a presentation on benefits and challenges of OER

1. BENEFITS &
CHALLENGES OF OER
By: Sara Renee Marshall

2. Benefit I
■ Open and free access to course material especially benefits first-generation college
students.
■ First-generation students often deal with the unique challenge of navigating the
collegiate setting without a role model or family precedent.
■ Free, accessible resources allow FGCSs to begin their courses on a slightly more
leveled playing field.

3. Benefit II
■ The texts can be responsive to our ever-evolving fields.
■ In composition, there is an increasing emphasis on multi-modal learning and projects.
Ostensibly, OER could actually perform and model the kinds of projects we’re trying to
elicit without leaving or primary text.
■ Digital texts also suggest speed and accessibility—both in terms of access anywhere
and access to those with disabilities that makes the traditional print book inaccessible.

4. Benefit III
■ OER eliminates barriers to immediate learning.
■ Often, the acquisition of textbooks causes slowdown at the beginning of the course—
resulting in schedule adjustment and wasted time—as well as immediate unevenness
in access to learning.
■ Any barriers to learning from the get-go can alienate students or cause them to lose
motivation to participate at the same level as other peers.

5. Challenge I
■ OER, however accessible, still implies many platforms and formats.
■ As a result, instructors are challenged with finding ways to seamlessly integrate
various formats into one learning management platform.
■ OER is meant to provide ease and accessibility, but sometimes there are hiccups and
excessive problem-solving involved with integrating various different media into
Canvas and other LMSs.

6. Challenge II
■ Although OER can provide ease of use and fewer barriers for students, we don’t yet
have sufficient institutional infrastructure for instructors to collaborate on OER shells
for common courses.
■ Given more time and compensation, a team of collaborators could work together to
construct OER composition courses in my department, for instance, which would then
subsidize lots of unpaid effort for our colleagues.
■ As OER grows in popularity, I hope institutions will recognize the importance of
institutional support to make sustainableOER initiatives a reality.