This document outlines some of the key benefits and challenges of open educational resources (OER). The main benefits discussed are: increased opportunities for diversity, equity, and inclusion; cost savings for students through free or low-cost course materials; the ability for students to publish their work for others to build upon; expanded support networks for educators; and flexibility for instructors to adapt materials. The primary challenges covered are increased faculty workload; limited resources in some disciplines; ensuring materials remain up-to-date and sustainable long-term; information overload due to the large volume of options; and lack of institutional support at some schools.

1. by Caroline Evergreen
OER:
Benefits and Challenges

2. Introduction
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OER Challenges
OER Benefits Thank You
Outline

3. While there are many benefits and
challenges of Open Educational Resources
(OER), for the purpose of this presentation
I will focus on five of each that I have
either experienced the most in my own
professional journey, or the benefits and
challenges of the OER champions and
advocates that have helped teach me.
Introduction

4. Benefits of OER

5. Benefits of OER
Student-Centered Learning: Opportunities for DEI
While all OER is not inherently anti-racist, accessible, and inclusive-
Open Educational Resources are often much newer and easily-
customized than traditional textbook content.
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Affordability
An often-cited incentive for institutions to invest in OER is the huge
cost-saving aspect for students by not having to pay for access to
expensive textbooks or course materials.
Renewable Assignments
While this is more an aspect of Open Education or Open Pedagogy in
general, the roots of Renewable Assignments begin in OER - the ability for
students to openly publish their work so that future students and
community members can benefit and build upon their research is an
exciting aspect of OER.

6. Benefits of OER Continued
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Support Network for Educators
While most of the resource-sharing in education happens within
one specific institution (English faculty to English faculty, Biology
faculty to Biology faculty), the field of OER expands that network
so that faculty can collaborate, learn, reuse, and borrow resources
from other experts in their field from around the world.
Flexibility
The inherent flexibility of OER is a benefit not just for students, but
also for instructors. This flexibility allows for instructors to adapt
and revise content to fit the specific course they are teaching at their
specific institution. Faculty can even slightly alter each course
offering to reflect the needs of the students in a particular course
section.

7. Challenges of OER

8. Challenges of OER
Faculty Workload
It will come as no surprise that the first of our five challenges is the
dreaded faculty workload. OERs require time, support, and energy to
get implemented into courses which is difficult with busy and often
over-worked faculty
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Available Resources for Certain Disciplines
Certain topics might be much easier to find OER for than others.
Nursing courses in particular have strict accreditation requirements
that making replacing textbooks with OER content a much more time-
consuming and pain-staking process.
Longevity
OERs are not something to put on a shelf - you must recycle as you teach-
they are made sustainable by being constantly reused and revised. This
means that there needs to be continuous assessment of the quality and the
sustainability of OERs so that we can ensure these are viable long-term
solutions for our students.

9. Challenges of OER Continued
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Information Overload
This is the challenge I hear about the most from other faculty, (and one
I experience the most myself!). While the world Open Education is
fantastic because there are so many places to look and so many options
- for most educators it is also incredibly confusing due to the lack of
standardized formats/design within individual websites and
repositories.
Bureaucracy/Lack of Institutional Support
Although some institutions have a lot of support amongst students,
faculty, staff and administrators - other institutions do not have either
the financial resources or the time to develop a support system for
faculty interested in implementing OER in their courses. In addition to a
lack of designated personnel/resources, some institutions might also be
operating under restrictive legislation or contracts that discourage or
outright prevent them from investing in OER.

10. Caroline Evergreen
Thank you for
reading!