Cost, Access, & Pedagogy
Defining the "Open" in Open Content and Open Educational Resources:
The terms "open content" and "open educational resources" describe any copyrightable work (traditionally excluding software, which is described by other terms like "open source") that is licensed in a manner that provides users with free and perpetual permission to engage in the 5R activities:
Open educational resources (OER) are free and openly licensed educational materials that can be used for teaching, learning, research, and other purposes.
Creative Commons 
"Teaching, learning and research materials in any medium, digital or otherwise, that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits no-cost access, use, adaptation and redistribution by others with no or limited restrictions." - UNESCO
OER Global Logo by Jonathas Mello is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0).
OER are teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use and re-purposing by others. Open educational resources include full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge. - The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
Digitized materials offered freely and openly for educators, students, and self-learners to use and reuse for teaching, learning, and research. OER includes learning content, software tools to develop, use, and distribute content, and implementation resources such as open licenses. - OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development)
The term "Open Educational Resource(s)" (OER) refers to educational resources (lesson plans, quizzes, syllabi, instructional modules, simulations, etc.) that are freely available for use, reuse, adaptation, and sharing. - The Wikieducator OER Handbook
Open Educational Resources are teaching and learning materials that you may freely use and reuse, without charge. OER often have a Creative Commons or GNU license that state specifically how the material may be used, reused, adapted, and shared. - OER Commons
6 Videos:
1. What is OER? (1:40)
2. How can OER help educators? (1:43)
3. How can I find OER? (1:32)
4. What does the research say about OER? (2:30)
5. What is an open license and how does it work? (2:11)
6. Why OER? (3:49)
By: The Council of Chief State School Officers, WA
LISTEN TO SUNY FACULTY EXPERIENCES:
A wonderful testimonial from SUNY faculty about what it was like to adopt OER curriculum materials and the impact it had on their students through increased access to lower cost textbooks and to their teaching and pedagogy through the collaborative nature of OER. Due to the successes of several faculty members and departments their administration has made a significant commitment to increasing OER adoption campus wide. The impact on student learning and retention are a testament to the importance of Open Educational Resources.
