1. OER – The Future Picture of Online
Education?
Tom Pickering
AA Professor, Pierce College

2. “It is faith that moves mountains, not facts. Facts do not give birth to faith.
Faith needs a story to sustain it – a meaningful story that inspires belief in you and
renews hope that your ideas do indeed offer what you promise.
Genuine influence goes deeper than getting people to do what you want them to do. It
means people pick up where you left off because they believe.”
- Annette Simmons, author of Whoever Tells the Best Story Wins

3. Benefits and Challenges of OER
…Open Educational Resources
OER is a new story in education…a work in progress… with plots
for students and teachers alike to weave.
It is a powerful idea…perhaps one whose time has come
The potential influence is explosive
Nurturing a belief in the cause is yet to be realized…but emerging

4. Two Chapters in the Story
• Benefits
Instructors:
• Adds incredible resources and digital
authority to courses
• Enables tremendous diversity of choice
and access to quality materials
• Increases the creativity capacity and
versatility to engage students
Students:
• Potential for significant cost savings
• Opens opportunities to creative problem-
solving
• Better preparation for the realities of the
work place
• Challenges
Instructors:
• Tremendous investment in preparation
time
• Staying current in both content and
online resources
• Choosing among so many credible and
quality sources to match outcomes and
objectives
Students:
• Some remain “techknowledgy’
challenged
• Some prefer the printed text at all costs
• Variables of access to technology

5. The Unfinished Story
This dynamic story will take many years to unfold during which it
will have a cast of thousands to provide the wisdom and learned
experiences for the benefit and challenge to future instructors
and students…as they confront changes in how we best learn
and prepare.