1. What are Open Educational Resources (OERs)? According to the Hewlett Foundation, “Open Educational Resources are teaching, learning and research materials in any medium – digital or otherwise – that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits no-cost access, use, adaptation and redistribution by others with no or limited restrictions” (2019). An OER can be a book, a courseware module, a video, or any other material. It may be print or online material. The emphasis is on the concept of “openness” – the resources are available to be freely used, distributed, and possibly even remixed. In order to maintain their openness, OERs are typically licensed via Creative Commons licensing rather than via copyright. See Appendix 1 for a chart summarizing the different types of Creative Commons licenses available. 2. What are the benefits of Open Educational Resources? 2.1 Low cost Because of their open licensing, OERs are often free or represent only nominal costs to students, such as costs of printing. This means that more students have access to course materials. Studies have found that many students avoid purchasing textbooks when costs are high, and this can negatively impact their academic success and persistence (Colvard, Watson & Park, 2018 and Florida Virtual Campus, 2012 as cited in Martin, et al, 2017). 2.2 Easily Adaptable The licenses of many OERs permit adaptation or “remixing.” This lets instructors customize the resource to their class by adding, deleting, or modifying material. Instructors who involve students in the production or adaptation of OER materials may also be participating in “open pedagogy,” or “assignments that leverage OER to create more meaningful learning experiences” (Munro, Omassi & Yano, 2016). 2.3 Free Knowledge Sharing The use of OERs also allows easy distribution of content beyond the walls of the classroom, making knowledge freely available to the broader community as well as the academic setting. 3. What are the drawbacks of OERs? 3.1 Availability of Materials Although many OERs are available for widely-taught, high-enrollment courses, pre-made materials for more unique courses may be difficult to find. 3.2 Time Allocation Locating, evaluating, and particularly creating open resources can be time consuming. 3.3 Not Advertised / Hard to Find Because OERs lack the advertising budget of traditional textbook publishers, faculty may have a more difficult time locating relevant materials for their classes. However, several repositories, referatories, and email listservs exist which can assist in finding the right materials. Libraries and librarians may also be a useful resource that can help in overcoming this barrier. 3.4 Quality Varies Some OERs are excellent quality and are even peer-reviewed; however, this is not the case for all OERs. As a result, OERs must be carefully evaluated prior to adoption.
Hagerstown Community College Open Educational Resources Guidebook
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