Research Guides: OER: About OER

What are OER?

Section 67423 of California Education Code defines Open Educational Resources (OER) as:

"high-quality teaching, learning, and research resources that:

Reside in the public domain or
Have been released under an intellectual property license, such as a Creative Commons license, that permits their free use and repurposing by others, and
May include other resources that are legally available and free of cost to students.

Open educational resources include, but are not limited to, full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, faculty-created content, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge."

Why use OER?

Between 2008 and 2016 the cost of college textbooks has risen 88% (Bureau of Labor Statistics), and the College Board estimates that full-time students in 2-year colleges will spend as much as $1,420 per year (2017-18) on textbooks. Struggling students and their families are increasingly forced to make hard choices about whether to purchase required course materials that they cannot afford or attempt to pass their courses without them. Though students are the ones that have to pay for course textbooks, they may have very little ability to influence the textbook market. Only faculty members have the power to determine the amount of money students will have to spend on their course materials. Interested in replacing your expensive textbooks with an OER but don't know how to get started? This guide can help!