Definition of Open-Educational Resources (OER)
OERs are education materials
that are “born digital” and openly licensed and freely available to retain,
reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute, also known as the 5Rs. Resources include
workbooks, textbooks, pictures, lessons, syllabi and much more (EDUCAUSE, 2021).
Advantages
OERs are an affordable
alternative to the expensive textbooks. Textbooks have always been high-priced.
Students have a problem affording higher education and textbook costs can have
negative impacts on students' success. Some of these effects include poor
grades and dropped or failed courses because they could not afford to buy the
book or the online program. When teachers use OER for their courses text material,
it removes the barriers of expensive textbooks, thereby improving retention and
student success (EDUCAUSE, 2021). Another benefit is that OERs create equality
for students of different socioeconomic status. Also, because OERs are digital,
information can be updated quickly (EDUCAUSE, 2021).
Barriers
According to the Horizon Report
(2021), “While there has been a modest uptake, a constraint may be copyright
legislation, whereby employers (i.e., universities) own the copyright for
employees’ works. Another hurdle leading to the low rate of OER adoption is higher
education signing up to publisher programs that provide students with exclusive
access to material (EDUCAUSE, 2021).
Open Educational Resources
(OER) Sites
Open
Educational Resources (OER) | EDUCAUSE
Open Textbook Library (umn.edu)
When we share, everyone wins - Creative
Commons
Resources
EDUCAUSE. (2021). 2021 Educause Horizon Report:
Teaching and learning edition. EDUCAUSE. Retrieved June 26, 2022, from
https://library.educause.edu/-/media/files/library/2021/4/2021hrteachinglearning.pdf?la=en&hash=C9DEC12398593F297CC634409DFF4B8C5A60B36E
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