OER

=Tool/technology title=

Author(s): Ronald Arendse Editor: Thabisa Nondzube

1. Definition
Open Educational Resources (OER) are online teaching and learning resources available to students, academics and educational institutions to increase the dissemination of knowledge. The OER is under intelectual property license that permits free use and re-purposing (fit-for-purpose) of the resource. Although they are made available to the public, they are protected by property licences. The Hewlett Foundation logical model views OER’s as learning and teaching resources that assist in removing learning barriers and also equalize access to learning.

**2. Characteristics**
One of the most prevalent characteristics of OER’s is that the cost of accessing these resources is not high. The costs are most likely increase by the compatibility of bandwith and the amount of time it takes to download learning material. The cost are usually decrease for the benefit of the end-user of the learning resources. Another characteristic of OER is that they are largely protected by licenses and intellectual property legislations. When users choose to utilise the resources, they should be aware that there are intellectual property issues to take cognisance of.

3. Examples of products (open source/free or commercial)
Open educational resources include full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials or techniques used to support access to knowledge.

4. Examples of applications for Teaching and Learning
OER can assist us in a very unique way in order to decrease the cost of textbooks for our students in that it fosters pedagogical innovation and relevance that avoids teaching from the textbook, although we need to bear in mind that students require access to these resources. OER broadens use of alternatives to textbooks while maintaining instructional quality and lowers costs of course materials for students which is very important in our context at UWC.

**5.Teaching and learning with OER in social sciences**
Open education resources such as videos, flash videos and audio lectures in the communication disciplines such as public relations, marketing, advertising and media studies are useful and aid in the teaching and learning process. Learners can identify, analyse and report on the use of language, stereotypes, communication campaigns, ideologies, rhetoric and advertisements. They can compare these with the various theories that they have learnt and have been exposed to. Case study analysis is relevant in the social sciences, particularly in the communication disciplines. Student are expected to know anything and everything so that they can form opinions and be able to communicate these with the relevant mediums.

5. Other resources (articles, guides, videos, examples...)
http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm TED Talks www.ted.com [|www.slideshare.net] Amazing stories of openess (Alan Levine) http://cogdog.wikispaces.com/AmazingStories Classifying educational resources [] media type="custom" key="17348514"

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