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Open Educational Resources (OER) at the University of Freiburg

The topic of Open Educational Resources has been kept present at the university for several years now through workshops, online tutorials and projects.
In the 2017-2020 draft Strategy for digitisation in teaching in teaching, the development of an open "teaching-learning culture with freely accessible learning resources (OER)" was defined as one of the guidelines.

In August 2021, the project "4D - 4 Dimensions of Digital and Didactic Development" was then launched, which is oriented towards these guidelines and in which one of many sub-projects (sub-project 4.2 - OER) envisages that the topic of open teaching and learning culture should be advanced through Open Educational Resources, among other things.

Since December 2021, there has been a central contact point for all questions on the topic of OER within the framework of this sub-project. This is currently being supported by Leon Widmaier. In addition, two research assistants (Rahel Klinger and Petra Strebel) are available to support him and the staff of the University of Freiburg in the creation of OER materials, the processing of enquiries and the planning and implementation of events and workshops.

 

Our tasks:

  • Advising and qualifying teachers on media-didactic, technical and legal aspects of the use, development and provision of OER materials.
  • Representation of the University of Freiburg in the Baden-Württemberg OER University Network
  • Scientific survey and evaluation of the use scenarios of Open Educational Resources (OER) in university teaching
  • Analysis and research on the design of a strategic university OER policy, coordination of the development process
  • Documentation and publication of the results
  • Representation of the project at academic meetings and conferences

 

 

Contact

Leon Widmaier (coordination)
Petra Strebel and Rahel Klinger (student assistants)

E-Learning Department
Computer Centre of the University of Freiburg
Hermann-Herder-Strasse 10

D-79104 Freiburg i. Br.

oer@rz.uni-freiburg.de
Tel: 0761 - 203 - 4662

Projekt "4D - 4 Dimensions of Digital and Didactic Development"  gefördert durch die Stiftung "Innovation in der Hochschullehre"

 

 

 


General info on OER:

 

What are OER?

OER (Open Educational Resources) are educational materials that have open licences (e.g. Creative Commons) and are thus available to the public.

UNESCO defines OER as "educational materials of any kind and in any medium that are licensed under an open licence. Such a licence allows free access as well as free use, adaptation and redistribution by third parties without or with minor restrictions. In this context, the originators themselves determine which rights of use they grant and which rights they reserve."


Purpose of open educational materials

 

The use of OER enables a fast, uncomplicated exchange of knowledge, as the conditions for this are clearly set out in the respective CC licence. You can use, process and disseminate OER within the scope of the licences without hesitation. By using OER published under CC licences, you avoid unintentionally violating the law and do not have to ask the author for permission to use the material.

In turn, publishing your own material as OER allows it to be easily and quickly disseminated and edited as well, contributing to productive, scholarly exchange. Educational materials published as OER are also available to the general public and can thus contribute to general education.

 

Suitable licences for OER

 

In Germany, copyright usually applies automatically to all created works with a creative level. The targeted use of open licences for one's own works does not dissolve copyright protection, but relaxes it to the extent that others are permitted to use, distribute or edit, for example. The choice of the appropriate licence for OER should be carefully considered before publishing the material. Each CC licence comes with its own licence conditions. Not all of them are equally suitable for OER.

The CC0, CC-BY and CC-BY-SA licences are particularly recommended; the remaining CC licences are already too restrictive.

Creative Commons offers you support in choosing the appropriate licence with the "License Chooser" tool.


Find and publish OER

 

ZOERR  is a Baden-Württemberg-wide repository where OER can be published and collected. When uploading your open educational materials, you add information such as the name of the author, CC licence and other metadata, which ensures that your document can be found by other users.

For more information on Open Educational Resources, the ZOERR website also offers an extensive FAQ.


Legal particularities

 

Even with a licence under Creative Commons, legal restrictions still apply that go beyond this, such as data protection, personal rights, copyright. Please ensure that these rights are not violated.

The licence notice for the applicable Creative Commons licence must also be displayed clearly and correctly.

Particular caution is required when publishing works whose components consist of different licences (e.g. also non-open licences). It is best to clearly state the terms of the licence for each component separately. Permission is required for copyrighted material to be used.


More info

Are you planning to publish your teaching materials as OER, do you want to know where you can find OER published by others or simply want more information on the subject?

We have compiled a wide range of (self-learning) offers for you, which we will expand or revise in the coming months. Simply select the one that suits you best:

 

  • The entry "Open Educational Resources" in the Digital Teaching Toolbox with further information for a rough overview of the topic.
  • Self-study courses on ILIAS on Open Educational Resources and copyright (link to OER-Kosmos  - currently being revised) E-Legal?! Informationen zu E-Learning und Urheberrecht etc.)
  • Workshops and information events:
  • Workshops and information events are still being planned. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any ideas or requests in this regard.
  • (Digital) office hours: We are currently looking for suitable dates.
  • An OER policy for the University of Freiburg is also currently being developed.


Important note: The e-learning department cannot and must not offer legal advice. In case of doubt, please contact the university's legal department.