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that allows for free use and repurposing by others. OER can include:

Textbooks
Lesson plans
Learning modules
Lecture notes and slides
Quizzes and/or tests
Syllabi
Assignments
Podcasts and videos
Training materials

True OER designed with Open Content are licensed in ways that allows free and perpetual permission to use any of the 5R activities:

Retain - the right to make, own, and control copies of the content (e.g., download, duplicate, store, and manage)
Reuse - the right to use the content in a wide range of ways (e.g., in a class, in a study group, on a website, in a video)
Revise - the right to adapt, adjust, modify, or alter the content itself (e.g., translate the content into another language)
Remix - the right to combine the original or revised content with other material to create something new (e.g., incorporate the content into a mashup)
Redistribute - the right to share copies of the original content, your revisions, or your remixes with others (e.g., give a copy of the content to a friend)

You should never pay for anything that calls itself OER.

How Do I Learn About OER?

Useful OER information provided by Halle Library at Eastern Michigan University

The OER Starter Kit Workbook
The OER Starter Kit Workbook is a remix of the OER Starter Kit to include worksheets to help instructors practice the skills they need to confidently find, use, or even create open educational resources (OER). We welcome instructors, librarians, instructional designers, administrators, and anyone else interested in OER to explore the OER Starter Kit Workbook.
Creative Commons
The nonprofit organization behind the free legal tools that provide Creative Commons licenses.
Creative Commons Licenses
Detailed information about Creative Commons licenses
Copyright
This guide provides detailed info on copyright considerations, including fair use provisions for educational use of materials.

Contact Information

Contact Information for OER Assistance

For information about OER at Ferris, please contact any of the following:

Free the Textbook

65% of students decided not to purchase a text when the price was too high--and a majority of those students were "significantly concerned" that not purchasing the text would harm their performance. [2013 Survey by Public Interest Research Group]

From 1978 - 2005, textbook prices rose at rates higher than new home prices, and even higher than medical expenses. [BLS]

From 2002-2012 textbook prices rose 82%, tuition and fees 89%, and general consumer prices 28%. [GAO based on BLS data]

The effects on EMU students are severe: Frequently texts for even 100-200 level classes fall in the $100-260 range, presenting a formidable barrier for low income students.

Many EMU students immediately fall behind, while waiting for financial aid payments or for a cheaper text ordered online to arrive.

Some use out-of-date previous editions or cheaper foreign editions, which may omit content found in U.S. editions.

Some attempt the course without a text.

Others postpone courses due to expenses. In U.S.PIRG's 2013 poll, "nearly half of all students surveyed said that the cost of textbooks impacted how many/which classes they took each semester."

If we can lower the textbook expense barrier, more students may succeed and we may improve time to graduation rates.