THE BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES OF

OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES

Demonstrated with Real Life Examples and Testimonies

THE BENEFITS OF OER

• Cost Savings for Students• Improves Student Success• Increases Access• Improves Retention• Empowers Faculty

COST SAVINGS FOR STUDENTS

• Schools around the country report large savings when students use OER rather than buying textbooks.• “Since the OER initiative began in 2013, OERs will have saved UGA [University of

Georgia] students approximately $2.4 million in textbook costs by the end of 2016.”

Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of Georgia. (2012). Open Educational Resources (OERS). Retrieved from: http://www.ctl.uga.edu/oer

• In 2013, “OpenStax College released some stats from their first year in operation that showed their textbooks have saved students $2.3 million dollars.”

• ClintLalonde.net (2013). Saving Students Money with OER IRL. Retrieved from: http://clintlalonde.net/2013/10/04/saving-students-money-with-oer-irl/

IMPROVES STUDENT SUCCESS

"Open Education for Texas" by Nate Angell is licensed under CC BY 4.0

Virtual College of Texas discovered a remarkable difference in one year of using OER.

INCREASES ACCESS

• The OER increases access to education for all learners.• In 2015, “The Federal government is supporting the use of open

educational resources (OER) to provide equitable access to quality education.”

U.S. Department of Education. (2015). OER: Providing Equitable Access to Educating for All Learners. Retrieved from: https://sites.ed.gov/octae/2015/10/20/oer-

providing-equitable-access-to-education-for-all-learners/

Imagine teaching a class where all of your students have their materials on the first day, can begin reading, and engage in discussions.

"Swirl of books" by Judit Klein is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0

IMPROVES RETENTION

Tidewater Community College, a leader in OER degrees, created the Z-Degree which is OER. They found that the Z-courses had a higher retention rate.

"OEW 2015: Zero Textbook Cost Degree " by Una Daly is licensed under CC BY 4.0

EMPOWERS FACULTY

Faculty have the opportunity to take ownership of their material. They can make updates, adjustments to better serve students, and better engage students.

"How can OER help educators? " by The Council of Chief State School Officers is licensed under CC BY 4.0

CHALLENGES OF OER

• Concerns Over the Future of OER• Few OER are Reviewed for Accessibility• OER is not Widely Known or Understood• Lack of Quality Control• Ephemeral Nature of Digital Resources

CONCERNS OVER THE FUTURE OF OER• Currently many OER programs are supported by

grants such as Achieve the Dream or institutional funds. This provides funding to develop OER courses and degrees. However, many are wondering what will happen when these funding sources expire.

"Expired Spider" by aussiegall is licensed under CC BY 2.0

FEW OER ARE REVIEWED FOR ACCESSIBILITY• Making OER accessible is not a widely held requirement.• OER grants do not require materials to be accessible• It is not required for OER to state their level of accessibility• California and a few other states require OER to be accessiblehttp://openoregon.org/the-intersection-of-accessibility-and-open-educational-resources/

"Disability1" by National Park Service is in the Public Domain

OER IS NOT WIDELY KNOWN OR UNDERSTOOD

• Many faculty are not aware of OER or do not understand how to use, license, or locate OER

University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2012 found, “A lot of faculty members just don't know about OER. Sometimes all it takes is a good dose of peer pressure to get faculty members thinking about how to integrate OERs into their classrooms.”

Campus Technology. (2012). Challenges for OER in Higher Education. Retrieved from:https://campustechnology.com/articles/2012/06/26/4-challenges-for-oer-in-higher-education.aspx

• Other instructors are challenged to find appropriate resources‘With millions of pieces of open education resources flooding the Internet,

educators face a "needle in the haystack" problem of epic proportions.’Molnar, M. (2016). Flood of Open Education Resources Challenges Educators. Education Weekly. Retrieved from: http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/01/13/flood-of-open-education-resources-challenges-educators.html

LACK OF QUALITY CONTROL

Dr. Clark of Fort Hays State described the challenges in finding appropriate Calculus based Physics textbooks. Challenges included missing content, different notation approaches, missing example problems, and lack of homework sets.

"The Challenges of Using OER in Physics II Dr C D Clark " by Fort Hays State is licensed under CC BY 4.0

EPHEMERAL NATURE OF DIGITAL RESOURCES

• Digital information is pulled from the internet daily.• Ever find a great video or picture on the internet and want to show

someone but are frustrated when the item has been removed? • Creating OER courses and degrees can be challenging when

previously located materials are gone.

"Dodo Bird" is in the Public Domain, CC0

THANK YOU

Thank you for reviewing some of the benefits and challenges of OER.