1. The Upside of Open
Education Resources
(with a few cautions)
Juanita Doyon
Communication Studies Adjunct
Clark College
"Upside of OER" by Juanita Doyon is licensed
under CC BY-ND 4.0
2. Globe, Pixabay License
Open Education Resources (OER) provide
a world of information and teaching
resources for free or low-cost use to
anyone willing and able to trade time and
effort for the privilege of access. Finding
appropriate OER materials for use in a
college communication class is not an
easy task. Acknowledging a few benefits
and challenges of OER may help the
searcher keep a balanced outlook when
approaching OER-related tasks.
3. Low-Cost
Materials
"Dollar Sign" by go digital is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Benefit #1: Using OERs provides students low-cost options in college classes and helps colleges meet the intent
of House Bill 1702.
Perhaps the most obvious upside of using OER in a college classroom is the low-cost nature of these materials. In
2020, the Washington State Legislature passed House Bill 1702 requiring Washington’s community and technical
colleges to inform students when a class requires only low-cost materials. Colleges are also required to report
such classes to the college board, which, in turn, reports these classes to the Legislature (HB 1702).
4. Equal Access
for Students
"equity" by Mike Cohen is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Benefit #2: Using OERs increases educational
equity.
The truth is, even with financial assistance, not
all students can afford a $100 textbook. This
leads some students to struggle through trying
to do without– a huge equity issue in the college
classroom. Using OERs, instructors can provide
first day access to all needed reference material
to all students.
5. Variety and Currency
"Variety is the Spice of Life" by Jo Zimny is licensed under CC
BY-NC-ND 2.0
Benefit #3: OERs present a variety of materials from educators
throughout the country and world and are easy to access and
update.
Selecting from a wide array of materials, instead of simply using a
single textbook, allows for more variety of content and activities and
for easy transition to newer materials as they become available. Past
pull-date? Swap it for something new.
6. Professional
Growth and
Collaboration "individual-v-group" by Sean MacEntee is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Benefits #4 and #5: Exploring OERs can cause professional growth and allow for collaboration with colleagues.
Raise your hand if you were handed an acceptable textbook (or two) when you were hired as an adjunct. Entering
the world of OER causes me to think about my subject matter and just what I want to present to my students. Finding
and sharing resources that have been openly licensed requires me to push my comfort zones and collaborate with
other educators, at my own institution and out in the rest of the world.
7. Cautions and
Considerations
"Burning My Candle at Both Ends" by gfpeck is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0
Despite the many positives of using OERs, there are some challenges that should be considered carefully before
telling your team you’ll be happy to find and adopt OERs for next quarter.
8. Can I
do
this? "Headache" by openDemocracy is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Time: It will take time to locate materials for any class. It’s not a matter of simply plugging your class title into
one search and choosing from a list of materials that will all fit your needs.
Availability of Materials for the Subject: Some subjects bring forth more material than others. You may not be
able to locate an entire textbook for your course. Be prepared to use a variety of resources.
Accuracy of Materials: You will need to check the accuracy of the material carefully. Consider yourself a peer
reviewer/subject matter expert. Check the resources carefully.
Quality of Materials: Same as accuracy, you will need to assess the quality of the material. Will your students
find typos?
Accessibility of Materials: You may need to adjust any material you find so that it is accessible to all students.
9. You Can
Do This!
"Penguin dive" by Karen is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Dive on in;
the OER
water’s fine!
Some information in this presentation is from
How to Use Open Educational Resources training (Links to an external site.) by SBCTC (Links to an external site.), CC BY 4.0
