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OER benefits and challenges: One person's opinion

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Dora Summers-Ewing

This document discusses the key benefits and challenges of using open educational resources (OER). It defines OER as teaching, learning, and research resources that are freely available in the public domain or under an open license. The main benefits are that OER save students money, provide high-quality materials from top institutions, and allow for more timely and customized learning. However, challenges include educating teachers about OER, requiring changes to teaching methods, ensuring the sustainability of OER archives, and maintaining consistent quality.

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S? The Key Benefits and Challenges of Using Open Educational Resources: One Person¡¯s Opinion Prepared By: Dora Summers-Ewing Olympic College July 11, 2015
What is OER? S?? According to the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation - S?? "OER are teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use and re- purposing by others. Open educational resources include full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge."?
Key Benefits S?? Saves students money because these are free materials! S?? Provides students resources from a number of well known educational institutions ( i.e., MIT, Yale, Harvard) without having to attend them. S?? High quality materials! Increases student retention of material presented. S?? Sources are potentially more timely and up to date than existing textbooks. S?? Provides a wide variety of materials that will appeal to all types of learners: visual, auditory, kinesthetic. S?? Easy for teachers to gain access to these materials ¨C both plentiful and easy to use as a result of Creative Commons licenses. S?? It¡¯s the moral thing to do ¨C give everyone access to free education.
Key Challenges S?? Educating the world¡¯s teachers, instructors and professors about the availability of these resources. S?? Requires teachers to learn something new or change the way they are teaching today. Hence, not every teacher will choose this option. S?? Sustainability of the archives currently storing OER (in case of funding cuts or lack of grants). S?? Finding cost effective ways to translate these sources into other needed languages. S?? Creative Commons licenses are completely non-revocable. S?? Quality ¨C You don¡¯t want to wade through garbage to get to a gem. Rather you should be able to expect them all to be gems if they are being offered to the public.

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OER benefits and challenges: One person's opinion

  • 1. S? The Key Benefits and Challenges of Using Open Educational Resources: One Person¡¯s Opinion Prepared By: Dora Summers-Ewing Olympic College July 11, 2015
  • 2. What is OER? S?? According to the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation - S?? "OER are teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use and re- purposing by others. Open educational resources include full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge."?
  • 3. Key Benefits S?? Saves students money because these are free materials! S?? Provides students resources from a number of well known educational institutions ( i.e., MIT, Yale, Harvard) without having to attend them. S?? High quality materials! Increases student retention of material presented. S?? Sources are potentially more timely and up to date than existing textbooks. S?? Provides a wide variety of materials that will appeal to all types of learners: visual, auditory, kinesthetic. S?? Easy for teachers to gain access to these materials ¨C both plentiful and easy to use as a result of Creative Commons licenses. S?? It¡¯s the moral thing to do ¨C give everyone access to free education.
  • 4. Key Challenges S?? Educating the world¡¯s teachers, instructors and professors about the availability of these resources. S?? Requires teachers to learn something new or change the way they are teaching today. Hence, not every teacher will choose this option. S?? Sustainability of the archives currently storing OER (in case of funding cuts or lack of grants). S?? Finding cost effective ways to translate these sources into other needed languages. S?? Creative Commons licenses are completely non-revocable. S?? Quality ¨C You don¡¯t want to wade through garbage to get to a gem. Rather you should be able to expect them all to be gems if they are being offered to the public.