By way of comparison, the Commonwealth of Learning “has adopted the widest definition of Open Educational Resources (OER) as ‘materials offered freely and openly to use and adapt for teaching, learning, development and research'”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_educational_resources
OER in simple worlds
Education from ancient time used to be “Open and Accessible resource for everyone“. But in recent time, with increase in Business of Education, knowledge become commodity with specific institution imparting that knowledge (with additional cost). Considering the higher cost of every physical resource ranging from Institutional premises, other resources including higher salaries for teacher, it was bound to happen.
But with revolution in Information Technology, it is possible to share these Educational Resources without incurring any cost (or very low cost).
For example, earlier if we want plan and deliver a lecture to 100+ students, physical infrastructure was required. This would obviously cost money. But with availability of Youtube and Broadband, same lecture can be delivered online while teacher is sitting in his house/small room and million of students attending the same lecture. Also this lecture can be recorded and shared with other for future use.
Written by: Vikas Jain, OER Enthusiast.
References
- http://oeru.org/
- https://openeducationalresources.pbworks.com/w/page/24836860/What%20are%20Open%20Educational%20Resources
- http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/access-to-knowledge/open-educational-resources/what-are-open-educational-resources-oers/
More information to be added soon.
