Open Education Resources (OER) for Health Sciences

Open educational resources (OER) are materials used for learning, teaching and research purposes that are openly licensed. Which means, they are free to access, reuse, revise, or redistribute. 

The growth of the web has made sharing quality education materials possible at little to no cost.  

Open education “…is the simple and powerful idea that the world’s knowledge is a public good and that technology in general and the web in particular provide and extraordinary opportunity for everyone to share, use, and reuse knowledge.” 

- The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

Why use an OER in your course?

Benefits for Faculty 

• Increases student retention by reducing costs
• Assures academic freedom to modify or add content to your specifications
• Extends your academic profile
• Provides more relevant and engaging course materials for your students

Benefits for Students 

• Low cost or free
• Prepared on the first day – no waiting for course materials
• More customized and relevant        

From OER Brochure by Denise Dejonghe CC-BY-SA

Watch this 2 minute video for the OER basics: