Benefits and Challenges of OER

1. OER
BENEFITS & CHALLENGES
"How to Use Open Educational Resources training" by SBCTC is licensed under CC BY 4.0

2. BENEFITS

3. Benefits – Cost for students
■ Many students do not purchase textbooks due to exorbitant cost.
■ Students have been known to postpone taking a course due to cost of class resources.
■ OER resources provide the opportunity for all students to benefit form resources.
"Money" by 401(k) 2012 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

4. Benefits – Access
■ Students have access to a variety of resources
■ Multiple sources are available online and can be viewed anywhere.
■ No need to carry around heavy books, resources can be viewed on an electronic
device.
"Everyday Squares" by Kate Ter Haar is licensed under CC BY 2.0

5. Benefits – Retention of Knowledge
■ Students can view material following the completion of the course.
■ Students can view material prior to the beginning of the course to become familiar
with the topics.
"Knowledge...." by Sandy Roberts is licensed under CC BY 2.0

6. Benefits – Availability
■ With more OER online, faulty can use multiple resources to teach content.
■ Information can be shared across the globe.
"Globe" by MMICHAELL is licensed under CC BY 2.0

7. Benefits – Continually Updateable
■ Updates can be made quickly vs textbook editions that can take years.
■ Since OER is viewed by many, suggestions for edits can be made by experts in the
field.
"Update" by fhwrdh is licensed under CC BY 2.0

8. CHALLENGES

9. Challenges – QualityAssurance
■ Ensuring that sources are credible can be challenging.
■ Research is limited on effectiveness of OER to student learning.
"Quality Assurance" by The Preiser Project is licensed under CC BY 2.0

10. Challenges – Sustainability
■ There may be initial funding that may be lost overtime.
■ Maintaining current information could be a challenge with limited time and resources
of original author.
"Infinite book" by fdecomite is licensed under CC BY 2.0

11. Challenges – Creative Commons
Licenses
■ Once in use, a creative commons license is not able to be changed. This can pose a
problem if the author changes their mind.
"eraser" by Cookieater2009 is licensed under CC BY 2.0

12. Challenges – Lack of Understanding
■ OERs are still relatively new and many don’t understand what they are or how to
access them.
■ There is also a lack of understanding of how to create and post OERs
"Question mark" by Marco Bellucci is licensed under CC BY 2.0

13. Challenges –Training
■ Because OERs are still relatively new, those who wish to use them will need some
additional training.
■ This training will take time and dedication to learn how to use
"Learning" by CollegeDegrees360 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0