The 5 Rights of Openness

Outside of the benefits of free, no cost, up-to-date and easy access resources, why should you consider Open Educational Resources?  Within the bounds of Creative Commons licensing there are 5 rights to consider when using OERs:

1. Retain – the right to retain copies of a resource for personal archives or reference via downloading, duplicating, storing and managing.

2. Reuse – the right to unaltered, original resources that can be reused in various ways, such as: in a class, in a study group, on a website, in a video or in online instruction.

3. Revise – the right to adapt, adjust, modify or alter a resource so that it will suit a specific need (e.g., translate the content into another language, tailor the resource to the specifics of a course, etc.).

4. Remix – the right to take an open resource, and combine it with other related, open content to make something new or improved: for example, adding music, graphics, PowerPoint, video and research from various sources to create an improved presentation.

5. Redistribute – the right to share copies of the original or remixed resource with anyone else from friends, to colleagues, to your students.

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