The Creative Commons copyright licenses and tools forge a balance inside the traditional “all rights reserved” setting that copyright law creates. Our tools give everyone from individual creators to large companies and institutions a simple, standardized way to grant copyright permissions to their creative work. The combination of our tools and our users is a vast and growing digital commons, a pool of content that can be copied, distributed, edited, remixed, and built upon, all within the boundaries of copyright law.

What do we mean when we talk about making online courses “accessible”? Does accessibility mean the same thing as accommodation or Universal Design for Learning? While the concepts are interconnected and all work in support of creating inclusive learning environments for students in higher education, each also has its own characteristics and definition.

This guide provides resources on the topic of Accessibility of Digital Content, as a supplement to the OERTX Digital Information Literacy Hub.

This page summarizes the accessibility issues demonstrated in the Word, PDF, and PowerPoint sample files that accompany the Accessible University demo site. With each issue, a solution is suggested as demonstrated in the accessible files.

This resource is a template for creating and curating OER ancillary materials. This template was designed for the OER Advanced Skills series in June 2023.

This guide provides resources on the topic of Attribution and Citing Sources, as a supplement to the OERTX Digital Information Literacy Hub.

This resource is a template for designing a Professional Learning Series. This template was designed for the OER Advanced Skills series in June 2023. This course is designed to provide new faculty members at community colleges with a comprehensive understanding of the Backwards Design Framework and its application in the development of effective courses. Through a series of step-by-step lessons, participants will learn how to design courses that align with learning objectives, engage students, and promote successful outcomes. By the end of this course, participants will be equipped with the skills and knowledge necessary to create impactful and student-centered community college courses.

You can use CC-licensed materials as long as you follow the license conditions. One condition of all CC licenses is attribution: crediting the author and giving the source information. Generally speaking, attribution must reasonably include all relevant information supplied by the licensor. Because each use case is different, you can decide what form of attribution is most suitable for your specific situation. The following examples are intended to illustrate what typical prudent practices look like. We expect community norms and expectations to evolve with time, and will adapt this guide accordingly. In addition to attribution, there are also things to consider as a licensor or a licensee. If you are a licensor and would like to learn how to mark your own material with a CC license, here.

This is a study module on evolution for the non-science majors biology lab. It has been modified from other OER material.The Title image is of the Zaniskari which is a breed of small mountain horse or pony from Ladakh union territory of India. Attribution: Eatcha, CC BY-SA 4.0 

This is a study module on evolution for the non-science majors biology lab. It has been modified from other OER material.Attribution Title image: Eatcha, CC BY-SA 4.0 

This session introduces a variety of creative ways in which OER have been utilized in Texas, in instruction and beyond. Additionally, a demo of current projects includes a deep dive into the OER Nursing Essentials Project (O.N.E.) – a collaborative effort between THECB and OpenStax, an introduction to the THECB’s Student Success Inventory, and the unveiling of the Texas OER Playbook.

This post provides some basic guidelines around citation and attribution when creating and adapting open educational resources (OER).

Even though they share characteristics, citations and attributions play different roles and appear in different places. This chapter defines citation and attribution, explains how and when they should be used in an open textbook, and discusses their purposes, similarities, and differences.

It's important to cite sources you used in your research for several reasons:

To show your reader you've done proper research by listing sources you used to get your information
To be a responsible scholar by giving credit to other researchers and acknowledging their ideas
To avoid plagiarism by quoting words and ideas used by other authors
To allow your reader to track down the sources you used by citing them accurately in your paper by way of footnotes, a bibliography or reference list

This purpose of this guide is to provide our faculty, students, staff and others in our community an understanding of copyright law and it's proper application in an academic environment. A better understanding and application of copyright law both avoids potential legal issues and makes us all better stewards of the intellectual property of others.

This guide provides resources on the topic of Copyright and Licensing, as a supplement to the OERTX Digital Information Literacy Hub.

No matter how long you’ve been an advocate of OER, you may sometimes feel like you need a (fun and nuanced) refresher on the nuts and bolts of “open.” This webinar will engage a panel of experts in a discussion ranging from the basics of copyright and Creative Commons licensing to the tough questions we inevitably encounter when working with open resources.

This is a template workflow for Creator Communities to adapt for their own needs.