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OER Frequently Asked Questions

Have questions about how open education resources can lower education costs and improve learning? Here you'll find helpful answers to common questions about free and low-cost educational materials. 

Open Education Resources FAQs

OER stands for "open educational resources." According to UNESCO:

"Open Educational Resources (OER) 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."

At MHCC, we help keep education costs lower by using OERs. You can access OERs and helpful support materials online.

You can access OER online! Visit our Open Education Resources page for links to the OER collection, helpful search tips, and training materials. The OER collection includes materials from faculty and staff all over Oregon, including MHCC instructors.

If you an instructor looking to use existing OER, add new course materials to the OER collection, or create OER please email OER Reference Specialist Kevin Moore.

Pressbooks is book publishing software often used in OER for creating textbooks, anthologies, fiction and nonfiction, guidebooks, and more! The software produces multiple formats including:

  • MOBI (for Kindle ebooks)
  • EPUB (for all other ebookstores)
  • Designed PDF (for print-on-demand and digital distribution)

MHCC Library Press is MHCC Library's Pressbooks publishing account. MHCC faculty can use it to create OER for their classes. Have questions about developing OER materials? Email OER Reference Specialist Kevin Moore.

No, about 35-40% of courses use OER. Entry-level math, science, social science, and writing courses use them. Make sure to confirm with your instructor whether or not their class uses them.

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Have questions about OER materials?

Contact MHCC Library Reference Staff

Have questions about education costs?

Talk with an Advisor

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