Learning materials related to courses are often shared on closed learning platforms and through individual links. However, restricting the visibility and use of these materials is not always necessary. When material is published openly online, its usage rate increases, the author and organization gain more visibility, and the work reaches a broader audience. Open publishing also supports networking and co-development among teachers and educational institutions, fostering a culture where information is seen as a shared resource rather than organizational property. Open publication may also be a requirement for materials produced in various projects.
Open Educational Resources (OER) are various forms of digital or other materials aimed at teaching and learning that are released into the public domain or licensed with an open license, allowing others to freely access, use, adapt to new contexts, modify, and redistribute the material. The Library of Open Educational Resources, (Aoe.fi service) is a platform where you can find educational materials across all educational levels and publish your own materials for others to use.
Using and publishing materials
The Library of Open Educational Resources, is intended for all levels of education and lifelong learning, for both teachers and learners. Anyone can use and search for learning materials without logging in. Saving materials and leaving comments requires logging in (MPASSid, Haka, or Suomi.fi authentication).
Requirements for materials
Every material in the Library of Open Educational Resources, must be a pedagogically cohesive unit and licensed with a Creative Commons license. The license is noted in the material’s description, but it is also recommended to include it in the material itself, for example, at the beginning of a presentation or at the end of a document.
Each learning material added to the library requires comprehensive descriptive information. These help users searching for materials to find and evaluate the content. Carefully filling in the descriptive details improves the discoverability of the material and supports its use in various learning situations.
The service allows uploading materials in different formats. For example, formats used for videos, podcasts, texts, graphics, assignments, presentations, and various website implementations are suitable for the service. You can also link material to the service, provided its maintenance is ensured and the material is openly accessible to anyone without logging in.
Visit the Further information page for more info and see user guide for uploading OERs.
Utilizing materials
The use of the Library of Open Educational Resources is free of charge, and using the materials does not require logging into the service. Downloaded materials can also be modified to suit your own needs, and you can share the modified materials for others to use.
You can search for materials in the service by topic, author, educational level, field of science, or type of learning material.
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The owner of the Aoe.fi service is the Finnish National Agency for Education, which develops the service together with its partners.
Visit the Further information page for more info
Also familiarize yourself with the principles of Open Science.
The service uses Creative Commons licenses; more information can be found on the Creative Commons website.