Benefits and Challenges of using Open Educational Resources

By P. Mathew

"Apple and Oranges - They Don't Compare" by The Busy Brain is licensed under CC BY 4.0All other images from morguefile.com

Benefits: $ave

Money! Textbooks represent a significant expense for students each quarter

No more waiting for the Financial Aid check to clear!!

Why spend $$ on a textbook the student is likely to “sell” back to the bookstore?

Benefits: Remix! Teachers can share and

remix if permission has been granted.

Improvise and improve

Customize to meetspecific learning needs.

Benefits: Be a Part of

a Movement! OER represents a grass

roots movement.Be a part of a larger

community – driven by instructors, students, and institutions

Create, collaborate, participate, and share!

Elite institutions have joined the movement (e.g., Harvard, MIT, Yale, etc.)

Benefits: Share your Knowledge

with the World!

A great way to share your knowledge with a wider audience

Help educate students from around the globe

Build your credibility and expertise among your peers

Can raise the profile of your department/ institution

Benefits:Accessibilit

y! Digital access – useful for ground and online courses

Many can be printed if desired

E-Textbooks can be more convenient

Challenges: Quality Control

Because it’s OER, it doesn’t mean it’s high quality (but also true for traditional texts!)

May be outdated. Fewer, if any, supplemental

materials (slides, test banks, instructor manuals, student guides, etc.)

Possible Solutions Read the material carefully

– you do it for traditional published texts anyway, right?(time well spent!)

View it through the eyes of a student.

Improve it if you can. Use peer reviewed material.

Challenges:Where’s Waldo?

Can be difficult to locate, especially for certain subjects.

No single location The search can be time

consuming and frustrating

Possible Solutions Go to OER websites for leads Ask your peers More universities are joining

the movement (e.g., MIT, Yale, Michigan, etc.)

Challenges:Confusing…

Deciphering the licensing rights behind some material can be confusing – free vs. open; remix, redistribute, reproduce, etc.

Some institutional policies are outdated or unclear (e.g., status of MOOC student-generated material)

Attributing materials correctly can be challenging

Possible Solutions Educate yourself: Take a class

in OER Utilize online tools:

Code of Best Practices in Fair Use

CC Attribution Builder Fair Use Evaluator

Challenges:Accessibilit

y

Digital access can vary – students without access to the internet (the digital divide)

Some students/instructors prefer a hard copy text

Students with disabilities can be left behind if this issue is not addressed

Possible Solutions Integrate alternative media (videos, pictures, etc.) whenever

possible Use online tools such as the

Learning Registry and Merlot II Talk to your Distance Learning

and Access Services departments for assistance

Challenges:Sustainabili

ty

Ongoing funding

Cost of producing and maintaining high quality

materials

How to promote adoption of OER?

Possible Solutions

Collaborate with other instructors, students, and

institutions

Talk to publishers – try to generate a win/win

Produce materials that can be remixed and shared easily

Raise political and educational awareness – involve leaders

and major institutions