LibGuides: Open Educational Resources: Using and Creating Open Educational Resources

Using Open Educational Resources

A selection of resources providing further information on using and creating open educational resources.

A Basic Guide to Open Educational Resources
An open textbook produced by the Commonwealth of Learning providing detailed information on all aspects of open educational resources.
JISC OER
JISC guide explaining how open educational resources work and the applications and practicalities of using them.
OER handbook
A handbook aimed at those who are getting started with open educational resources.
OER Starter Kit
An introduction to the use and creation of open educational resources.

A selection of open courses available on the use and creation of open educational resources.

Creating Open Educational Resources
An OpenLearn course from the Open University covering how to create open educational resources.
OER4Covid
OER4Covid offers courses on understanding open educational resources and on copyright and Creative Commons licensing.
OERUp
An open course about finding, creating and re-using open educational resources.
Open eLearning Content Observatory Services (OLCOS) Tutorials
Tutorials on creating, re-using and sharing open educational resources, as well information on how to implement open learning policies and activities within an institution.

These criteria will help in evaluating the suitability of an open educational resource for use in a module.

Does the open educational resource meet module learning outcomes?
Does the open educational resource promote active learning opportunities for learners?
How can you use the open educational resource? What restrictions, if any, are there on what you can do with the open educational resource?
How easy will it be to adapt the open educational resource for your teaching?
Has the open educational resource been produced to a high standard?
Does the open educational resource comply with accessibility standards?

You will need to attribute any open educational resource that you use. These websites will help you attribute resources correctly.

Open Attribution Builder
This tool helps you to create attributions for resources with Creative Commons licences.
Best Practices for Attribution
This website shows examples of best practice in attributing resources with Creative Commons Licenses.

A selection of websites that provide tools and assistance with the creation of open educational resources.

College Libraries Ontario Learning Portal OER Toolkit
This toolkit has a section on creating open educational resources, including design tips.
Open Author
The Open Author platform from the OER Commons enables you to develop and remix existing open educational resources, assign a licence and share them via the OER Commons hub.
OpenLearn Create
A Moodle based open education platform for individuals and organisations to publish open educational resources, with tools for collaboration, reuse and remixing.

A selection of resources that provide guidance and tools for publishing open books.

A guide to making open textbooks with students
An open handbook on how to involve students in creating and publishing open textbooks.
BC Campus Open Education Self-Publishing Guide
This open book provides guidance on writing and self-publishing an open textbook.
Institution as an e-Textbook Publisher Toolkit
JISC’s toolkit for universities wishing to publish e-textboooks.
OAPEN Open Access Books Toolkit
This toolkit aims to help book authors to better understand open access book publishing and to increase trust in open access books.
Scholarly Communication Technology Catalogue (SComCat)
A catalogue of open-source technology that can be used for scholarly publishing.