Open Educational Resources

The Benefits and ChallengesBy Joan Hatfield

Open Educational Resources by Joan Hatfield is licensed under CC Attribution.

Saves costs for students with free or reduced resource fees Provides greater access to quality education for everyone Allows prospective students to preview courses Enables past students to revisit courses for review Enhances college’s and instructor’s reputations Showcases research to a wide audience Stimulates sharing of best practices and spurs innovation Offers peace of mind knowing resources are free to use

OERs Benefits

Ensuring quality assurance is consistent Designing effective distant learning formats Evaluating content when feedback mechanism is missing Sustaining funding for updating OER content Shifting from old educational paradigm to OERs Accepting non-revocable nature of CC licenses Complying with accessibility requirements for disabled

users Providing access to technology (computers) for all users

OERs Challenges

OERs can be most effective when the following are included:

Analysis and design of OERs for effective learning Student & instructor and peer to peer Interaction Categorization of OERS, e.g., topic, level of

difficulty Course feedback and revision pathways

The Future of OERs