Open Educational Resources: A Quick Guide

What is an Open License?

The term "open content" describes any copyrightable work (traditionally excluding software, which is described by other terms, like "open source") that is licensed in a manner that provides users with free and perpetual permission to engage in the 5R activities:

1. Retain - the right to make, own, and control copies of the content (e.g., download, duplicate, store, and manage)
    
2. Reuse - the right to use the content in a wide range of ways (e.g., in a class, in a study group, on a website, in a video)
    
3. Revise - the right to adapt, adjust, modify, or alter the content itself (e.g., translate the content into another language)
    
4. Remix - the right to combine the original or revised content with other material to create something new (e.g., incorporate the content into a mashup)
    
5. Redistribute - the right to share copies of the original content, your revisions, or your remixes with others (e.g., give a copy of the content to a friend)

This material is based on original writing by David Wiley, which was published freely under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license at http://opencontent.org/definition/.