The Open Education movement is built around the 5 R's of open content:
Retain: The right to make, own, and control copies of the content.
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)
Revise: The right to adapt, adjust, modify, or alter the content itself (e.g., translate the content into another language)
Remix: The right to combine the original or revised content with other open content to create something new.
Redistribute: The right to share copies of the original content, your revisions, or your remixes with others.
The ALMS Analysis provides a framework for evaluating the technological and intellectual openness of an OER, beyond the "Four R's." When creating OER, you should consider these criteria:
Access to editing tools - What software is needed to edit this resource? For example, in order to view a .pdf file, you can use freely available software. But editing a .pdf requires paid software. The HTML format is an example of a file that can be easily edited.
Level of expertise required to revise or remix - Text resources can be easily edited by anyone with the correct software. But 3D models, for example, require someone with specialized training. Although there can be a need for these specialized types of OER, try to think about using the simplest tool possible for creating your OER.
Meaningfully editable - Think about the format of your OER in terms of what it would take someone to edit it. For instance, if your OER is a scanned page of hand-written notes, consider having those notes transcribed into a typed document.
Source-file access - This is of concern for digital media. For instance, if you create a Flash file, share access to the .fla file (the source file) as well as the .swf (the actual Flash file).
From: The Four R's of Openness and the ALMS Analysis: Frameworks for Open Educational Resources
To ensure that users are able to remix and reuse OER, Creative Commons licenses are often used to communicate the rights which creators would like to retain. Creative Commons licenses give others a variety of permissions upfront, making a faster and more transparent process. Adding CC licenses to your work can help ensure that your work is shared or reused as you see fit. For example, some creators may wish to share their work, but not to allow users to "Remix," or alter them.
Creative Commons licenses by Foter (CC-BY-SA)
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