Find an Open Educational Resource
Open educational resources (OER) are free, online learning materials with Creative Commons licenses.
We recommend the following sources for locating OER. Many will have the same resources, but each is likely to have a particular focus and unique items available.
Mason OER Metafinder - Simultaneously searches across 22 different sources of OER
MERLOT - Curated resource of free and online textbooks for use in teaching and learning.
OER Commons - Provides college-level OER from higher education institutions around the world.
OERTX - Collection of OER curated to meet the needs of Texas students and faculty, including materials used frequently by Texas institutions of higher education
Pressbooks Directory - Provides an index of 2,667 books published across over 100 Pressbooks networks; use of the UH Pressbooks network allows you to revise and remix the openly licensed content found through this Directory.
Open Textbook Library - Free, peer-reviewed, and openly-licensed textbooks. University of Houston is a supporting member of the Open Education Network.
OpenStax - Free textbooks that are developed and peer-reviewed to ensure they meet the scope and sequence requirements of college courses.
BC Campus OpenEd - Open textbooks for the 40 highest enrolled first- and second-year subject areas in the British Columbia's public, post-secondary system.
Saylor Academy Bookshelf - Collection of freely available open OER for download, online reading, and sharing.
Directory of Open Access Books - Strong focus on humanities and social sciences, including many from international publishers.
Smarthistory - Free, openly-licensed art history resources, including images, videos, and essays contributed by art historians, archaeologists, artists, and museum curators.
Find more OER search tools in the Repositories and Search Tools section of the OER and Alternative Textbook Handbook.
Resources
OER and Alternative Textbook Handbook – Provides instructors with an introduction to the use and creation of OER. The text is broken into five sections: Getting Started, Copyright, Finding OER, Teaching with OER, and Creating OER.
Texas Learn OER – A series of self-paced online learning modules, including an introduction to OER, and opportunities for further exploration and discovery of open education practices.
Presentation Recordings
OER and Creative Commons Licenses (43 min., Microsoft Stream)
Finding and Evaluating OER (40 min., Microsoft Stream)