What is open education? | Opensource.com

"Open education is a philosophy about the way people should produce, share, and build on knowledge. Proponents of open education believe everyone in the world should have access to high-quality educational experiences and resources, and they work to eliminate barriers to this goal. Such barriers might include high monetary costs, outdated or obsolete materials, and legal mechanisms that prevent collaboration among scholars and educators ... Open educational resources (OERs) are learning materials that can be modified and enhanced because their creators have given others permission to do so. The individuals or organizations that create OERs—which can include materials like presentation slides, podcasts, syllabi, images, lesson plans, lecture videos, maps, worksheets, and even entire textbooks—waive some (if not all) of the copyright associated with their works, typically via legal tools like Creative Commons licenses, so others can freely access, reuse, translate, and modify them ... Applying open licenses to educational materials allows educators to collaboratewhen building materials specifically differentiated for their students. For example, a mathematics teacher might acquire openly-licensed word problems for her students, but re-write the exercises to include language that is more geographically specific or demographically relevant. In turn, she can share her modified problems with others who may wish to use them.  At the same time, collaborating on OERs allows educators to work together when ensuring consistency among their materials. Public school teachers in the United States, for instance, may wish to share resources they've developed in order to adhere to government-mandated educational standards, like the Common Core State Standards ..."