Open Educational Resources (OER) 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.." -From the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
Advantages to open textbooks over traditional textbooks:
- The ability to customize a text so that it is more closely aligned with one’s teaching philosophy and pedagogical approach
- The ability to engage students as course material creators & contributers
- Free or low-cost to students
- Access to course materials on day one
