Slides to present at webinar organised by the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute, June 29th, 2016.

1. Teacher perceptions and use of OER
Dr. Beatriz de los Arcos @celTatis
The Open University, UK

2. http://oro.open.ac.uk/46145/

3. What are Open Educational
Resources?
“Open Educational Resources (OER) are any type of educational materials
that are in the public domain or introduced with an open license. The nature of
these open materials means that anyone can legally and freely copy, use,
adapt and re-share them. OER range from textbooks to curricula, syllabi,
lecture notes, assignments, tests, projects, audio, video and animation.”
(UNESCO)
(http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/access-to-knowledge/open-educational-
resources/what-are-open-educational-resources-oers/)

4. Keyword Hypothesis
Performance OER improve student performance/satisfaction
Openness People use OER differently from other online materials
Access OER widen participation in education
Retention OER can help at-risk learners to finish their studies
Reflection OER use leads educators to reflect on their practice
Finance OER adoption brings financial benefits for students/institutions
Indicators Informal learners use a variety of indicators when selecting OER
Support Informal learners develop their own forms of study support
Transition OER support informal learners in moving to formal study
Policy OER use encourages institutions to change their policies
Assessment Informal assessments motivate learners using OER

6. Survey Data: 7,700 responses from 175 countries

7. Photo CC BY-SA 2.0 https://flic.kr/p/y59xh
Sample

8. Photo CC BY-SA 2.0 https://flic.kr/p/y59xh
657 responses from K-12 educators in
72 countries
52.3% female, 47.5% male
39.9% USA, 12.5% UK, 11.6% South Africa
47.4% hold a postgraduate qualification
53.9% >10 years teaching experience
65.5% full-time
68.2% English native speakers
52.2% Math, 25.9% Education Studies
85.3% face-to-face

9. Types of OER
73%
30.2%
65.3%
24.8%
39.8%
34.8%
41.3%
18.1%
36.3%
50.9%
12.1%

10. Use of repositories I
69.8%
59%
46.3% 45.5%
19.8% 17.8%
11.5%
4.9% 3.1%

11. Use of repositories II
I have added a resource to a repository 28.1%
I have added a comment regarding the quality of a resource 24%
I have added a comment suggesting ways of using a resource 16.7%

12. Photo CC BY-SA 2.0 https://flic.kr/p/y59xh
Use of OER
I have adapted OER to fit my needs 85.5%
I have created OER for teaching 38.2%
I have created resources and published them under an open license 10.7%

13. Purpose of OER use
To get new ideas and inspiration 80.5%
To prepare for my teaching 70.8%
To supplement existing lessons/coursework 67.5%

14. Impact of OER use on teaching
OER allow me to better accommodate diverse learners’ needs 72.4%
Using OER broadens the range of my teaching methods 69.4%
OER have broadened my coverage of the curriculum 65.5%
I reflect more on the way that I teach 64.9%
I use a wider range of multimedia 63.9%
I have a more up-to-date knowledge of my subject area 61.1%

15. Impact of OER use on teaching
“It used to be that when I thought about
preparing for a lesson, I’d look at a book and see
what they did and then I’d teach a lesson similar
to it. Now I can go online, watch a video or look
at somebody else’s material, see what they’re
doing and either modify [this] and bring it into my
classroom, or just get a totally different
perspective on it and allow my students to get
multiple perspectives on a topic. I guess
everything that’s out there online allows me to be
a better teacher.”

16. Impact of OER use on learning
OER help develop learners’ independence and self-reliance 71.7%
OER increase learners’ satisfaction with the learning experience 68.2%
OER boost learners’ interest in the subject 68.1%

17. Impact of OER use on learning
“This course has been fully developed from
scratch without [copyright restrictions] and is
released free on the web for any teacher or
student to use or remix. As a result, I do not treat
this curriculum as mine –it belongs to the class
and to the world.”

18. Impact of OER use on learning
“I have kids asking questions and thinking
critically about their learning and how the
curriculum works and then in class I’m asking
them to actually show me some evidence that
their concerns are valid, so they are doing some
surveying and asking peers and they’re trying to
understand what would make this class better
and justify that. They’re doing critical thinking
about their course content, which is something
that the kids are almost never asked to do.”

19. Challenges of using OER
Finding resources of sufficiently high quality 57.3%
Finding suitable resources in my subject area 56.1%
Not having enough time to look for suitable resources 54.4%
Knowing where to find resources 50.1%
Overcoming technology problems when downloading resources 40.2%

20. Photo CC BY 2.0 Alan Levine, https://flic.kr/p/dtBSgg

21. b.delosarcos@open.ac.uk
@celTatis
oerhub.net
@OER_Hub
Thank you