1.1: Open, Accessible, and Free

Open, Accessible and Free

With the advent of digital materials and learning management systems being integrated in grounded and online classes, course materials and resources are more accessible (in terms of access) and accessible (in terms of WACAG standards) than ever before. The terms 'free' and 'open licensed' as they relate to educational materials are often used interchangeably or in association with OER. That is because the intent of OER materials, by design, is to be open for use and adaption freely.

But just because a material is free, does that make it an OER?

"Open," in OER, relies on the design of the material to be not only free, but to carry a license, placed by the author, that allows them to be freely used in a variety of ways. Other freely available materials, such as those in the public domain, are free and open, but they were not intended to be OER. That does not take away from the value of those resources in classes, as that content could be used within OERs. But there is a difference in the materials because of their initial intent. An OER was designed with the intent to be an educational resource, whereas something that falls within the public domain may have achieved that status by other means, such as just by being government content or having a copyright expire.

Faculty and students have access to other types of zero-cost materials through their institution via the library course reserves, digital collections, and digital journals. While these materials are not necessarily open licensed or editable, they would be free. They can collaborate with library faculty to make select materials available directly in the LMS/Canvas. This not only removes the financial burden of course material costs, it allows students to use the materials immediately.

Ease of access is important, but ensuring that written and visual materials are accessible for students is likely a requirement as well. One of the benefits of finding true OERs is that they can be updated and improved, including making them more accessible for people who use screen readers and providing.

OERs are just one of many methods for the well-rounded educator who is looking to facilitate a more open learning approach with materials.

Enter Creative Commons

Seeing the limitations of copyright and public domain, Creative Commons, an international nonprofit organization, developed a set of licenses and tools to help build and sustain a commons of shared knowledge and culture (CC:About). The availability of Creative Commons licensing has made it possible for any creator to create works while retaining attribution. It gives educators the ability to free their content from published textbooks that are difficult to update and customize. As professors improve the content and share it with others, there is the potential for continuous improvement, a kind of "snowball" effect where others who use the text can build on what has been remixed or created.

Pulling up Anchor on Published Textbooks

Using a textbook to frame the content of a course has been a common practice among faculty for decades. This practice is often referred to as "anchoring" a text to a course, and, as long as the professor feels the content aligns with their learning objectives--or is willing to have the textbook influence the course focus--this has been a useful way to lay out content in a course term. Another challenge with this approach is the amount of information may have been designed for a different length of course term. In this traditional course that uses a traditional book, the course is typically structured in the same progression as the chapters of the text being used. But at times, it can also make a course dependent on a textbook and lock the professor into content they would not necessarily choose, in addition to the issues of whether or not it stays relevant, affordable, and available. Editions and changes by publishers can disrupt this organization with chapter shifts or by not updating the content enough to stay relevant. Students are savvy to this, and more and more often, they opt out of purchasing a book if they don't see the value in how it will be used in a course.

A good open educational resource can free the anchor for an educator, giving them the ability to organize, customize, update, and create content that works well for their course goals and outcomes.

Time and Equity

While providing students equitable access to reading and course materials for free is an incredible benefit, the very creation of OERs relies on a significant amount of time and resources by the professor. Similar to writing anything academic, whether it be a chapter, textbook, or article, creating--or even remixing--an OER for a course is a time-consuming process. It doesn't end with pushing "publish" on an OER publishing site. An OER can and should be an organic and iterative process for updates, as feedback on the OER comes back to the author from their students or from others in the community using it. It can leave a new OER author wondering, "How do I find the time to do all this?"

To the author or a team of authors, time is neither free nor necessarily open, as there are only a fixed number of hours in a day and everyone's means are different. There is no universal support structure in higher education for the creation of open educational resources, leading educators to find the time and support on their own or, possibly never have the opportunity. In some cases, or at some institutions, there may be professional development opportunities (like the WWU workshop associated with this text) or grants that provide support or compensation for OER production. This could be one of the many reasons why, despite being widely acknowledged for being beneficial to teaching and learning, the creation and adoption of OER has felt slow to catch on at a wider scale. It has also brought up questions about the subset of authors who are afforded the opportunity to create OERs, how they may present biased content in OER, and how some may remix content in ways they were not intended. These are all real concerns and all things that an OER author today should bring into consideration when they begin to map out the content of their OER.