Open Educational Resources (OER) describe works that exist in the public domain or have been licensed in a manner to provide free and perpetual access to the user. In addition to accessing these works, the nature of OER allows one to not only use a work, but also alter it to best fit one's instructional needs. The Chattahoochee Technical College Library has created a detailed guide explaining OER in more depth as well as outlining how one can get started creating and publishing their own OER.
It can be found here: Chattahoochee Technical College OER Guide
All of the items in "OER Books" and "OER Courses" and many of the items in "Bookshelf" are OER. This means you are allowed to use these courses, textbooks, and other resources in whole or in part when creating and teaching your classes. In addition to serving as inspiration for content creation, many of these resources can be utilized as a starting point for expanding student research and assignments.
The advantages of OER are often touted in relation to financial savings on behalf of the students and institution; however, one enormous advantage that is less often expressed is the freedom it affords faculty to develop a course "text" that is truly their own and can easily be edited as instructional preferences evolve. OER allows an instructor to take the best of other courses and books, combine it with the best of their own courses, and create something unique and advantageous to themselves, their students, and their institution.
The resources in this guide are a small sample of what is available in the world of OER. If you would like assistance locating a resource for a specific unit or topic, please do not hesitate to reach out to your campus librarian.
Here is a list of all of the Libguides the library has created with links to Open Educational Resources to help you develop your lesson plans. Take a look around. Need help finding more? Just let one of Your Friendly Lanier Tech Librarians know. We will be happy to lend a hand.