You can publish your learning material in the Library of Open Educational Resources (aoe.fi).
Helda Open Books and Helsinki University Press are services of the University of Helsinki, which are well suited to, for example, the publication of textbooks.
Helsinki University Library offers the Editori service as a publication platform for open access journals and as a tool for learning publishing practices to all members of the University community.
Open educational resources can be defined by applying the UNESCO’s definition of open educational resources (OER): “Open Educational Resources are teaching, learning or research materials that are in the public domain or released with an intellectual property license that allows for free use, adaptation, and distribution.” (Source: UNESCO, 2016)
The UNESCO definition encompasses openly accessible materials, such as courses, videos, books, articles or sets of assignments.
Another widely known definition is the 5R model developed by David Wiley: retain, revise, remix, reuse, redistribute. The model is based on the premise that the use of open access learning material takes place in stages, during which the material is further developed
Distributing your learning material carries many benefits.
Further information:
Openness in the competence criteria of the Teachers´ Academy (PDF)
Template for researcher's curriculum vitae
The author decides on the copyright of learning material. In connection with your material, indicate whether others have the right to use the material and under what conditions they can do so.
Good practices for making learning material openly accessible:
Learning material is best published in a commonly used archive, such as the Library of Open Educational Resources (aoe.fi).
Further information:
Recommendation for open access publication of learning resources (in Finnish, PDF)
Examples of tried-and-tested open access materials can be found in the Library’s guidelines on support for teaching.
Topical hints for finding open access materials:
The use of works or learning materials, or parts thereof, created by other individuals, must be based on:
Various peer-review processes can also be applied to open access learning material.
When assessing open learning material, pay attention to the following aspects:
If you wish to openly distribute your learning material, you should do so under a licence suitable for your needs. You can find further information about licences in the Library’s open access licence guide.
The Instructions for teaching website provides information on how to take copyright into account when making learning materials openly accessible.
If possible, choose open learning materials for your course. Openly accessible textbooks can be easily used even by a large group of students. When using open access textbooks, you will not have to deal with situations in which the number of simultaneous users is restricted or there are not enough copies of a book in the library.
Open access textbooks can also be used remotely, without a University user account. Moreover, you can attract a wide audience for learning material you produce yourself, if you publish it as open access.
Helda Open Books and Helsinki University Press are services of the University of Helsinki, which are well suited to, for example, the publication of textbooks.
You can place your own materials in Moodle, as well as materials created by others for which you have been granted the right to use.
A great deal of course material suitable for teaching purposes is available for free online. Tips on openly accessible books can be found in the Library guide for teachers.
Teachers also have the right to use fee-based materials acquired by the Library, under the following terms of use:
The Instructions for teaching website provides information on how to take into account copyright in online teaching and when preparing digital learning materials.
You can use your own videos or CC licensed videos produced by others in your teaching.
Some of the videos released in the University of Helsinki UniTube service can be used for teaching purposes under a CC licence.
Further information about the use of video in teaching is available (in Finnish and Swedish) on the Operight site.