The Challenge

sThe

BenefitsMarcia

Huntington

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

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OER:

Once upon a time, OER was conceived of and established and it became popular across the land …

“The simple and powerful idea that the world’s knowledge is a public good and that technology in general and the Web in particular provide an extraordinary opportunity for everyone to share, use, and reuse knowledge.”

William and Flora Hewlitt Foundation

What Is OER? Format – any medium, digital or otherwise. Can be full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming video, tests, software Conditions – materials reside in public domain or released with open license

Nature – permits free use and re-purposing, with no limits on usage. Can be revised, translated, improved, shared

Photo by NEC Corporation of America with Creative Commons

license.https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

What are the challenges of

OER?•The adult learner may not be able to keep pace with rapidly changing technology.

•Materials may be out of date since quality control is difficult to manage.

•Not all students have access to computers and not all students are digitally or technologically literate.

Not all OER materials are available in formats that are accessible to people with disabilities.Finding free and sharable materials that also clearly work with already established course structure is time-consuming and sometimes frustrating. Finding clear attribution licenses is sometimes tricky and complex.

From Our Class… “I know that OER is

relatively new and it will just take time to build the resources into it. I think the biggest challenge with this process will be going through each repository and spending the time sifting through them to find content that I can use. When I compare it to google, all of the possible information is listed all in one place and you can always return to those google search results. With the OER, I am realizing that I will have to do a lot of digging to find usable information and I will have to keep track of where I had already searched.” Grace K.

“OERs will provideeducation to those individuals who werepreviously unable toaccess education facilities”Leta

Photo by Frances Toms “The Last Cult of England”Creative Commons License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/

What are the benefits of

OER? Teachers gain flexibility

and control over how information is shared and disseminated.

As more and more faculty become comfortable with the idea and use of OER, they will share their ideas with each other and gather best practices.

The introduction of charts, graphs, tables, games, videos and more innovative materials may increase a students’ chances of retaining the information.

Students can learn from a variety of different teachers, connecting with those who fit their learning styles most compatibly.Students can access information at different times during the day or night, using a variety of technologies to retrieve it. OER takes a huge financial burden off of our students, especially community college students struggling to pay rising tuition and commuting costs.

From our class… “I can see how OER

textbooks are a great option -- and some of the big ideas like the syllabus or major assignments might be useful, too.” JC C.

“Although, my first consideration for learning about OER is financial for my students, it is also great to realize this is for everyone - access for all - especially those that would not have the access to a higher education otherwise. I also think that this could benefit our classes when we realize we are not kept to the limits of teaching old information from text books. We can use the newest and brightest ideas for our students.” Tayna K.

“You are not just one teacher in a four-walled classroom. You are one person in a network of ideas and creativity.” Leslie L

Photo by Walt Stoneburner“Contemplate” with a Creative Commons license

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

More from our class…

“Textbook prices have increased to the point that they are unavailable. I frequently encounter learners who can't purchase a book because financial aid hasn't been awarded, yet.  In other cases learners try to purchase the book somewhere else, usually at a cheaper prices, but it can be the wrong edition and or not get delivered till the second week of the class. These situations don't increase students coefficients of success.” Michael M.  

“I recall an episode of Sesame Street in which Elmo said you can use e (the letter e) as much as you want; you can have as many as you need because they are free and they will never run out!” Mitzi S.

Making educational resources available more openly--and explicitly, using tools such as Creative Commons licenses--reflects something I've done since day one, as a teacher--all questions of technology and online learning aside.

Aaron B.

Soon, more and more students all over the world will learn by using OER materials. Our hope is that they will keep learning happily ever after!

Photo byKevin Dooley“A Sea of Maroon and Gold”CC licensehttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

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The End