LibGuides: Chemistry: Open Educational Resources (OERs)

Open Educational Resources (OERs)

OERs are any type of educational materials that are in the public domain or introduced with an open license. The nature of these open materials means that anyone can legally and freely copy, use, adapt and re-share them. OERs range from textbooks to curricula, syllabi, lecture notes, assignments, tests, projects, audio, video and animation.

UNESCO. (2017). Open educational resources (OER). Retrieved https://en.unesco.org/themes/building-knowledge-societies/oer

Benefits of OERs

Saves costs for students
Increases availability of educational materials and maximizes their use
Raises the quality of educational resources by allowing more contributors and reviewers

A Basic Guide to Open Educational Resources (OER)
An open access ebook (also available in Spanish) which gives a solid introduction to OERs

Chemistry OERs

MIT Open Courseware - Chemistry
MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) is a web-based publication of virtually all MIT course content. OCW is open and available to the world and is a permanent MIT activity.
OpenStax - Sciences
Open source textbooks that are written by professional content developers who are experts in their fields and undergo a rigorous peer review process. All textbooks meet standard scope and sequence requirements.
Open Textbook Library - Chemistry
The Open Textbook Library provides a growing catalog of free, peer-reviewed, and openly-licensed textbooks. The Open Textbook Library is supported by the Center for Open Education and the Open Textbook Network.
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Licenses vary. Verify individual items.
BCcampus OER by Discipline Directory
The BCcampus Open Education OER by Discipline Directory lists a wide range of open educational resources organized by discipline. This directory is updated as new resources are identified.
B.C. Open Textbook Collection
A subset of OER, open textbooks, including those found in the B.C. Open Textbook Collection, can help improve the learning experience for students while mitigating the financial barriers keeping them from achieving their academic goals.
BCcampus Open Educational Resources
Modifying materials to better suit student needs, and engaging in learning design that addresses individuals is essential for creating impactful learning experiences for students.
PhET Interactive Simulations
Founded in 2002 by Nobel Laureate Carl Wieman, the PhET Interactive Simulations project at the University of Colorado Boulder creates free interactive math and science simulations. PhET sims are based on extensive education research and engage students through an intuitive, game-like environment where students learn through exploration and discovery.
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These simulations are free for instructors to use, distribute, and modify - even in commercial ways. Attribution must be given to the original source, however.