Open Educational
Resources Policy
Purpose of Policy
This policy outlines the University’s position on Open Educational Resources (OERs) and provides
guidelines for practice in learning and teaching.
The University encourages staff and students to use, create, and publish OERs to enhance the quality of the
student experience, increase the provision of learning opportunities for all, and improve teaching practices. It
also recognises that the use and creation of OERs is consistent with the University’s vision and values; to
discover knowledge and make the world a better place, and to ensure our teaching and research is relevant
to society, diverse, inclusive, and accessible to all.
Overview
This document provides background, University position and guidance for the use of OERs in learning and
teaching at the University of Edinburgh.
Scope: Mandatory Policy
This policy applies to all students and staff in the University.
Head of Educational Design and
Contact Officer Stuart Nicol
[email protected] Engagement
Document control
Approved: Starts: Equality impact assessment: Amendments: Next Review:
Dates
15.09.21 15.09.21 28.01.16 2024/2025
Approving authority Senate Education Committee
Senate Education Committee, Learning, Teaching and Web Services,
Consultation undertaken
UK and international OER expert practitioners
Section responsible for policy
Learning, Teaching and Web Services
maintenance & review
Accessible and Inclusive Learning Policy, IP Commercialisation
Related policies, procedures,
Policies, Lecture Recording Policy, Virtual Classroom Policy, Research
guidelines & regulations
Data Management Policy, Research Publications & Copyright Policy
UK Quality Code Chapter B3: Learning and Teaching
Policies superseded by this
2016 Open Educational Resources Policy
policy
If you require this document in an alternative format please email
Alternative format
[email protected] or telephone 0131 651 4490.
Open educational resources, open education practice, open education,
Keywords
widening participation
Open Educational Resources Policy
Background
Open Educational Resources (OERs) are “learning, teaching and research materials in
any format and medium that reside in the public domain or are under copyright that have
been released under an open license, that permit no-cost access, re-use, re-purpose,
adaptation and redistribution by others.”1
At the University of Edinburgh we believe that OERs are strongly in keeping with our
institutional vision and values; to discover knowledge and make the world a better place,
and to ensure our teaching and research is relevant to society, diverse, inclusive, and
accessible to all. We sustain a deep allegiance and commitment to the interests of the city
and region in which we are based, alongside our national and international efforts,
ensuring relevance to all. In line with the UNESCO OER Recommendation, we believe
that OERs and open knowledge can contribute to achieving the aims of the United Nations
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), which the University is committed to through the
SDG Accord.
Our staff and students use, create and publish a wide range of teaching and learning
materials to support exceptional learning experiences, including course notes, hand-outs,
course work assignments, audio, video, images, animations, multimedia materials,
ebooks, open textbooks and others. Staff may provide students with access to open
resources to support learning from the University library, museums and collections or from
beyond the University.
Staff and students at the University of Edinburgh are strongly encouraged to use OERs to
enhance learning and teaching whilst contributing to “a vast pool of educational resources
on the Internet, open and free for all to use … creating a world where each and every
person on earth can access and contribute to the sum of all human knowledge” 2.
University position
1. The use, creation and publication of OERs is consistent with the University’s vision
and values; to discover knowledge and make the world a better place, and to
ensure our teaching and research is relevant to society, diverse, inclusive, and
accessible to all.
2. The University encourages staff and students to create and publish OERs to
enhance the quality of the student experience, increase the provision of learning
opportunities for all, and contribute to the global pool of open knowledge.
3. The University also encourages staff and students to reuse and repurpose existing
OERs and open licensed resources, created within and beyond the University,
1UNESCO Recommendation on Open Educational Resources (2019).
2Cape Town Declaration. (2007). Cape Town Open Education Declaration: Unlocking the Promise of Open
Educational Resources. Retrieved from: www.capetowndeclaration.org/read-the-declaration
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Open Educational Resources Policy
provided they are relevant, fit-for-purpose and used in accordance with the terms of
the licence. This will help to expand the pool of resources available for teaching and
learning, reduce duplication of effort, and increase return on investment.
