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Low-Cost, No-Cost, and Open Educational Resources (OER)

Multimedia

The items listed below provide a strong collection of materials such as videos, music, lectures, icons, images, simulations, primary documents, clip art, sheet music and comics to aid one in creating OER. Click on the name of each resource to learn more. 

OER Multimedia Resources

Materials

  • Clip Art

Licensing

To Download

  • Search or browse by category, select item, and choose your preferred files size.

Material

  • Music

Licensing

  • CC BY 3.0 or CC BY-NC 3.0 unless otherwise noted

To Download

  • Either search for music in the search box on the top right or browse by clicking "Dig!" button for Instrumental Music for Film & Video, Free Music for Commercial Project or Music for Video Games

Materials

  • Primary Documents

Eras

  • Revolution & the New Nation (1754-1820s)
  • Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)
  • Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
  • The Development of the Industrial United Stated (1870-1900)
  • The Emergence of Modern America (1890-1930)
  • The Great Depression and World War II (192901945)
  • Postwar United States (1945 to early 1970s)
  • Contemporary United Stated (1968 to the present)
  • Across Historical Eras

Licensing

  • DocsTeach materials are licensed with a CC BY-NC-SA. Primary sources are public domain, except as noted. Teaching activities may have a CC0 Public Domain license.

To Download

  • Search or choose era, choose item, and click download link .

Materials

  • Icons & Vector Graphics

Licensing

  • Check "Terms of Use" for selected items.

To Download

  • Search for icon or graphic, select item, and download your preferred file type/size.

Materials

  • Icons

Licensing

  • "Font Awesome Free is free, open source, and GPL friendly. You can use it for commercial projects, open source projects, or really almost whatever you want" with keeping attributions within the source files. For further information, see Font Awesome's License Page.

To Download

  • Click "Download Free"

Materials

  • Simulations & Videos

Subjects Included

  • Algebra
  • Arithmetic
  • Biology
  • Calculus & Advanced Math
  • Chemistry
  • Earth Science
  • Economics
  • English
  • Geometry
  • Government
  • History
  • Physics
  • Probability
  • Religion
  • Sociology
  • Statistics

Licensing

  • Videos and simulations have various licensing requirements. A good number are Creative Common licenses. Please check each item for specific licensing requirements.

To Download

  • Choose subject, choose a subject under a collection, choose an item, click "Share," and choose to copy the link or get code for an embed.

Materials

Licensing

  • Mainly Public Domain with Creative Commons and other licenses.  Please observe licenses of items found.

To Download

  • Search or browse by type, select an item then download your preferred file format.

Materials

  • Sheet Music

Styles

  • Baroque
  • Classical
  • Folk
  • Gospel
  • Hymn
  • Jazz
  • March
  • Modern
  • Popular/Dance
  • Renaissance
  • Romantic
  • Song
  • Technique

Licensing

  • CC BY-SA 4.0/3.0/2.5/2.0/1.0, CC BY 4.0/3.0/2.5, or Public Domain as described on their License page. Please check licensing requirements on individual files.

To Download

  • Browse by Instruments, Composers, Styles, or Collection, select title, and choose preferred format.

Materials

  • Simulations

Subjects Included

  • Physics
  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Earth Science
  • Math

Licensing

  • CC BY 4.0 unless otherwise noted. For further information on Licensing, please visit PhET's Licensing page.

Accessibility

  • PhET is working on making their simulations accessible. PhET provides a list of what they consider to be accessible simulations.

To View/Download/Embed

  • Refine list by subject on the left-hand side, select title, and click the play (view), download, or embed buttons.

Materials

  • Photos
  • Illustrations
  • Vector Graphics
  • Videos

Licensing

  • CC0 unless otherwise noted. Check each item for specific licensing. For further information, see Pixabay"s Terms of Service page.

To Download

  • Search for an item, select the item, click "Free Download," choose your preferred file format, and click "Download."

Materials

  • Videos

Licensing

To Share

  • Search for a video, select video, click the share icon , and use whatever means you wish (link, embed, & download)

Materials

  • Icons

Licensing

  • Mainly CC licenses. Please observe licenses on file pages by hovering over the CC icon.

To Download

  • Create a free account. Log in then search for icons. Next, click on "Get This Icon" and follow download instructions.

Materials

  • Recorded audio

Recording Categorized by

  • Genre
  • Instrument
  • Topical Subject
  • Ethnic & Foreign Cylinders

Licensing

  • CC BY-NC 2.5 unless otherwise noted

To Download

  • Select a category, select title, and click the play, download, or share.

Materials

  • Comics

Licensing

  • CC BY-NC 2.5 unless otherwise noted

To Share

  • Browse comics, select a comic, and use the permanent link or image URL to embed (found under the comic).

Using Google and YouTube to Find Media

Using Google's Advanced Search Features, you can search for content with specific licenses. Simply scroll down and find "Usage Rights" in the "Then Narrow Your Results By..." section. It is just above the advanced search button. Simply choose which license category that you are looking for, and select it after inputting your search and Google will find compatible openly-licensed material. 

While you cannot search specifically for creative commons content when making your initial search, YouTube's filters allow you to filter down to just content distributed under a Creative Commons license. To do this, first make your initial search via YouTube's Search Box, and then click on "Filers" in the top left corner of the results. From the filters menu, go to "Features" and select "Creative Commons". This will show you Youtube videos displayed under Creative Commons licenses.

Disclaimer: This often creates false positives where people have reposted copyrighted material under an invalid creative commons license. Please ensure that you are linking to the original, properly licensed material.   

Disclaimer

The Library has not evaluated these resources for content or accessibility.  Use your professional and subject expertise in evaluating and using these resources.

Additionally, review the terms of use and copyrights on any resource you find.

Subjects: Education