VIRTUAL: Applying Education

Abstract

Open Educational Resources (OER) are learning resources that have been released under an open license permitting their free use and modification. OER render this knowledge accessible to all. The introduction of OER can be an essential concrete action supporting successful initiatives for 21st century learning OER are becoming more widely available. The ability to reuse OER or repurpose, mix, mash, them without restriction is a major advantage in adapting resources that can address the special needs of students learning using a variety of different media. OER can be freely adapted, downloaded, and printed out by instructors, reformatted and redesigned for specific populations or for larger, more generic groups. In 21st century learning, the availability and ease of use of content should be paramount. This includes legal rights to highlight, annotate, print, and share content with minimal, if any, technical or copyright restrictions. OER include the right to receive a file that is not locked or crippled and subject to limitations on the type of media being used; the right to convert files to different formats for use in print or on a variety of devices and computer platforms. An essential right would be that of allowing students to access and keep OER textbooks either for shared learning or for future use in additional classes. OER, by definition, fit this description. They have minimal if any restrictions. They are technologically neutral, printable and can be adopted or adapted at almost no cost with little effort or concern by the teachers, staff and students involved in 21st century learning.