My personal view on the benefits an challenges of adopting OER material for college courses

1. Open Educational
Resources
Nick Robertson
Open Educational Resources Nick Robertson

2. The Benefits of OERs for Students
 Cost savings
 Textbooks are expensive. Some students can’t afford a text so they don’t purchase it.
This sets a student up to be unsuccessful in the course.
 Contribute to future course material
 Students could complete assignments that would add to future OERs. This could
motivate students to create quality work they care about.
 Students have a free resource to come back to
 Many students rent textbooks or sell them back when they are finished. If an OER is
used, they would have access to the content for a longer period of time.
Open Educational Resources Nick Robertson

3. The Benefits of OERs for Faculty
 Creative Freedom
 Sometimes being creative is difficult when using a textbook because faculty want to
make sure students are using a required text that cost $100. If faculty are not
beholden to a text they can modify content to better meet course outcomes.
 Service
 A big part of being an educator is serving the educational community. Creating OER
material is a great way to grow professionally while serving others.
 Obligation
 Not feeling obligated to use everything in a purchased text
Open Educational Resources Nick Robertson

4. The Challenges of Adopting OERs for
Students
 Computer Skills
 It seems most OERs are all on the computer and may be difficult for students to navigate.
Lots of individuals like print materials to read from and take notes on. This might be difficult
with some OER material
 Comprehension
 From my short searches, it seems difficult to find OERs that are as well written as
traditional textbooks. Research articles are great but usually difficult for young college
students to understand. I have also found many OER materials that are too broad and
elementary on the subjects I teach. So finding the sweet spot for students has been
difficult.
 Services
 From my short searches, it seems difficult to find OERs that offer as many ancillary
materials as traditional texts. Students might enjoy taking practice quizzes or using a
reading comprehension software.
Open Educational Resources Nick Robertson

5. The Challenges of Adopting OERs for
Faculty
 Time
 Finding quality OER, reading through, and then implementing them into a course
takes time. It gets frustrating spending time investigating a resources that then goes
unused. This is this biggest barrier I see to using OER.
 Accessibility
 Making sure OER material is accessible to all students takes time.
 Quality
 It seems that with OER all the quality check is on the faculty that is going to use
them. This just takes more time.
Open Educational Resources Nick Robertson

6. My Summary of OER
 I could make a great course
 After looking into OER I feel I could make a great course for my students. There is
great information available and I am excited to bring more creativity into my teaching.
It is also motiving to know students will appreciate it if I do it correctly.
 I'm Scared
 It’s intimidating to create a complete course using OER materials. I am afraid of the
time I will spend creating the course while making sure it doesn’t lose any of its
quality.
 Thank You
 This course on OER has been extremely helpful. I am motivated to get started and I
know where to look for help.
Open Educational Resources Nick Robertson