Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Library of Open Educational Resources? Why is the Library of Open Educational Resources being developed, and which needs is it intended to fulfill?
The Library of Open Educational Resources is a joint service of the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Finnish National Agency for Education that compiles open educational resources (OER) into a single view shared by all levels of education. As of autumn 2019, the service allows users to save their own OER and associated data. The next version of the service, deployed at the turn of the year, will allow users to search and utilize open educational resources.
The Library of Open Educational Resources seeks to promote the use of such resources by providing a platform on which materials produced by individuals or in the context of various projects can gain visibility and longevity. By saving educational resources in the service users can ensure that the materials will remain available for use long after the project that produced them has concluded. They can then be utilized by users both in educational institutions and outside them.
What are open educational resources?
Open educational resources (OER) are materials in any medium, digital or otherwise, intended for use in the context of teaching, education or learning, and residing in the public domain or released under an open license that permits no-cost access, use, adaptation and redistribution by others with no or few restrictions.
In the Library of Open Educational Resources, a single open resource comprises a pedagogically sound unit licensed under a Creative Commons license.
Who is the service intended for?
The service is intended for use by all levels of education and seeks to support continuous learning. It serves as an aid to teachers, learners, and learning facilitators as they look for open educational resources to meet their particular teaching and competence development needs.
How is the service being developed?
The Library of Open Educational Resources info page was launched in March 2019. Users will be able to save open educational resources and associated data in the service starting in autumn 2019. At the next stage in late 2019 and early 2020, resources will become available for search and use via the service. The year 2020 will see a feature added for creating collections as well as the further development of AI-aided description. In addition, improvements will be made based on feedback and analytics will be developed to help creators of educational resources. In 2020, the open educational resources will also become available through the Finna.fi service. Further development needs are continuously assessed on the basis of feedback and use.
Are users required to log in to the service?
Using and searching educational resources is available to everyone, with no login necessary.
However, users must be logged in in order to save resources or leave comments. Logging into the service is possible via the Haka and MPASSid services as well as using Suomi.fi e-identification.
What are the requirements for resources stored in the service?
Materials uploaded to the Library of Open Educational Resources must be openly licensed. The service uses Creative Commons licenses. For further information, see Creative Commons -webpage and this FAQ. The license is indicated in the material description of the resource in question, but it is advisable to also make a note of it within the resource itself.
All uploaded resources must also be accompanied by material descriptions, which help users find and evaluate them. The descriptions include information e.g. on who has created the resource and how it relates to curricula. Accessibility factors should also be taken into account when necessary. Further information in Saavutettavasti-webpage (in Finnish) or on this FAQ.
What are Creative Commons licenses?
Creative Commons licenses let others know how they are allowed to use your work: Can they create an original educational resource based on your material? Are they allowed to incorporate part of your material into theirs? Are they allowed to update the material, or translate it into another language or into braille? Is use of the material allowed in the context of commercial education?
The Library of Open Educational Resources recommends that users select either the Creative Commons “Attribution 4.0” or the Creative Commons “Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0” license. Both of these ensure that you will be acknowledged as the creator of the educational resource, and that other users may freely use it as part of their learning, teaching and educational needs. They also allow others to make modifications based on the material you have created. This guarantees the continuity of your resource and ensures that it is updated after you are no longer maintaining it up to date yourself. The Creative Commons “Attribution-ShareAlike” license also ensures that all modifications and reworking based on your material will be distributed under the same open license.
The Creative Commons “NoDerivatives” license condition is not recommended with open educational resources. This license does not allow any updates, derivative works, or translations into other languages or into braille by users other than the original creator. We also ask users to bear in mind that the Creative Commons “NonCommercial” licenses do not allow the material to be used in the context, for example, of courses and training for which educational institutions charge fees. For further information on licenses, see this link.
If an educational resource has multiple creators or owners, the open license must be agreed on by all parties. This can be done for example by using these contract templates (in Finnish).
Please also consider that if you use other creators’ images or other materials as part of your educational resource, these must be openly licensed or you must have permission to use them as part of openly licensed educational materials. Information on copyright and open licensing for teachers is available in the “Copyrights in Education” resource.
For creators of educational resources
Which factors must I take into account when setting out to create educational resources? Does the Library of Open Educational Resources set any requirements regarding the creation of educational materials?
