OER or Open Educational Resources are materials for teaching and learning that are free and openly available online for anyone to use. These materials are readily available for immediate use.  These resources include course modules, full courses, assessments, games, lectures, syllabi and other digital resources across a range of subject areas from around the globe. These resources can be used and reused in an instructional environment. The licensing placed on these resources is called Creative Commons or CC.  This licensing allows users to distribute, display, webcast and copy the work as long as the user adheres to the conditions of the license.  These are the different types of licenses:

1.     Attribution- requires users to give credit for use of the resource.  For example, if someone wants to use a photo, the photo can be republished without asking permission from the owner, but the user must give the owner credit.  It the user doesn’t want to give the owner credit, the user must ask for permission.

2.     NonCommercial- prevents users from making money from the use of the resource.  If the user wants to use a resource for commercial use, permission would have to be obtained from the owner. Users can copy, perform, display, distribute, but not for profit or commercial purposes.  User must give credit to owner. 

3.     Non Derivative Works- users are allowed to copy, reuse, display, distribute, resources but cannot alter in any way.  Resources must be used in their original form.  If users want to transform or alter the resources, they must obtain permission from the owner.

4.     ShareAlike- users are allowed to copy, display, distribute, and modify but they have to ensure that the altered or modified resource is made available on the same terms as the owner originally selected.  If users want to change the terms, they would have to obtain the owners permission.