Valid from November 28, 2019 onwards
Updated January 1, 2024

Thank you for using the Library of Open Educational Resources (aoe.fi), hereinafter referred to as the aoe.fi service. By using the aoe.fi service, you accept these terms of use.

The Finnish National Agency for Education reserves the right to make changes to these terms of use. The Finnish National Agency for Education will inform users of any material changes to these terms of use within a reasonable time before the changes take effect by means of a service bulletin in the aoe.fi service or via email.

1. Purpose of the service

The aoe.fi service is intended for the storage and use of open educational resources. The aoe.fi service can be used at all levels of education. The aoe.fi service may only be used for teaching, learning, competence, upbringing, education and the development thereof.

The aoe.fi service is owned by the Finnish National Agency for Education, which develops the service in collaboration with its partners. The party responsible for the educational resources stored in the aoe.fi service is the creator of the educational resource, such as the person, persons or organisation that produced it.

2. Requirements for stored materials

The aoe.fi service may only be used to store open educational resources. Here, “open educational resources” means materials that meet the following conditions: 1) the materials are digital materials directed at teaching, learning, competence, upbringing or education 2) the materials are released under an open licence that permits no-cost access, use, adaptation and redistribution by others with no or few restrictions. Such materials include pedagogical videos; games, assignments and text materials designed for learning; and teachers’ materials.

The educational resources stored in the aoe.fi service must be released by the creator of the resource under the CC licence of their choice. For more information about open licensing, please see the Info section of the aoe.fi service.

Data describing the educational resources (so-called metadata) is released under the CC0 licence (free use). Metadata on resources is also disclosed to third parties: the National Library’s Finna.fi search service and other library services. More information about the CC0 licence is available on the Creative Commons website.

The aoe.fi service may not be used to store content that violates non-discrimination and equality, is contrary to the law or good practice, inaccurate or misleading content and content intended for purposes other than teaching or learning.

The party responsible for the accessibility of an educational resource is the creator of the educational resource. More information about the accessibility requirements and scope of the Act on the Provision of Digital Services for different operators is available on the webaccessibility.fi website maintained by the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom. The aoe.fi service offers the option of narrowing searches based on specific accessibility features. When uploading educational resources to the service, users can add information on how accessibility has been taken into account in the resource. For more information about how to take accessibility into account in the educational resources uploaded to the aoe.fi service, please see this table in the aoe.fi service, which includes examples and instructions.

The Finnish National Agency for Education has the right to delete from the service any content that violates these terms of use.

3. Management of educational resources

By uploading educational resources to the aoe.fi service, the creator of the educational resources agrees that the resources will be stored in the service on a permanent basis. The creators of educational resources cannot remove uploaded educational resources from the service themselves.

When the educational resources stored in the aoe.fi service become outdated, they are placed in the archives. Archived educational resources can no longer be searched for directly, but they remain available for use. The expiry date of educational resources can be specified in the description data. Educational resources that are not in active use are archived automatically after a separately defined period of time.

4. Users’ responsibilities

Users of the aoe.fi service are responsible for their use of the service and for ensuring that any content that they upload to or store in the service, including educational resources, comments and other content, complies with these terms of use and any special conditions of the different sections of the service.

The Finnish National Agency for Education is not, to any extent, liable for any damage caused by a user using the aoe.fi service or for any liability for compensation or damages arising from copyright infringement. Nor is the Finnish National Agency for Education liable for any damage arising from use of the aoe.fi service.

Creators of educational resources who upload educational resources to the aoe.fi service are responsible for ensuring that the uploaded resources comply with the Copyright Act (404/1961), other legislation concerning copyright and the Creative Commons or other licensing terms concerning the material and parts thereof.

Creators of educational resources who upload educational resources to the aoe.fi service must have the right to publish the resources with an open licence. The creator of the educational resources is obliged to acquire the necessary rights from any third parties. If the storing or use of the material is suspected of infringing on third party copyright, the Finnish National Agency for Education has the right to immediately discontinue the distribution of the material until the matter has been resolved.

