VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY OF PAKISTAN

EDU 430: ICT in Education

Assignment 01

(Fall 2022)

Q. Define and explain Open Educational Resources. Also explain how these resources are
helpful for online learners.

Definition:

The term opens educational resources first came into use at a conference hosted by
UNESCO in 2002, defined as “the open provision of educational resources” enabled by
information and communication technologies, for consultation, use and adaptation by a
community of users for non-commercial purposes” The definition of OER now most often used
is “ open educational resources are digitalized materials offered freely and openly for educators,
students and self-learners to use and reuse for teaching, learning and research”.

Explanation:

Open educational resources (OER) are teaching, learning and research materials
intentionally created and licensed to be free for the end use to own, share and in most cases,
modify. The term “OER” describes publicly accessible materials and resources for any user to
use, re-mix, improve and redistribute under some licenses. These are designed to reduce
accessibility barriers by implementing best practices in teaching and to be adapted for local
unique contexts.

The development and promotion of open educational resources is often motivated by a desire to
provide an alternative or enhanced educational paradigm.

Open educational resources (OER) are part of a “range of processes” employed by researchers
and educators to broaden access to scholarly and creative conversations’ Although working
definitions of the term OER may vary somewhat based on the context for their use the 2019
definition provided by UNESCO provides shared language useful for shaping an understanding
of the characteristics of OER. The 2019 UNESCO definition describes OER as “teaching,
learning and research materials that make use of appropriate tools, such as open licensing, to
permit their free reuse, continuous improvement and repurposing by others for educational
purposes.”

While collaboration , sharing and openness have “been an ongoing feature of educational” and
research practices “past and present” the term “OER” was first coined to described associated
resources at UNESCO’s 2002 Forum on open courseware, which determined that “ Open
Educational Resources (OER) are learning, teaching and research materials in any format and
medium that reside in the public domain on are under copyright that have been released under an
open licensed, that permit no-cost access, reuse, repurpose, adaptation and redistribution by
others.”

OER resources are helpful for online learning because:

 Students anywhere in the world can access OERs at any time, and they can access the
material repeatedly.
 OERs are easy to distribute widely with little or no cost.
 OERs can supplement textbooks and lectures where deficiencies in information are
evident.
 Enhancement of regular course content for example, Multimedia material such as videos
can accompany text. Presenting information in multiple formats may help students to
more easily learn the material being taught.
 Information may be disseminated rapidly (especially when compared to information
published in textbooks or journals, which may take months or even years to become
available). Quick availability of material may increase the timeliness and /or relevance of
the material being presented.
 A wide audience may learn of faculty research interests and expertise. Potential students
and donors may be impressed and student and faculty recruitment efforts may be
enhanced.
 OER provide an excellent way for alumni to stay connected to the institution and
continue with a program of lifelong learning.
 Unlike textbooks and other static sources of information, OERs can be improved quickly
through direct editing by users or through solicitation and incorporation of user feedback.
Instructors can take an existing OER, adapt it for a class, and make the modified OER
available for others to use.