Open Educational Resources (OER)

Use of OER as classroom material furthers Franklin University's cornerstone principles of 

• access to education and affordability (since OER are "free" from cost);
• student success (since students are able to access OER immediately, without charge, and because creative use of OER can increase student learning opportunities); and
• quality (faculty can use OER to provide materials which better meet the needs of our students, and the needs of their courses, than traditional or existing textbooks).

This guide can help you understand and use OER. It contains information which will help you:

• understand what OER are (and the difference between OER and library etextbooks);
• find OER content you can use;
• evaluate the OER resources you find; and
• learn about the most frequently used OER license - the Creative Commons license.

You can also learn about Open Access publishing, including:

• general information about open access publishing for authors; and
• information about how those affiliated with Franklin University can benefit from open access publishing though OhioLINK.