Much of the explanations about OERs including their benefits was taken from Purdue University's Open Education Resources LibGuide (with some edits). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
"Open Educational Resources are teaching, learning, and research materials in any medium - digital or otherwise - that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits no-cost access, use, adaptation and redistribution by others with no or limited restrictions" - UNESCO
Open Educational Resource (OERs) often use Creative Commons copyright and can be modified and/or customized. OERs can include:
Search the Mason OER Metafinder:
Several universities have made available the educational course materials developed by their faculty.
The educational materials for each course may include syllabi, lectures, notes, powerpoint presentations, readings, assignments, and video or audio lectures, depending on the course, the semester, and the professor.
