The pluses and minuses of Open Educational Resources (OER).

1. Open Educational
Resources
Benefits & Challenges
Prepared by Betsy Berger

2. OER: Benefits
•Affordable education
While some of the OER courses (which are free) I reviewed did
include a textbook purchase, that purchase did not in most cases
exceed $20.

3. OER: Benefits
•Increased digital literacies*
Students, teachers and community members looking for the free
educations will inevitably learn more about digital resources (e.g.
SlideShare in my case).
*Digital literacy is the ability to find, evaluate, utilize,
share, and create content using information technologies
and the Internet.

4. OER: Benefits
•Increased availability of
educational materials
While the internet does not permeate every nook and cranny, it
does touch many lives. And with that, so does its resources.

5. OER: Benefits
•Showcasing of instructor’s work
When students have the opportunity to investigate an instructor and
his or her teaching, it could give them the confidence they need to
proceed and succeed. Furthermore, good teachers can reach out
more effectively to students and educational institutions. (And show
off a bit!)

6. OER: Benefits
•Education for all
"SAU Homecoming 11_football fans cheering" by Southern Arkansas University is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Except where noted,

7. OER: Challenges
•Quality vs. Quantity
While there may be a ton o’ stuff out there, the OER community’s
challenge will be with resource relevance.

8. OER: Challenges
•Maintaining the resources
To keep resources relevant, they must be maintained. Outdated
resources can lead to disillusionment with the process.

9. OER: Challenges
•Student buy-in
I once asked students how they would feel about a class that did not
require purchasing a textbook. Some said they would not view the
class as a real class.

10. OER: Challenges
•Lack of understanding
Some who consider providing materials under even the most
restrictive Creative Commons license may ultimately not do so
because they don’t know how the process works. Conversely, those
who want to use an OER, may ultimately not do so because they
don’t know how to.

11. OER: Challenges
•Creative Commons licenses are
non-revocable
And what if I change my mind?