Advantages and Disadvantages of using Open Educational Resources

1. Open Educational Resources
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
BY TRACEY MONTOYA

2. Advantages
 Easy to access content including images, videos, textbooks and course materials
are available on multiple platforms
 Saves instructors, librarians and instructional designers time and resources
through sharing of quality resources, many of which have been reviewed by peers
 Can be reused, remixed and redistributed without violating copyright
 Resources are readily available and not behind a “pay wall” or library database
subscription fee
 Free of cost to instructors and students
 Updated material is available almost immediately

3. Disadvantages
 Viewing and evaluating available content is time consuming
 Breaks the one textbook one course model. Instructors need to be willing to find
the right mix of content for their courses and design courses with greater
flexibility
 As a relatively new model, awareness and training in using OER needs further
support at instructor and institutional levels
 Instructors must troubleshoot accessibility issues
 Advanced and refined search capabilities will be useful as the content databases
continue to grow

4. Find out More
 More information on open educational resources can be found at:
Open Washington [http://www.openwa.org/]
Creative Commons Wiki [https://wiki.creativecommons.org/wiki/Main_Page]