The document discusses the potential benefits and challenges of using open educational resources (OER) for a themed composition course on parenting. Some benefits include allowing precise specialization of course materials to fit the theme, personal tailoring to the instructor's needs, and saving students money by providing free resources. However, challenges identified include it being difficult to find materials specialized enough for the theme or that fully meet the instructor's needs, difficulties organizing and ensuring accessibility of online materials, and potential stress for both instructors and students in working with online resources. The instructor concludes that OER may work for the course if suitable materials can be found but recognizes the need to improve digital skills to effectively utilize open resources.

1. BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES OF OER
FOR A THEMED COMPOSITION COURSE
(Or, Is OER right for me?) By Emily Kang
Benefits and Challenges of OER for a Themed Composition Course by
Emily Kang

2. Benefits of OER
for a Themed
Composition
Course
• It could allow precise specialization of
course materials.
• It could be personally tailored to an
instructor’s needs.
• It could save students money.
• It could improve accessibility.
• It could be a lot of fun for both the
teacher and the students.
Benefits and Challenges of OER for a Themed
Composition Course by Emily Kang

3. It could allow
precise
specialization of
course materials.
I would like to teach an English 101
composition course with a parenting
theme.Theoretically, I could choose
exactly the readings I wanted to use for
the class without having to depend on a
more generic or broad-scope text or
anthology.
Benefits and Challenges of OER for a Themed
Composition Course by Emily Kang

4. It could be
personally
tailored to an
instructor’s
needs.
I could find readings not only on the
topics I want, but that model writing
skills I want to emphasize.
Benefits and Challenges of OER for a Themed
Composition Course by Emily Kang

5. It could save
students money.
I’ve always tried to choose less expensive
books, such as the anthology 50 Essays: A
Portable Anthology. Even so, especially at
a community college, costs are a big
concern for students. OER has the
potential to be completely free for
students.
Benefits and Challenges of OER for a Themed
Composition Course by Emily Kang

6. It could improve
accessibility.
Every quarter I have students who tell me
they can’t purchase the book until
financial aid comes through or until they
get paid.This is often a couple of weeks
into the course. Not being able to
complete the assignments sets them
back and lowers their final grade.
Benefits and Challenges of OER for a Themed
Composition Course by Emily Kang

7. It could be a lot
of fun for both
the instructor
and the
students.
I am passionate about parenting, not
only as a mother, but as one who sees
how parenting fundamentally affects our
relationships to the world. Instructor
enthusiasm can do a lot to win over
students, and having exactly the
resources one wants to use can facilitate
an instructor’s creativity. OER seems to
be a dynamic and developing resource,
and exploring it together could be
exciting for both instructors and
students.
Benefits and Challenges of OER for a Themed
Composition Course by Emily Kang

8. Challenges of
OER for a
Themed
Composition
Course
• It could be difficult to specialize course
materials.
• It could be difficult to personally tailor
to an instructor’s needs.
• It could be difficult to organize.
• It might not be accessible in
appearance.
• It could be a lot of stress for both the
teacher and the students.
Benefits and Challenges of OER for a Themed
Composition Course by Emily Kang

9. It could be
difficult to
specialize and
personally tailor
to an instructor’s
needs.
In my first exploration, I found great
sources of literature, but no actual essays
and nothing beyond the realm of
psychology having to do with parenting.
Some sources I’d really like to use would
be Amy Chua’s “Battle Hymn of theTiger
Mother,” or MiyaTokumitsu’s “In the
Name of Love,” both readily available on
google, but neither is licensed on
Creative Commons. I would like to
explore topics of wealth, discipline,
gender, etc. within parenting, but this
may be too specialized for OER.
Benefits and Challenges of OER for a Themed
Composition Course by Emily Kang

10. It could be
difficult to
organize and
might not be
accessible in
appearance.
For a teacher inexperienced with OER, finding and putting
together materials is a challenge.There are multiple
places to search and no guarantee that any of them will
have the specific focus I seek. Even if I do find anything I
want to use, what do I do next? Should I print everything
in a packet? Should I create a document with links?
Should I place readings in weekly modules in Canvas?The
idea of keeping track of all this makes my head spin.
Worse, what about students with visual or other
impairments? I would need to take a course on
accessibility to make sure all documents are easy for
students to read. Incidentally, last quarter I had a student
who did not have hands. It seemed easier for this student
to turn the pages of a paper book with the tongue than to
navigate a tablet.
Benefits and Challenges of OER for a Themed
Composition Course by Emily Kang

11. It could be a lot
of stress for both
the teacher and
the students.
The stress for me, of course, would be the struggle to find
what I want, organize it, and share it with students. For
example, such is my avoidance of technology, heretofore,
that this is actually my first power point presentation.
Furthermore, when I tried to access clever pictures on
Flickr to liven up this presentation, nothing I selected
would load. Maybe it’s a fluke, maybe it’s user error, but I
know I have a long way to go.
I expect some of my own stress would carry over to
students. But they may have stress in keeping track of or
accessing their readings. I’ve had some students even less
adapt with technology than I forget to do their
assignments because they’re online or have trouble
finding them.
Benefits and Challenges of OER for a Themed
Composition Course by Emily Kang

12. Final Reflection:
Is OER the
answer for my
themed
composition
course?
Maybe! I will definitely continue to explore options and
search for materials that would be applicable to my
parenting theme. I think that to use materials that I really
want, however, I will need to seek author permission.
I do see that avoiding technology is not doing me any
favors. Perhaps OER will grow as I do, and it will become a
truly great resource for all teachers and students.
Benefits and Challenges of OER for a Themed
Composition Course by Emily Kang