To upload educational resources containing personal data to the aoe.fi service, the creator of the educational resources must ensure that the data has been reliably anonymised or that they have the right to publish such personal data. Educational resources may not contain information that is sensitive or part of a special category of personal data under valid data protection regulations.

Users are responsible for ensuring that any comments that they publish comply with the law and good practice, these terms of use or any special conditions of the different sections of the service. Comments may not include any personal details other than the name of the creator of the educational resources being commented on.

5. User data and processing thereof

Users give the Finnish National Agency for Education and a technical administrator selected by the Finnish National Agency for Education the right to process content, including the educational resources that the users store, comments and user details, for the purposes of providing the service, which include automatic monitoring, detecting information security vulnerabilities, detecting and preventing data breaches, making backup copies, copying or transferring content and tracking errors.

The educational resources stored in the aoe.fi service can be searched for and used without logging in to the service. However, some features of the service, such as uploading educational resources and examining your own account information, require the user to log in. When a user logs in, the aoe.fi service also collects data about the user. For more information about the processing of user data, please see the privacy policy of the aoe.fi service.

By providing their email address, users can opt to receive notifications about posted reviews and comments and new educational resources. The Finnish National Agency for Education may also notify users of service outages, service information, changes to the terms of use and other important matters via email.

An email address is also required to transfer administrative rights to educational resources from one person to another. The administrative rights to an educational resource can only be held by one person at a time. The creator of an educational resource may authorise the transfer of the administrative rights to the resource either to another user or their own new email address in connection with changing organisations, for example. To do so, the creator should add the other user's email address or their own new email address to the aoe.fi service under the My Account section before changing organisations, and after the change the creator needs to contact the aoe.fi service at aoe [at] oph.fi (aoe[at]oph[dot]fi) from the new email address.

Users can delete their personal data, including comments and reviews, by submitting a deletion request to the Finnish National Agency for Education at aoe [at] oph.fi (aoe[at]oph[dot]fi). After a user account is deleted, the deleted user data cannot be restored. The deletion does not apply to the educational resources uploaded by the user or their metadata. However, the Finnish National Agency for Education reserves the right to retain content and personal data that are required for protecting the rights of third parties, such as for proving copyright infringement.

The Finnish National Agency for Education has the right to publish general information about users in the context of usage reporting on the aoe.fi service. Such general information includes the user’s organisation, the subject favoured by the user and the amount of storage space used. The information is not linked to individual users.

The Finnish National Agency for Education may, at its discretion, shut down or suspend the use of a user account without any notice 1) due to the misuse of the service’s features or 2) if the Finnish National Agency for Education has a justified reason to suspect that the service’s features are being used in violation of these terms of use.

6. Functionality of and responsibility for the service

The aoe.fi service aims to provide reliable service and ensure that the educational resources stored in the service remain available on a continuous and reliable basis. However, the Finnish National Agency for Education does not guarantee the error-free and uninterrupted operation of the aoe.fi service.

The aoe.fi service complies with industry best practices and security measures. In the event of disruptions, the processing of a service request will begin within three working days The aoe.fi service stores educational resources and copies thereof on different storage platforms, but the Finnish National Agency for Education does not guarantee the long-term storage of educational resources.

The Finnish National Agency for Education reserves the right to amend, transfer or discontinue any functionality at any time.

7. If something goes wrong

If you notice any content in the aoe.fi service that violates these terms of use, please contact the administration of the aoe.fi service at aoe [at] oph.fi (aoe[at]oph[dot]fi). The material in question will be removed from distribution for the duration of the investigation.

Any disputes related to the use of the aoe.fi service shall be resolved through negotiations between the relevant parties or, if necessary, by the District Court of Helsinki.

The aoe.fi service is happy to receive feedback from users about these terms of use and other matters related to the aoe.fi service via email: aoe [at] oph.fi (aoe[at]oph[dot]fi).