This document discusses open educational resources (OER) in criminal justice training. Some key benefits of OER include ready access for students and faculty, leveling the playing field among students, worldwide accessibility, ability to serve diverse learners, and allowing expedited updating of information. Challenges include potential pushback from publishers, lack of internet access in some areas, barriers to diversity and inclusion, and overuse of screens causing health issues. OER provides opportunities to improve representation if created and shared thoughtfully. Overall, OER shows promise for criminal justice education if implemented properly while addressing challenges.

1. Open Educational Resources in Criminal Justice:
Benefits and Challenges
Presented by
William M. “Bill” Overby

2. Why OER for Criminal Justice Training?
Ready access to students (and faculty)
Levels the playing field among students
World-wide accessibility
Can serve students on multiple learning platforms and learning levels
Permits localized, regionalized, national and international perspectives
on diversity, culture, access, equity and inclusion methods
Allows for expedited updating of current information

3. Challenges of OER to Criminal Justice Training
Pushback from traditional publishing and textbook industries
Lack of available/sufficient Internet connection
Diversity/Equity/Access/Inclusion Barriers
Extended use of visual media platforms and potential medical issues
Traditional institutional bias toward hard-copy/bound textbooks

4. Benefits of OER: A Closer Look
Ready access to students and faculty
Instructors can prepare notes, syllabi, etc., up front
No issues with the Bookstore being “out of stock”
Not financial aid-dependent
Not dependent upon shipping
Generally available for quicker review by Disabilities Access Support
staff

5. Benefits of OER: A Closer Look (Continued)
Levels the playing field among students
The economically-disadvantaged student doesn’t need to “play second
fiddle” to the rich, privileged or otherwise advantaged student.
By starting all students on an even basis, the opportunity for learning at
a higher, richer level is increased.
As long as the expectation for particular OER resources are announced
by the instructor, there is no down-time for resources acquisition.

6. Benefits of OER: A Closer Look (Continued)
World-wide accessibility
Students in most countries can have access to online course deliveries
and supporting resources. There are, of course, exceptions to this.
The OER platform provides great opportunities for armed forces-based
learning. Even ships at sea can support student learning. The armed
forces are a significant source of public safety personnel upon
detachment from service.

7. Benefits of OER: A Closer Look (Continued)
Can serve students on multiple learning platforms and learning levels
Students at all learning levels may benefit from OER products.
Students with learning disabilities or challenges ought to be able to
access the best content available.
Through skill improvement, advanced information may still be acquired.
The adaptability of OER content makes it a more fluid and flexible
medium for students who face learning challenges. Terminology can be
introduced, explained, or redacted as necessary, as can multi-media,
images, etc., all tailored to an individual student’s needs.

8. Benefits of OER: A Closer Look (Continued)
Permits localized, regionalized, national and international perspectives on
diversity, culture, access, equity and inclusion methods
OER subject matter has the benefit of being flexible in terms of
adjusting images, music, community scenery, etc. that may better
reflect the communities served by students, currently or in the future.
The ability to manage content and the narrative, while a significant task,
allows the author to more adequately portray the conditions and
climate which may lead toward a reduction of barriers to BIPOC,
women, and the LGBTQIA+ members of the community being served.

9. Benefits of OER: A Closer Look
Allows for expedited updating of current information
The criminal justice discipline is a rapidly-evolving, dynamic industry.
A student must learn, early on, that they will be put into positions that
require ethics, professional conduct, discretion, quick reaction and
sharp decision-making skills. Introduction of information to assist the
student to determine if this is the proper career choice for them is
critical.
Court cases producing case precedent which must be followed in issues
of law and Constitutional rights change frequently and require update.

10. Challenges for OER: A Closer Look
Pushback from traditional publishing and textbook industries
Textbook authors and publishers are motivated, for the most part, by
financial gain.
Examples of textbook partnerships with OER sources are emerging,
such as providing stand-alone opportunities for integration of
interactive media to be shared with platforms such as WordPress. One
example is an online H5P integration with a printed textbook.

11. Challenges for OER: A Closer Look (Continued)
Lack of available/sufficient Internet connection
Not every household in America (or elsewhere) has the benefit of
access to a reliable, high-speed connection to the Internet.
Geographically-rugged areas, communities subject to adverse weather
conditions, damage from fires, storms and natural disasters, can all lead
to a lack of infrastructure needed to support rich online opportunities.
One possible work-around would be creating OER content on DVD or
flash drive formats that can be used under off-line conditions by
students.

12. Challenges to OER: A Closer Look (Continued)
Diversity/Equity/Access/Inclusion Barriers
Regardless of whether OER or printed media are utilized, biases toward
police subcultures, racial perspectives, and authority in criminal justice
applications persists.
An argument can be made that OER, if used thoughtfully, correctly and
driven by emotional intelligence, can make a difference over time with
improving the culture of policing in meaningful ways.

13. Challenges to OER: A Closer Look (Continued)
Extended use of visual media platforms and potential medical issues
Students staring at computer monitors for extended periods of time can
develop “screen fatigue”.
Sitting for extended periods of time, and the repetitive motions
associated with clicking, scrolling, and making monitor or keyboard
adjustments are also concerning.
If a student becomes too tired, they may withdraw from participation.

14. Challenges to OER: A Closer Look (Continued)
Traditional institutional bias toward hard-copy/bound textbooks
Institutions may see Bookstore employees as “sunk costs”, and
therefore, to justify their existence, must maintain dependence on
traditional textbook materials.
Grant-writers may by-pass opportunities to explore more OER inclusion
because of prior success in sourcing traditional textbooks or preferred
vendors.

15. Resources
• OER and Instructors (Links to an external site.) by Julian Barr is
licensed under CC BY 4.0
• Using open educational resources (Links to an external site.) by
Mandy Aaberg CC BY 4.0
• Open Educational Resources: Benefits and Challenges (Links to an external
site.) by Nicole Langley Peralta is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0