Types of OER (and where to find them)

Shannon Moist

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Shannon Moist

There are a multitude of OER out there to choose from, including textbooks, courses, multimedia, data, and supplementary materials. These can be found by searching regular search engines (like Google) by using certain keywords but it is much easier to find them through dedicated OER repositories or websites. The examples below are just a sampling of such repositories and websites.

Repositories

SOL*R (Shareable Online Learning Resources): This is BCcampus’ OER respository.
Creative Commons Search: A repository of various types of media, including images, music, and videos.
OER Commons: A large collection of a variety of types of OER, including textbooks, courses, and ancillary materials.
MERLOT: “a curated collection of free and open online teaching, learning, and faculty development services contributed and used by an international education community.”
OER Handbook for Educators: “a guide for those who are just getting started in the creation of open educational resources (OER).”

Textbooks

Pressbooks Directory is a free, searchable catalog that includes 5,888 open access books published by 161 organizations and networks using Pressbooks. It’s easy to copy, revise, remix, and redistribute any openly licensed content found here using Pressbooks’ publishing platform. Nearly all books are highly accessible, and many include interactive H5P learning activities to engage learners.
BCcampus’s BC OpenEd Resources page is a good place to start to find both general information about OER and a collection of textbooks that have been “created … or … re-created from existing [OER] by B.C. post-secondary faculty, reviewed by B.C. faculty and made available under a Creative Commons license.”
OpenStax: Supported by Rice University, OpenStax has a huge collection of open, peer-reviewed textbooks on a large variety of subjects.
Project Gutenberg: A collection of tens of thousands of digitized books available for download; audiobooks are also available.
AU Press: Athabasca University’s AU Press publishes open access journals and books with a focus on Canada, the North American West, and the Circumpolar North.

Courses

Khan Academy: A collection of instructional videos and practice exercises on topics including math, science, programming, history, English, economics, and standardized test prep.
MIT OpenCourseWare: offers free access to almost all MIT course content
Saylor Academy: a non-profit organization committed to providing free and open online courses
Coursera: an educational platform partnered with dozens of prestigious universities and institutions (including MoMA, Stanford, Yale, the University of Toronto, and the University of London)

Multimedia

Creative Commons Search: A repository of various types of media, including images, music, and videos
Vimeo: Videos with a CC license can be found through Advanced Search options
Flickr: Creative Commons: Flickr is an “online photo management and sharing application” and many photos are available under CC licenses; Flickr allows searching by type of license.

Supplemental materials

Supplemental, or ancillary, OER materials can include lecture notes, lesson plans, PowerPoint presentations, assignments, and activities.

PhET: Interactive math and science simulations with lesson plans and activities
OER Commons: A large collection of a variety of types of OER, including textbooks, courses, and ancillary materials

Other OER lists

Many universities have research guides related to finding OER and that provide lists of various repositories and resources, so be sure to check your home institution.

License

Icon for the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License