The Library of Open Educational Resources only requires that you are able to download/save your work onto your computer in a file format, and that you have permission to openly license your work. For more information on open licenses, see “What are Creative Commons licenses?” on this page.
Linking to resources is also possible if they cannot be saved. Please ensure that the material is available openly, with no login or other restrictions, and that it can be accessed now and after its creation on the platform on which it was created.
It is also advisable to read through the Finnish National Agency for Education quality criteria for digital learning resources, and consider what digital resources should accomplish (link in Finnish).
Relevant sections of the quality criteria for online implementations created as part of the eAMK project can also be useful.
This page has a dedicated section for questions regarding accessibility.
Which kinds of resources can be uploaded to the service?
Any open, Creative Commons licensed educational resources can be saved in the service for users to download.
Resources can also be used on the service itself. This does not apply to all file formats, but we aim to support the most common formats utilized by open educational resources. These include the formats used with videos, podcasts and other audio recordings, various text files, graphics, exercises and presentations, and various website implementations, such as avi, mp4, mp3, pdf, docx, doc, odt, rtf, txt, markdown, h5p, ppt, pptx, odp, opt, and html.
Is your preferred format not listed here or is your resource in the form of an executable program (exe)? Don’t worry, these are only examples. Feel free to contact us to confirm whether your format of choice is supported. We will be happy to hear about the full range of open educational resources being created!
Is it better to save a resource or link to it?
Saved resources are stored in the Library of Open Educational Resources without the user needing to worry about them remaining open and available following the conclusion of the project in which they were created. Saved materials can also be downloaded from the service, which allows end users to utilize them in a range of ways e.g. by exporting them to each learning platform they are using. Saving is the more suitable option when the goal is to make the resource available to others with minimal effort as regards maintenance.
Linking is a viable alternative when you can trust that the resource will be maintained on the website on which it is hosted. It is also suitable when the resource in question is hosted on a platform that does not allow it to be exported (i.e. it is not possible to download the material onto your own computer, for example). When linking to a resource, please ensure that it is available openly to all, with no login required.
How do I go about uploading educational resources?
Uploading resources to the service is easy. Simply log in, upload the file, and answer a few questions that help others quickly and easily ascertain the type and intended target users of your resource. A video with more detailed instructions is coming in October 2019, with instructions for dealing with problems also built into the user interface.
Can I create resources on the Library of Open Educational Resources platform / How can I create resources?
Resources created using other tools can be saved or linked to on the service, but is not possible to create resources on the service platform itself.
There are a number of suitable tools for creating educational resources. These should be selected based on pedagogical considerations and other requirements (competences, available resources, etc.). As an example, office and video recording software and website editors offer a range of solutions. Specialized software for creating educational resources is also available, such as mathematics package GeoGebra. When selecting your tool, it is advisable to consider whether created material can be saved onto your own computer and distributed to others. This ensures that your educational resources remain usable even if the platform in question is no longer available.
I have created a resource using platform X: How do I download it from the platform in order to save it in the Library of Open Educational Resources?
Firstly, the platform in question must allow files to be downloaded. In software programs, the save function can usually be found in the menu labeled “File” or “Settings”, and cloud services generally have a dedicated button for downloading copies. Once the file has been saved onto your computer, it can be uploaded to the Library of Open Educational Resources.
Example cases:
H5P requires that the administrator has enabled downloading. The download button is usually located in the lower left-hand corner of the H5P exercise window (Reuse or Download). Contact the administrator if you cannot locate the download button. More information on H5P on their website. Once you have downloaded the file, you can save and use it on the Library of Open Educational Resources.
Classes created in Google Classroom and Classcraft cannot be downloaded from the service. However, materials saved in the service such as documents, tables, and presentations (Docs, Sheets, Slides, uploaded files) are downloadable using the menu labeled “File and download as”. Class and Classcraft courses as well as Google Forms exercises can be linked to the Library of Open Educational Resources, given that they are openly available to everyone.
Courses created on learning platforms such as Moodle and Itslearning can be brought to the service in a number of ways. If the learning platform allows a course file to be downloaded, it can then be saved in the Library of Open Educational Resources. It cannot be used on the service, however, and can therefore only be downloaded. Alternatively, resources saved on the learning platform (such as exercises, presentations and instructional materials) can imported into the service as separate files. This approach allows course resources to be used on the service and makes using them on various learning platforms more straightforward. If a course hosted on a learning platform is open to everyone without login or time restrictions, it can also be linked to the service. It is recommended, however, that course resources are downloaded and then uploaded to the service. The Library of Open Educational Resources allows a single resource to contain multiple files.
