Page:Creative Commons for Educators and Librarians.pdf/125

- 112 - CHAPTER 5

Where do you currently find your learning resources? Do you seek open alternatives for the materials you currently use? How do you evaluate your existing learning resources, and how can you apply those measures to openly licensed content?

Once you identify the learning resources you currently use, ask yourself the following questions: If the answer to these questions is “No,” then you’re probably using learning resources that don’t provide the legal permissions you and your learners need to do what you want to do. Conversely, if you answered “Yes” to all of the questions, then you’re probably using OER.
 * Is this resource freely available to all of my learners?
 * Can my learners and I keep a copy of this resource forever?
 * Does my class have the legal rights to fix errors, update old or inaccurate content, improve the work, and share it with other educators around the world?
 * Can my learners contribute to and improve our learning resources as part of their course work?

Acquiring Essential Knowledge Not everything on the Internet is an open educational resource, and some works labeled as “open” may not have the legal permissions to exercise the 5Rs. So how do you recognize OER, and how do you choose which OER will work best in your class?

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Finding the resources you want to use is the first step to bringing OER into your classroom. Discovery is one of the primary barriers for educators who want to use OER. Fortunately, there are many established ways to search for these resources.