This document discusses the benefits and challenges of open educational resources (OER). Some key benefits include: it saves time by avoiding duplication of work; it promotes cultural enhancement by incorporating global ideas; and it allows freedom to reuse and remix resources to suit specific needs. However, some challenges are that OER does not cover all subject areas equally; it can be time-consuming to find exactly what is needed; and the quality and currency of materials is not always monitored. Overall, OER provides open access to educational resources but users must understand licensing types and respect original creators.

1. O E R
Benefits
&
Wordle Image by Deb Ramirez, CCBY
Challenges
Wordle Image by Deb Ramirez, CCBY
OER: Benefits & Challenges By Deb Ramirez

2. Benefits….and then some




It saves time by decreasing
duplication of recreating the
wheel
It promotes cultural enhancement
in regards to incorporating global
ideas into your own work
Freedom to re-use and remix
resources - you can finetune to
your specific needs


It offers a variety of licensing for
material access and contributions

OER offers a high levl of
accessibility to an array of media
resources
It enhances one’s own work by
tapping into other’s creative works

It is fun and at times challenging to
locate exactly what we need for our
own work

It increases our sense of pride to
produce a fine piece of work with
the help of other’ materials
OER: Benefits & Challenges By Deb Ramirez

3. Challenges

OER does not cover all
discipline areas equally; for
example, it is difficult to find
open resources for ESL subject
matter.

Although it aids in not
duplicating work, it becomes
time consuming to locate
exactly what one is looking for.

Who is monitoring the quality of
the work found on OER? And if
ongoing funding is not
provided, how quickly will
materials become outdated?



If one does not completely
understand the different licensing
types, they could choose one that
does not really protect their work as
they had intended; and then it is
irrevocable.

There are some students, especially
the immigrant population, who are
computer illiterate or do not have a
computer.

If one does not have good research
skills, it becomes a barrier to
access OER properly and in a
timely manner.
OER: Benefits & Challenges By Deb Ramirez
Freedom to re-use and remix
resources - you can finetune to
your specific needs

It increases our sense of pride to
produce a fine piece of work with
the help of other’ materials

4. and more food for thought…



One of the most important statements, I believe, is that - “open”
may mean “without cost” but it does not mean “without conditions”.
I am hoping that all users of OER will learn how to understand the
array of licensing and respect the original artist of the works they
are using.
There is a benefit for institutions using OER resources / textbooks
as they provide free access to educational resources as a way to
attract new students
And since OER is global, there could possibly be an increase in cooperation and collaboration between institutions around the world

OER: Benefits & Challenges By Deb Ramirez