Create - OER - Open Educational Resources - Research Guides at Mount Saint Mary's University Library

Formats Matter!

To re-use the work of another, the format is important. It's difficult to make edits to a PDF file, and some older file extensions (e.g. .wps) can be difficult to use on modern computers.

Consider offering your text-based teaching materials in an accessible and editable format like Rich Text File (.rtf) or even a plain text file that can be read by a number of different software programs. An HTML file is a good option too.

Making a video for your class? Consider the format and the available players carefully. The .mp4 extension is often recommended for OER because of the many players that read it and its easy reuse for others.

(Image by OpenSourceWay)

Guides on Creation Tools

Open Education Self-Publishing Guide
The BCcampus Open Education Self-Publishing Guide is a reference for individuals or groups wanting to write and self-publish an open textbook.This guide provides details on the preparation, planning, writing, publication, and maintenance of an open textbook. Copyright, open-copyright licences, and the differences between citation and attribution are discussed as well as the importance of copy editing and proofreading. Checklists and templates are also provided. This guide replaces the BCcampus Open Education Authoring Guide.
Authoring Open Textbooks by the Open Textbook Network
This guide is for faculty authors, librarians, project managers and others who are involved in the production of open textbooks in higher education and K-12. Content includes a checklist for getting started, publishing program case studies, textbook organization and elements, writing resources and an overview of useful tools.
A Guide to Making Open Textbooks with Students (from the Open Textbook Network)
A handbook for faculty interested in practicing open pedagogy by involving students in the making of open textbooks, ancillary materials, or other Open Educational Resources. This is a first edition, compiled by Rebus Community, and we welcome feedback and ideas to expand the text.
SUNY Empire Authoring Tools Guide
A clearinghouse of OER, including learning object repositories, open course repositories, scholarly repositories, open textbooks, and information about open learning/education in general.
Case Study from an Open Textbook Author
Read about the experience of a team of scholars writing an Introduction to Theater textbook.
Guide to Tools and Resources for OER Authors from the Open Access Textbooks project
A guide to authoring tools focusing on whether tools are free, allow collaboration, can create multiple kinds of outputs, and other important logistical questions.
80 Open Educational Resources tools
Includes 80 online resources that you can use to learn how to build or participate in a collaborative educational effort that focuses on publication and development of those materials. Although some choices focus solely on publication, development, or tools used to accomplish either effort, some provide multifaceted venues that offer communities in which to collaborate on one or all of these efforts.

Creation Tools

PressBooks
"Easily create e-books, typeset PDFs, and web books. Choose from professionally designed book themes. One button publishing." Free and priced options.
PubPub
PubPub is a collaborative writing and publishing platform from MIT's Knowledge Futures group. The basic level for free allows for robust drafting, editing, and publishing features, as well as a URL at pubpub.org and e-mail support.
Rebus Community
Rebus Community guides open textbook projects through the publishing workflow and makes it easy to find, recruit, and organize collaborators.
SoftChalk
Can be used to create interactive tutorials and mash up text/media.
Screencast-o-matic
Easily record and edit videos of action on your computer screen.
YouTube (Uploading Videos)
The place to upload and store videos for viewing. This link leads to a tutorial on how to upload videos to YouTube.
Google Drive
Drive allows you to create web-hosted documents, presentations, forms etc. Each document can be linked to from D2L and centrally maintained (i.e. you can update the google document and it will automatically update within D2L). This can be useful especially if you are using the same material for multiple classes.
Pixlr
Online photo editor and drawing tool. Requires Flash.
See more OER authoring tools
From SUNY Empire.

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Formats Matter!

Guides on Creation Tools

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