06: Open Educational Resources (OER)

Understanding Creative Commons Licensing: A Practical Guide for Tanzanian Teachers

When you find Open Educational Resources (OER), the license tells you what you may do with the material. Creative Commons (CC) licenses make it clear whether you can copy, adapt, translate, remix, and share. This guide explains each license in simple terms so you can confidently use OER in Tanzanian classrooms.

What is Creative Commons?

Creative Commons (CC) license is a type of open license that allows creators to share their work with others under certain conditions, while still retaining some rights. It provides a legal way for people to use, share, and sometimes modify creative works like music, images, videos, text, or software without asking for explicit permission each time, as long as they follow the license rules. (https://creativecommons.org.)

Creative Commons (CC) licenses explain how you can legally use, share, and adapt digital content created by others. Instead of full copyright restrictions, they allow creators to grant specific permissions in advance. Each CC license is built from four basic elements (table below) that define what users are allowed to do with the resource.

CC License Elements

BY	You must give credit (attribution) to the original author.
SA	ShareAlike — if you adapt it, you must use the same license on your new version.
NC	NonCommercial — no profit/fee-based use.
ND	NoDerivatives — you may not modify or translate.

Building from the four CC license elements, Creative Commons combines them into six main licenses. These range from the most open, which allows wide reuse and adaptation, to the most restrictive, which limits modification and commercial use.

Understanding these six licenses, as described further in the video and text below, helps you choose and use digital resources responsibly in your teaching practice

The Six Main CC Licenses (from most open to most restrictive)

;

1) CC BY — Attribution

[CC] [BY]
You can: copy, edit, translate, remix, and share. You must: credit the creator.

2) CC BY-SA — Attribution + ShareAlike
[CC] [BY] [SA]
Copy, adapt, translate, and share, but you must credit the creator and share your version under the same license.

3) CC BY-NC — Attribution + NonCommercial
[CC] [BY] [NC]
Classroom use, editing, translation, and sharing are allowed with credit, but no commercial use.

4) CC BY-ND — Attribution + NoDerivatives
[CC] [BY] [ND]
You may copy and share with credit, but you may not edit, translate, or adapt.

5) CC BY-NC-SA — Attribution + NonCommercial + ShareAlike
[CC] [BY] [NC] [SA]
You can edit, translate, and share non-commercially with credit, and you must use the same license on your version.

6) CC BY-NC-ND — Attribution + NonCommercial + NoDerivatives
[CC] [BY] [NC] [ND]
Most restrictive: you may share the original non-commercially with credit, but no edits or translations.

Quick Allow/Don’t-Allow Summary

License	Use in class	Share	Modify	Translate	Share modified version
CC BY	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
CC BY-SA	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes (same license)
CC BY-NC	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes (non-commercial)
CC BY-ND	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
CC BY-NC-SA	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes (non-commercial, same license)
CC BY-NC-ND	Yes	Yes	No	No	No

Rules of Using License for Tanzanian Teachers

1. Always give attribution: title, author, link, and license.
2. Check the license symbols (BY, SA, NC, ND) before editing or translating.
3. Share your improved versions when the license allows, to strengthen local materials.

Activity 1: Identify a License

1. Visit an OER site such as OER Africa or OER Commons.
2. Open any resource and locate the license statement.
3. Note the license type and list what you are allowed to do.

Activity 2: Decide What’s Allowed (CC BY-NC)

Translate to Kiswahili	Yes
Sell printed copies to students	No
Combine with other materials	Yes
Share with a colleague	Yes

Activity 3: Write a Simple Attribution

Model example: “Plant Cell Diagram” by CK-12 Foundation, CC BY 3.0, available at https://www.ck12.org/