4. It is expected that staff and students will use, create and publish OERs in a wide
range of formats, including but not limited to, course materials and handbooks,
images, video, multimedia resources, podcasts, assessment items, ebooks, open
textbooks and course work assignments.
5. Whether or not OERs are used or published in a School, Department or Service is
ultimately a decision for the Head of School, Head of Department or Head of
Service as appropriate. Unless stated to the contrary, it is assumed that use,
creation and publication of single units or small collections will be allowed. Where
use, creation and publication are to be restricted, Schools, Departments and
Services are encouraged to identify and communicate a rationale for restriction. It is
expected that justifications for restriction will normally be based on protection of
commercial interests.
6. University policies on intellectual property rights (IPR) must be adhered to.3 When
using OERs, students and staff must comply with the terms of the licence of use.
7. University policies and guidance on data protection must be adhered to.
8. All OERs used and created must be as accessible as reasonably possible for all
users and must comply with the University policy on Accessible and Inclusive
Learning:
https://www.ed.ac.uk/files/atoms/files/accessible_and_inclusive_learning_policy.pdf
9. The University reserves the right to restrict access to, remove or edit any resources
it hosts that do not comply with its policies, and to request removal of resources
from external repositories or sites.
Guidance
1. It is the responsibility of staff and students to ensure that they have the necessary
rights to publish an OER and that all resources published comply with all relevant
legislation, policy and guidance (e.g. copyright, IPR, data protection, accessibility).
2. Staff and students are advised to publish OERs using a Creative Commons
Attribution licence (CC BY). Other Creative Commons licences may be used if
colleagues feel this is necessary or appropriate for their particular resource, or to
3Examples of relevant policies here may include the Lecture Recording Policy; Virtual Classroom Policy;
and University policies on IP commercialisation
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Open Educational Resources Policy
comply with the licence of any third-party content used in the resource.
3. When creating and publishing OERs, the copyright owner(s), author(s), date and
Creative Commons licence must be visibly attributed. The copyright owner will
normally be the University of Edinburgh for OERs created at the University.
Author(s) and performer(s) should also be properly acknowledged, giving
recognition for work undertaken, along with date and Creative Commons licence
applied so that others can clearly understand what permissions for reuse are being
granted. An example of good attribution would be:
© [Author Name], The University of Edinburgh, CC BY, 2021
4. Staff and students creating OERs must ensure any personally identifiable
information (PII) within their resource is processed on an appropriate lawful basis, in
accordance with data protection law and University policy. Creators should be
aware that resources containing PII processed on the lawful basis of “consent” are
at risk of that consent being withdrawn at any time, and that a person’s name,
username, image, voice and personal opinions are all considered as PII.
5. The University recommends that open educational resources should be published
in an appropriate repository or public-access website in order to maximise their
discovery and use by others. Where OERs have been created as part of an
externally funded activity, any licensing regulations and repository locations
mandated as a condition of the funding should be adhered to.
6. The University recommends that audio and audio-visual OERs should be published
in the University’s multimedia repository, Media Hopper Create.
7. Where students are creating OERs as part of their programme of study or within a
staff-directed project, these guidelines should be followed and OERs should be
checked by a member of staff before publication.
8. The University actively encourages staff and students to reuse and repurpose
existing OERs created by colleagues within the University, and by other institutions
and organisations. Examples might include MOOC videos, open textbooks, open
data sets, simulations, 3D models, cultural heritage resources. The OER Service
provides advice and guidance on finding, reusing and repurposing all kinds of open
licensed content.
This document is an update of an earlier 2016 policy, itself adapted from University of Leeds OERs (2012, no longer
available; current 2017 version), incorporating additions from the GCU Interim OER Policy and the University of
Greenwich Position in relation to Open Educational Practices 2015-2017 (no longer available on blogs.gre.ac.uk).
Published by the University of Edinburgh under a Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Licence.
02 September 2021
