The benefits and challenges of using open educational resources.

1. Open Educational Resources

2. Cascadia College
Linda Kosa
OER Course

3. ChallengesChallenges
• Lack ofmaterial quality; outdated
• Creating a coursecanbe time consuming
• CreativeCommons does not stop someone from using yourwork
underthat license
• May not be accessible according toaccessibility standards
• Lack ofsupplemental materials suchas test banks, flash cards

4. • Lack of material quality – I am concerned about the scientific research
and references given for course material.
• Time consuming – Writing the chapters for my discipline eliminated a
lot of ‘fluff’ from textbooks. The amount of effort put into it was
overwhelming.
• License liberties – Not only would I like to receive the credit but would
not want others to change the quality and impact of my work.
• Cascadia College has revamped all materials faculty use to meet the
standards of accessibility. Not everyone is on board to help ‘disabled’
students receive the same information as their peers.
• In science, particularly, there are copious amounts of terms to learn.
Having test banks and flash cards really help students learn more
efficiently.

5. Benefits
• Reducesor eliminates coursematerials – costsavings
to students
• Exercises faculty academic freedomby allowing for
edits, modifications or revisions
• Opportunity for students to reviewmaterial before
choosing course
• Increasesavailability of educational resources
• Enhances materials that are diverse, equaland
inclusive

6. • Cost Savings – The cost of textbooks hinders many students from attending
college, let alone certain classes.
• Academic freedom – Faculty can teach the course with their own addendums to
allow for creative expression in the classroom
• Choosing a Course – Many students ‘class shop’ the first week of the
quarter/semester. This creates a headache for registration and faculty. Allowing
students to review the course material ahead of time prevents the number of
class transfers.
• Educational resources – While I may be an advocate for the use of a library,
students can experience ways to research additional resources.
• Diversity, et al – Adding global issues to a core course with pluralism in mind
benefits everyone.