Open Education Week – Charles Sturt University Library Blog

Open Education Week is here!

OE Week (4-8 March) is an international, community-built open forum where practitioners, educators and students can learn about open educational practices and be inspired by innovative resources developed around the world.

What are open educational resources (OER)?

OER refers to any resource that is in the public domain or is openly licensed under Creative Commons including books, videos, images, lesson plans, PowerPoints and more.

OER, including open textbooks, are freely available online and can be legally used, copied, adapted, and re-shared. They are unrestricted by paywalls, user limits, or download caps, which makes them powerful resources for teaching and learning. The unrestricted and adaptable nature of OER helps to improve equitable access to education!

Examples of open collections texts and resources: Openstax, OER Commons, openverse
An example of an open textbook: Andersen, N. (2022). Enhancing Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility (IDEA) in Open Educational Resources (OER).

Still not sure what all the fuss is about? For a quick, yet comprehensive, explanation of OER, watch this great presentation from Steven Chang (2022) at La Trobe University: OER in 5 minutes.

Infographic describing Open Educational Resources (OER): techniques, materials, and tools used for teaching, learning and research shared under the public domain or open license for re-use. Along with the principles of OER: Retain, reuse, revise, remix, redistribute. With the social benefits: OER transforms access, affordability for better learning. — Forsythe, Giulia. (2017). OER is sharing. https://www.flickr.com/photos/gforsythe/38088290601

Upcoming events

OE Week is your opportunity to learn more and get involved in OER. In 2024, there are various events scheduled from 134 organisers around the world with most events held virtually. Register online via the Open Education Global website.

Below are some live events that may interest you:

Finding and remixing great OER with Pressbooks Directory. Pressbooks, Thurs 7 March 4:30-5:00am AEDT (for the early birds, or register to receive a recording)
Navigating the impact of GenAI disruption with Open Educational Practices. UTS, Fri 8 March 11am-12pm AEDT
OER Collective Community Day 2 – 2024. CAUL, Tues 26 March 11am-1pm AEDT

Or watch a recording on demand.

Creative Commons: Sharing knowledge for the public good (UTS).
Openness: From pedagogy to practice (UTS).
Open textbooks: Is it the way of the future (UTS).
OER Collective Community Day 1 – 2024 (CAUL)

What are we doing at Charles Sturt?

Charles Sturt University Library provides access to the Pressbooks publishing platform for the creation, adaptation, and sharing of accessible and interactive OER, including Open Textbooks.

Recently, the Library adapted an existing OER (originally developed by the University of Queensland) and published this as a series of Digital skills modules on the Pressbooks platform.

We also maintain a Library guide with information about OER and recommended collections for you to search.

Ready to take the next step and include an OER in your subject? Or even considering adapting an existing OER or publishing a new one? Contact the Library to discuss how we can support you!