Benefits and Challenges of Open Educational Resources (OER) PPT

A brief overview of the benefits and challenges of using Open Educational Resources.

1. Benefits and Challenges of OER Emily McGee OER 101: July 2024

2. Overview Benefits of OER Challenges of OER Other Considerations

3. What are the benefits of using OER? While there are numerous benefits to using Open Educational Resources, several follow a common theme: Equity. Eliminates cost barriers for students Reduces access barriers for students Makes curricula customizable for student identities Allows content to be adapted for accessibility Increases access to material not otherwise available at small schools or community colleges

4. What are the benefits of using OER? Eliminates cost barriers for students  Textbooks and other course materials are expensive and can be a barrier to education when students cannot afford them  Using free and open resources gives all students access to course content  2. Reduces access barriers for students  Students often have access to OER in online and print versions, allowing them to select a format that best suits their needs  Immediate and ongoing access to OER means that all students always have access to course resources 

5. What are the benefits of using OER? 3. Makes curricula customizable for student identities OER can be customized as needed thanks to their open license or public domain status Faculty using OER can customize course content to better reflect student identities and make content more meaningful 4. Allows content to be adapted for accessibility Not all OER are formatted with accessibility in mind already, but the flexibility for adaptation provided by their licensing allows faculty to increase access to them as needed This helps to bring students with learning differences into the classroom community

6. What are the benefits of using OER? 5. Increases access to material not otherwise available at small schools or community colleges Smaller, public, community, and technical colleges are often equity-promoting institutions due to their low costs of attendance, but their operating  budgets may be lower Using OER can help smaller schools keep costs down and provide greater access to education for students

7. What are the challenges of using OER? Although using OER is a worthwhile venture, there are some challenges associated. OER Maintenance Lack of centralized database for OER Time required to vet and adapt resources Lack of knowledge and awareness Time required to adapt existing courses

8. What are the challenges of using OER? OER Maintenance In addition to the time it takes to create an educational resource, it must be updated and maintained over time Without funding, this unpaid work time adds up for OER creators 2. Lack of centralized database for OER OER is scattered across the web and takes time to properly identify Tools like  Open Washington's OER Finder  can help with this by bringing several databases together, but a system for access could still be streamlined

9. What are the challenges of using OER? 3. Time required to vet and adapt resources In addition to the time it takes to find OER, additional time to make sure resources are of high quality and to adapt them as needed is required Faculty members who are already pressed for time may pass on OER for this reason 4 . Lack of knowledge and awareness Although many great resources exist, knowledge of OER and how to use it properly is not universal

10. What are the challenges of using OER? 5. Time required to adapt existing courses Another hurdle lies with the time required to adapt an existing course to new OER material For faculty who have established courses already, making the switch to OER can be another time constraint in addition to the others listed

11. Other Considerations: Librarian Support A librarian or another OER-specialized support person can alleviate many of these challenges by  increasing awareness of OER, locating and vetting materials, helping to adapt and customize resources, and maintaining campus OER databases.

12. Other Considerations: OER meets AI The intersection of OER and Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents several lingering questions for me.  Can OER be used to train AI programs, and how is it currently being used?  What are the ethical and legal considerations?  Could AI programs themselves be one day considered OER?