Teaching, learning and research materials in any medium – digital or otherwise – that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits no-cost access, use, adaptation and redistribution by others with no or limited restrictions are open educational resources (OER).
The UMSL Libraries are working to support faculty, students and self-learners with the use, creation and discovery of free open educational resources.
OER at the University of Missouri
In the fall of 2017 the University of Missouri System began the A&OER initiative to grow the use of affordable and open educational resources across all four campuses. A&OER stands for Affordable and Open Educational Resources. This initiative has included individual professors, entire departments, campus libraries, instructional designers, campus bookstores, and student government.
The initiative worked to encourage faculty to adopt and create OERs.
Textbook Prices
The rising cost of college textbooks, and the rising availability of high quality open alternatives to traditional textbooks motivated the University of Missouri System to take action.
