• OER create synergies as not every teacher needs to create resources from scratch.
• OER are sustainable as they provide free access to high-quality educational materials for everyone.
• OER make best practice examples in teaching visible and encourage imitation, which can improve the quality of teaching.
• OER facilitate the adaptation of teaching to individual needs and diverse teaching/learning groups.
• OER enable synergies and cooperation across university boundaries.
• OER increase the visibility of the university in the field of teaching, for example, to potential students.
• Lecturers can showcase their teaching expertise alongside their research expertise.
• OER support open forms of teaching and learning that actively involve students and therefore impart important skills.

The upload of learning resources is possible for lecturers at the following Swiss universities that have subscribed to the Switch service:

Students can upload materials only with the consent of their lecturers. The teacher responsible for the subject must approve the students' OER.

If you are interested in information about participating in Switch OER, please contact oer-support@switch.ch.

You can upload learning resources to the platform that are available under an open licence. There are no requirements regarding scope or format.  However, the collection does not include scientific open access publications or research data, as other repositories serve this purpose. If you are unsure whether your material is suitable, please contact the relevant person at your university:

ZHAW: oer.hsb@zhaw.ch

FHNW: oer@fhnw.ch

PHSZ: oer@phsz.ch

HEPL: oer@hepl.ch

PHSG: oer@phsg.ch

Quality assurance on the portal is ensured by allowing uploads and publications only from members of the participating universities, following defined workflows. Materials submitted by students undergo review and approval by the responsible teaching staff. However, there is no additional content quality check conducted on the material.

Platform editors verify that the material functions correctly and is adequately labelled with metadata.

The editorial team does not verify compliance with legal requirements such as copyright for uploaded OER. Authors who have doubts can contact the designated person at their university.

The platform encourages authors to upload only their own materials or materials created by their students. However, with prior arrangement, it is still possible to share materials from colleagues at your own university.

Material from authors who are not affiliated with the participating universities should not be published on Switch OER.

It is possible to enter a link and add metadata to the material on Switch OER so that it can be found on Switch OER without uploading the material again.

Copyright

1. Clarify the publication of your material as OER / under a Creative Commons license with other rights holders if necessary. These may be co-authors or your university.
2. Only use third-party material that:
   • Is quoted under Art. 25 CopA “Quotations”,
   • For which you have obtained permission from the copyright holders, or
   • Is under an open licence or is in the public domain (link to Question 1.4).

For more detailed information on Swiss copyright law, visit CCdigitallaw.ch.

Data Protection

Do not publish personal data in OER without the consent of the individuals concerned.

If necessary, indicate in the OER that you have the consent of the individuals concerned. This facilitates reuse by third parties and provides legal certainty.

Right to Privacy

If individuals are clearly identifiable in your OER, obtain consent for the publication of the material under an open licence.

Indicate in the OER that consent has been obtained from the individuals for third-party use. This facilitates reuse by third parties and provides legal certainty.

Other legal areas such as trademark protection or ancillary copyright, may also be relevant. In case of doubt, consult the OER advisory service or the legal department of your university.

Teaching materials you create are automatically protected by copyright. Generally, third parties can only reuse them if you explicitly give them permission or if you apply an open licence to the material. Licensing allows others to reuse your materials. Creative Commons licences have become a global standard for this purpose.

If you need help choosing a licence, the "Licence Chooser" can assist you.

The following Creative Commons licence types are particularly suitable for OER:

	CC 0, Public Domain The authors (where possible) have waived all rights. You may use, modify, and distribute the material for any purpose without attribution. For more information, visit CCdigitallaw.ch: "Use of works in the public domain".
	CC BY - Attribution Attribute the authors, title, and link to the original, specify the licence, and provide a link to the licence text. The names of the original authors must be credited as specified in the original. Example of an attribution
	CC BY-SA - Attribution - Share-Alike In addition to attribution (as above), adaptations of the work by third parties must be provided under exactly the same licence as the original.

• State the licence in short or long form, including the version number.
• For easier recognition, copy the licence icon into your work, for example.
• Link to the current so-called "Deed," the short version of the licence text (e.g., https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
• For websites, blogs, etc., it is best to copy the HTML code for the licence into your page. This will be generated for you by the "Licence Chooser."

Example:

Unless otherwise stated, this work is licensed under CC BY 4.0 / Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, Maxi Muster (21 May 2024).