Challenges and realities of realizing OER
in the online classroom
Dr. phil. Lisa Marie Blaschke
Programme Director, Management
of Technology Enhanced Learning
(MTEL)
https://uol.de/mtel/
www.twitter.com/lisamblaschke
www.linkedin.com/in/lisamarieblasch
ke/
lisa.blaschke@uni-oldenburg.de

3
Teams of learning designers,
SMES, visual designers, and
programmers to create OER;
in-house champions and
workshops
Results: Increased number of OER;
increased awareness; more use of
open access publishing (OpenLibrary
and AU Press)
Goal: Lower costs and
speed up course delivery
Mission: …removal of barriers that restrict access to and success in university-
level study and to increasing equality of educational opportunity for adult learners
worldwide.
Home of COL/UNESCO
Chair of OER
Benefits: More faculty
collaboration (in and out of
institution), less dependency
on commercial publishers,
more student-created OER

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Results: 700+ courses
transitioned to OER; over 10
million USD in annual text-
book cost savings
Benefits: Cost savings
for students; more
learner-centered
curriculum
Team approach with
instructional designers,
library personnel,
management, faculty.
Mission: …improving the lives of adult learners; core values: Students first,
accountability, diversity, integrity, excellence, innovation and respect
Winner of OEC 2015
President’s Award
Goal: Reduce textbook costs for
over 84,000 students

5
Results: Well-defined OER policy and
positioning; 1,000+ learners converted annually;
greater brand impact and increased income
First place in Open Courseware
Provider League Table
Focus on adding value
across the value chain;
defining specific KPI
measurements on
conversion, brand impact,
assets, and income
Benefits: Increased access;
growing use and re-use of
media assets; new
partnerships, business and
process models; more
academic and business
research opportunities
Goal: Expand OUUK market reach and
OER production; opportunity for
disruptive innovation

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Mission
Sustainability and
Flexibility
Value Added
Strategy
CONTEXT

Best Practices for an OER
Strategy
7
Awareness
Faculty
Incentives
Champions
Design
Teams
Student-
Centered
Learning
Mission and
Strategy
Institutional
Strengths

Benefits of Using OER
• Increased opportunities for collaboration and
sharing of resources
• Reduction in costs (textbooks/resources)
• Added flexibility
• Increased student involvement
• More focus on practical competency-based
outcomes
• Reduced time for developing and producing
courses
• Expansion of brand, reputation, and reach

Challenges
• Sustainability of the OER strategy
• Access to project funding and costs
• Intellectual property and copyright issues
• Faculty resistance
• Difficulties in finding, adapting, and localizing
content
• Deficits in faculty skills
• Lack of strategies for teaching with OER
• Lack of an existing model and operational
policy

Questions to Ask
• What level of engagement will the institution use in OER?
Primary, secondary, or tertiary (Weller, 2014)?
• How does the OER initiative align with the overall
institutional mission and strategies? What factors are
specific to the institutional context?
• What are institutional strengths and how can these be
leveraged through OER? Are infrastructures in place to
support the transition?
• What institutional policy will be developed and applied in
using and distributing OER? How will needs/requirements of
faculty be met?
• What are the potential costs of the OER project? How can
ROI be achieved?
• Is the OER project sustainable? What factors will be used to
measure the project success?
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Blaschke, L. M., Müskens, W., &
Zawacki-Richter, O. (2020). Openness
in context: Realizing openness with
open educational resources (OER)
and prior learning assessment and
recognition (PLAR). In D. Conrad & P.
Prinsloo (Eds.), Open(ing) education:
Theory and practice (pp. 198-223).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/97890044
22988_010. Leiden, The Netherlands:
Brill.
Available from: Blaschke et al
2020_Openness in
context_chapter009.pdf