The document outlines benefits and challenges of using open educational resources. Key benefits include resources being available at low or no cost to students and faculty, materials supplementing existing texts and being accessible to more than just a single class. Challenges involve inconsistent quality between sources, difficulty finding suitable materials, not all students having technology access, and keeping materials up to date being time consuming. The author notes there are more factors than listed and instructors must decide if benefits outweigh challenges for their own classrooms.

1. BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES
OF USING OPEN
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
By Ruth Muschinske
Northcentral Technical College
October 2014

2. BENEFIT #1:
Resources can be available at
little to no cost to the student or
the faculty.

3. BENEFIT #2:
OER materials may be used to
supplement existing texts and
other proprietary items.

4. BENEFIT #3:
Students can review OER
materials before the class
begins, leading to better
preparation for the course.

5. BENEFIT #4:
Materials are available to a
larger number of people, not
just the group of students in a
class.

6. BENEFIT #5:
A wide variety of materials for
learning use are available as
open education resources.

7. CHALLENGE #1:
Quality of the materials may be
inconsistent from one source to
another.

8. CHALLENGE #2:
It can be difficult to find exactly
what is being sought to suit class
needs.

9. CHALLENGE #3:
Not all students have access to
the technology necessary to
acquire the resources.

10. CHALLENGE #4:
Keeping the materials relevant
and up-to-date can be time-consuming.

11. CHALLENGE #5:
In the absence of suitable
material, developing one’s own
OER materials consumes time
and resources.

12. FINAL THOUGHTS
There are more benefits and
challenges than those listed here.
Each instructor must decide for
him/herself if the benefits of OER in
his/her classroom outweighs the
challenges.