This page discusses OER basics. Including a definition, this page includes links to resources to learn more about OER, a discussion of common myths around OER.
If you have resources you would like us to include on this page, please contact Christina Boyle.
"Open educational resources (OER) are free and openly licensed educational materials that can be used for teaching, learning, research, and other purposes." — Creative Commons
Why Open Education Matters from Blink Tower on Vimeo.
This FAQ includes content that is adapted from SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition). Read their publication, OER Mythbusting, to learn about these facts in more detail.
This series of slides will introduce you to the basics of Open Educational Resources (OER) and its implementation at the College of Staten Island.
"Open educational resources (OER) are free and openly licensed educational materials."
Creative Commons
Since starting the OER initiative in 2017, CSI students have saved a total of $1,433,187
The benefits of OER are not limited to financial benefits and include faculty engagement, student success, social justice, flexibility, accessibility, enrollment, retention, and completion, and open pedagogy.
"The cost of textbooks really plays a huge role in my success in the class. ... [OER] is really changing the way I am studying and improving my success in the class." - Blossom Akagbosu, 2019 Student government senator
From November 2019 symposium, "Conversations about OER, OA, and Open Pedagogy"
"As long as ... professors advocate for these students and advocate for [OER], students will have a much better and easier time navigating through their college experience." - Maxwell Velikodny, 2019 Student government senator
From November 2019 symposium, "Conversations about OER, OA, and Open Pedagogy"
Faculty benefit from OER in myriad ways. Some examples are:
"As faculty, we should be really concerned with the idea that we’re teaching a class and the students aren’t taking it just because of the textbook." - Anne Hays, Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Library Instruction
From November 2019 symposium, "Conversations about OER, OA, and Open Pedagogy"
The following departments have used OER in their courses:
Division of Humanities & Social Sciences: Anthropology, Core, History, Library, English, French, Political Science, Psychology, Media Culture; Division of Science & Technology: Astronomy, Biology, Physics; Lucille and Jay Chazanoff School of Business: Finance, Economics, Management; School of Health Sciences: Social Work
Browse our OER guide.
Contact Christina.Boyle@csi.cuny.edu, Emerging Technologies Librarian and OER Coordinator
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