New Code of Practice for Open Educational Resources

Essex has recently published a new Code of Practice for sharing Open Educational Resources (OER), marking an exciting step forward in our commitment to excellence in education, and a culture of openness.

What are Open Educational Resources?

Open Educational Resources are teaching and learning materials that have been released under open licences, making them freely available for anyone to access, use, adapt, and share.

The scope is broader than you might think. OER can include course notes, lecture slides, videos, images, animations, multimedia materials, artworks, textbooks, and more. Essentially, any educational material you create could potentially become an OER, contributing to a vast shared pool of knowledge.

Why should you care about Open Educational Resources?

The benefits of embracing OER extend far beyond simply sharing your teaching materials online. Creating, sharing, and using OER represents an opportunity to:

• Enhance educational quality and inclusion: By drawing on a wider range of high-quality resources, you can create more inclusive and engaging learning experiences for our diverse student body.
• Reduce workload through collaboration: Instead of reinventing the wheel, you can build upon existing excellent resources created by educators worldwide. This reduces duplication of effort, while potentially increasing your educational impact.
• Expand your professional reach: Sharing your expertise through OER enhances your own reputation, and the reputation of the University. By showcasing the excellence of our educational approach to a global audience, your innovative teaching materials could inspire educators and attract students from around the world.
• Support student success: Using OER can help reduce resourcing costs, while providing students with access to high-quality, diverse learning materials that support their academic journey.

Understanding the process of creating OER: what you need to know

The University recognises that not all educational resources can or should be made openly available. Some materials may have ethical, legal, or commercial restrictions that prevent open sharing. 

Importantly, there's no obligation to make your educational resources open – this is entirely voluntary.

However, if you're interested in creating OER, there are some important steps to follow:

1. Notification requirements: Before making any educational resources openly available, you'll need to notify both the Director of Research and Enterprise Office and the Deputy University Secretary. This ensures that any commercial potential is properly considered before the resource becomes openly available.
2. Copyright and attribution: All OER must clearly state the copyright owner, author, date, and Creative Commons licence applied. Since the University owns intellectual property rights in work produced by employees, the copyright will typically belong to Essex. However, we’d recommend adding your name for attribution.
3. Licensing recommendations: The University recommends using a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) to align with UN definitions of OER, though other licences may be appropriate depending on your specific circumstances.

Making your OER accessible and discoverable

Creating great content is only half the battle – making it discoverable and accessible is equally important. The University recommends sharing OER through appropriate repositories or public access websites such as The National Teaching Repository, OER Commons, or MERLOT.

Accessibility is also paramount. Any OER you recommend to students must be as accessible as reasonably possible for all users, following University guidance on web accessibility to ensure compliance with government standards.

Building on others' work

One of the most exciting aspects of OER is the opportunity to build upon existing resources. You're encouraged to reuse and repurpose OER created by both colleagues at Essex, and educators from around the world. This might include MOOC videos, open textbooks, simulations, 3D models, cultural heritage resources, and more.

When using existing OER, always ensure you comply with licence terms and provide appropriate attribution. This maintains the integrity of the open education movement, while respecting the work of fellow educators.

Ready to get started?

For more general information, practical tips, and links to further resources on OER, head to the Library’s dedicated Open Educational Resources guide. 

If you're interested in creating OER, the first step is reaching out for permission and guidance. Contact Dr Rob Singh and Lucy Johnson to request permission to share an OER. For questions about intellectual property, contact ipadmin@essex.ac.uk, and for general OER information, reach out to ressup@essex.ac.uk.

If you’d like to add some open educational resources to your reading list, take a look at our Open Access Content guide, and our Reading List guide for recommendations of where to start. You can also contact the Reading List Team via libread@essex.ac.uk. 

Looking forward

The adoption of this Code of Practice reflects Essex's commitment to being "as open as possible, as closed as necessary". By embracing OER, we're not just sharing knowledge – we're contributing to a global movement that makes quality education more accessible and inclusive.

Whether you start by including some open educational resources on your reading list, by adapting existing resources for your teaching, or by sharing your own innovative materials, every step contributes to our mission of excellence in education and research for the benefit of individuals and communities.