Blogger and Wordpress users can make backup copies of pages in xml format via the “Settings" menu. We are looking into the possibility of xml conversion, but viewing the format is currently not supported. A Wordpress plugin that enables users to download pages in html format is also available. Html files (and associated files) can be saved as a zip file and used on the Library of Open Educational Resources in the same way as on Wordpress. Blogger and Wordpress pages can also be linked to the service, given that they are openly accessible to everyone.
If a platform does not support downloading/saving but it is otherwise an optimal solution for the resource in question, the resource can also be linked to the service. In this case it is important to ensure that the resource is usable without a login or other restrictions.
How do I make my educational resources accessible?
Taking accessibility factors into account allows us to maximize usability for all users. When uploading your materials to the Library of Open Educational Resources, it is up to you to ensure that its features are accessible. Increased accessibility can be achieved by endeavoring to take into account the full range of users in the process of creating your educational resource. When creating a video, for example, it is advisable to include subtitles for those learners and teachers who are hard of hearing. The service supports adding subtitles using a separate txt file, which allows you to add subtitles in multiple languages or give the option to do so to the users of your resource. There are utility programs for various software programs and file formats that help ensure that material is accessible. For more information, see the “Esteetöntä opiskelua” (“Accessible Learning”) page (in Finnish).
When creating educational resources, it is advisable to consider the following:
Organize text in a readable manner by e.g. applying the appropriate formatting to headings, placing core content at the beginning, and keeping paragraphs and lists concise,
Provide text versions of content in video, chart and image format, and
make content available in multiple forms, such as infographics instead of text alone.
For more information, see the quick guide for content creators on the Finnish Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities’ Papunet service (in Finnish).
The Library of Open Educational Resources also allows you to add information on how accessibility factors have been taken into account in the description of your resource. This makes it easier for users to find resources that meet their needs. For more information on material descriptions, see the service’s open wiki.
For Organizations
My organization or I myself have dozens of open educational resources: How can we make them visible on the Library of Open Educational Resources?
There are two ways to bring educational resources’ metadata into the Library of Open Educational Resources in large amounts. The first method is harvesting. It requires that your organization has established or establishes for this purpose an “oai pmh” provider/interface. In addition, the metadata model of the service in question must be compatible with that of the Library of Open Educational Resources. We can help your organization with making the models compatible, but the service in question must, as a rule, contain in some form the necessary information defined in our metadata model.
If harvesting is not possible, the metadata can alternatively be imported in an Excel file. The educational resources’ data is entered or copied into the Excel table so that each row contains the data for one resource. At a minimum, the necessary metadata must be entered for each resource. Using Excel saves time particularly when a significant share of the resources are targeted towards the same target group and level of education, for example. In such cases, overlapping data can be copied into each row and data entry does not require a substantial amount of time.
The data can also be entered using an input interface. This is a suitable option especially when there aren’t dozens of resources.
All resources available on the Library of Open Educational Resources must be openly licensed under a Creative Commons license.
If you or your organization are interested in the options described above, please contact aoe@oph.fi to discuss how we can best work together.
What kinds of educational resources can be brought into the Library of Open Educational Resources?
The service is intended for open educational resources produced using public funds. In order to import educational resources’ data into the service, a) resources must be openly licensed under a Creative Commons license, b) they must have been produced using public funds or have received public funding, c) the person importing the resources along with their associated data and personal information must be authorized to do so, and d) the organization in question must accept the service's privacy policy and terms of use. If you or your organization are interested, please contact aoe@oph.fi to discuss how we can best work together.
What kind of metadata model does the Library of Open Educational Resources have?
The service uses an internationally compatible LRMI-based metadata model, which is intended to facilitate finding educational resources in a high-quality way. Over the course of the project, the metadata model was profiled to meet the needs of the Finnish education sector in collaboration with stakeholders. The model continues to be developed. Please see this wikipage for up-to-date documentation on the model. The metadata model and the vocabularies it utilizes are openly available for use.