An overview of the pros and cons of OER

1. Open Educational
Resources:
WHAT IT MEANS FOR EDUCATORS
BY RICK DENDINGER-HELENA COLLEGE

2. Why spend time and money developing curriculum,
when what you need is free?
OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES ARE A RECENTLY DEVELOPED MEANS TO PUT
MORE TEACHING SOURCES INTO THE HANDS OF EDUCATORS, AT NO COSTS.

3. Advantage 1: Saves Money for
Students
The costs of textbooks for students is very high and prohibitive.
Programming Language
Textbooks by K. Lee.

4. Advantage 2: Access to Quality
Curriculum
Many prestigious universities are now utilizing OER to share their curriculums.
STEM Curriculum CC 2.0

5. Advantage 3: Helps Preparation for
Course and Retention of Knowledge
Students can easily go back and review course content at their leisure.
USDA.gov by CC 2.0

6. Advantage 4: Clarity and Certainty in
Reuse of Materials
No worries or concerns about copyright infringement.
Guide to OER by CC 3.0

7. Advantage 5: Social Responsibility-
Provides Education for All
Education for All by CC 3.0

8. Some Challenges with OER:
 One Time Funding-Long Term Viability
 Lack of Public Understanding-Relatively New Resource
 Non-Revocable Nature of Creative Commons Licenses
 Wide Variety of Quality
 Difficulty in Sorting Through Massive Amounts of Materials

9. Summary:
 Can be a great resource
 Helps students save money
 Cuts down on the overall costs of education
 Has some learning curve to utilize
 Cutting edge of new technology