This video talks about the importance of the source file of your Open Educational Resource.
When you have an Open Educational Resource, it is made available under a Creative Commons
license that allows anyone to revise it and remix it.
The license is just what makes it legal.
For it to really be Open, you also have to make it practically feasible to edit the resource.
As a side note, this means that if you create content in some web tool that does not let
you download what you created, it can't be an Open Educational Resource.
When your Open Educational Resource is a simple document or image, sometimes the file that
is accessed by the user is the same as the file that is edited.
But for more complex media and interactive formats, the finished product is a different
kind of file than the one that is edited.
Or in the case of web sites, the HTML might be readily accessible, but the CSS is running
behind the scenes, and you need to have both to replicate the pages.
So whenever you have an Open Educational Resource, you need to provide the source file as well
as the finished product file.
That way your user can easily revise and remix it.
You shouldn't make them have to go look for it, or ask for it.
Just put the file right there with the finished product on your web site.
Put a link to it in the repository, right alongside the link to the finished product.
If you're in YouTube or another content hosting site, consider putting a link to it in the
item information.
That leads to the next topic: your source file needs to be an open format.
Incidentally, these videos don't follow that rule.
I don't currently have the tools necessary to make screencast videos with open format
source files.
I hope to change that soon.
So what does Open Format mean?
Well to start with, when you use a software application, it creates files to store your
work.
Open format files are not locked down, and the information is out there for anyone to
build an application that will edit them.
Closed format files are locked down and the documentation is not available, so that you
are forced to buy a certain product from a certain company in order to edit the files.
It's a business model thing.
The problem with closed, or proprietary formats is that you have to have that particular software
application.
Otherwise, you can't edit the source file, which means you can't revise or remix an Open
Educational Resource.
No updating, no changing the format, no translating, no making excerpts, nothing.
And there are several reasons why you might not be able to obtain that software.
It might be too expensive.
Or it might not be legally available in your country.
It might not work on the devices or operating systems you have.
The company who made it might have gone out of business.
Or the company who made it might have simply moved on and abandoned the product, and now
it no longer works on modern devices or operating systems.
Common file formats that are open are PDF, MP3, JPG, PNG, GIF, and HTML.
But the full list is way too long to read out loud, and keeps changing anyway.
You can Google "wikipedia" "list of open formats" for a continually updated list.
Next I'm going to talk about Open Source Software, which related to Open File Formats.
Open Source Software is made available under a GNU Public License, which is the software
equivalent of the Creative Commons.
You can get a copy of Open Source software for free, and what's more important is that
programmers can get the source code and documentation so that they can modify and update it.
Open Source software can be freely reverse engineered to run on new platforms and operating
systems, to open new kinds of files, and to work in new ways.
It is not necessary to use Open Source software to create Open Educational Resources.
Open Source Software always produces files that are Open Format, and proprietary software
SOMETIMES does.
And the thing that really matters is that you're using Open Format files.
But it is good to support the Open Source Software movement because of the issue of
longterm access to your content.
Imagine you've created an Open Educational Resource that's so good that even 200 years
from now, people want to use it.
But you created it using Powerpoint and the file is pptx.
Microsoft hasn't existed for a long time, and Powerpoint won't work on any 23rd century
devices or operating systems.
But imagine you instead created your slideshow in the Open Source tool LibreOffice Impress,
and saved it in an open format.
Some 23rd century person could go back and find a copy of LibreOffice Impress source
code and documentation.
They can modify it to run on contemporary computers and operating systems, and that
way they can access and update your 200 year old file.
Open Source software is free to obtain, although sometimes you can pay for tech support.
Some of the tools are very attractive and full-featured, while others are more bare
bones.
Often you will have the option to try out features that are still in testing.
So some of the tools are the best of their class, like Audacity for sound editing.
Others are quite good but not as fancy as the commercial products, like LibreOffice.
Others are incredible tools but kind of hard to learn, like GIMP.
I maintain a list of high quality Open Source tools for you to try out at the OER Authoring
Tools tab of Empire State College's OER Guide.
You can get to it by Googling "empire state college" "oer authoring tools."
Remember, you don't have to use Open Source software as long as you're producing open
file formats.
But they are still valuable tools and they have a sustainability advantage.
For more infomation >> MOOC SDR 101 1: The basics. Software-Defined Radio - Duration: 8:26. 
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