Open Educational Resources

2. Definition
“Open Educational Resources (OER) are freely
accessible, openly licensed documents and media that are
useful for teaching, learning, educational, assessment and
research purposes.”
~Wikipedia

3. Benefits
0 Open Educational Resources (OER) help professionals
exchange ideas and research freely
0 OER help learners connect with people, innovative ideas,
and global trends
0 OER materials can work as supplementary materials and
allow students to explore course content further on their
own (self-directed learning)
0 OER materials may contain more current and up-to-date
information on a subject
0 OER materials offer a rich variety of formats (games, audio,
videos, presentations, 3-D simulations, etc.) which aligns
well with the principles of Universal Design for Learning
0 OER help educators reduce cost for students

4. Challenges
0 Not all open educational resources are of good quality
and/or peer-reviewed
0 Looking for high quality open educational resources is time
consuming
0 Materials that are available may not match specific course
requirements and outcomes
0 The idea of using OER requires paradigm shift which
educators and administrators may not be ready to make
yet
0 A process for keeping existing materials up-to-date has not
been established yet

5. Future Trends
OER have a huge potential and will continue to
revolutionize the way we work and provide
instruction. Current trends in technology,
business, and education emphasize strong need
in establishing global networks of shared
knowledge which we can build upon in order to
continue moving forward as a society.