The document discusses the benefits and challenges of integrating Open Educational Resources (OER) into curricula. Benefits include free access for students and instructors, ease of sharing and modification, and legal use without copyright issues. Challenges involve a lack of awareness among educators, the permanence of Creative Commons licenses, content limitations, the need for a shift in educational focus, and uncertainties about the future of OER in education.

1. OPEN EDUCATIONAL
RESOURCES
Benefits and Challenges
Kyra Stenslie
January 2020

2. As an instructor new to the use of
Creative Commons and Open
Educational Resources, these are
some of the benefits and challenges
I foresee in integrating OER into
my curriculum…

3. BENEFITS OF USING OER
1. Open Educational Resources are free,
which ensures all students have equal
access to course materials, textbooks, and
instructional lessons. These resources are
also free to instructors, which cuts the
department costs of curriculum materials.

4. 2. OER can be used again and again. Ideas and lessons
can be recycled in order to utilize the content for
multiple classes. Lessons can be modified or adapted
if applicable, to best meet the needs of each
individual class.
3. OER can be shared and accessed from anywhere.
This is an advantage globally, as instructors from
around the world can collaborate and grow
professionally by sharing ideas. These ideas can
potentially reach a very large audience.

5. 4. OER allows students to view different course options,
in order to see what is the best fit for them. One
objective as instructors is to best meet the needs of
our learners, which can be accomplished by allowing
students the freedom to access resources that
accommodate their learning goals and needs.
5. OER are legally accessible, allowing instructors to
access the work of others without fear of violating
copyright laws, as long as they attribute the work to
its creator.

6. CHALLENGES OF USING OER
1. Because OER is a recent development in
education, many instructors, students, and
colleges may be unaware of the resources
out there. Instructors need to be trained
and informed on how to access these
resources and how to give proper
attribution, in order to best utilize them
for their intended purpose.

7. 2. OER and the Creative Commons licenses associated
with them are non-revocable for the creator.
Educators sharing their resources must decide
carefully what they choose to release, as this status
cannot be undone.
3. OER may be limiting in the content available. There
may be a range of options for some course subjects
and content, and not as many options for others. It
is up to the individual instructor to determine
whether each resource available is of good quality,
and applicable to their program. Accessibility is
something that can be improved upon to include all
resources.

8. 4. Utilizing OER rather than a traditional textbook will
be a shift in thinking for many educators. Textbooks
are often the center of the curriculum for many
higher education courses. This focus would need to
change, in order for OER to be used more
prominently in the curriculum.
5. As education is always evolving, it is difficult to
predict the future use of OER and its impact on our
teaching in years to come.
Educators will need to take the risk of changing and
adapting current methods, with the hopes of moving
forward.