Open educational resources (OER)

Find OER
Learn how to find OER and use them in your courses.
Create OER
Contribute to the community by creating your own OER.
OER benefits
Learn about the benefits of OER and advocating for their use.
Courses using OER
Find fellow champions of OER at the University of Arizona.

The University Libraries, Office of Instruction and Assessment, UA BookStores, Digital Learning, University Information Technology Services, and Disability Resource Center are campus partners in OER initiatives. 

The University of Arizona is an active member of the Open Education Network, which advances open education.

Definition of OER

Open educational resources (OER) are teaching, learning, and research resources in the public domain or released with an open license (e.g., Creative Commons license).

Anyone can freely use, copy, adapt, and reshare OER. Opencontent.org states that true OER are free to access and allow for the 5R's of open content:

  1. Retain: make, own, and control copies of the content
  2. Reuse: use the content in a wide range of ways
  3. Revise: adapt, adjust, modify, or alter the content itself
  4. Remix: combine original or revised content with other material to create something new
  5. Redistribute: share copies of the original content, revisions, or remixes with others

All kinds of materials can be released as OER. A few examples include:

  • Textbooks and lecture notes
  • Syllabi and full courses
  • Test questions and assignments
  • Software, videos, and games

Ask us

Need help finding or using OER in the classroom? Want to create your own? Reach out to your librarian or contact me!

Cheryl (Cuillier) Casey, Open Education Librarian

Interested in low-cost print versions of open textbooks? Contact us at the UA Bookstores!

Cindy Hawk, Assistant Director

Dan Crosson, Buyer