BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES OF OERsBy Sarah Whiting

The Benefits of OERs Can be adapted for accessibility Can save students and learning institutions

money Can save teachers time in course preparation Allow for creativity in course design Engage students in the use of technology

Benefit 1: Can be adapted for accessibility OERs allow instructors to find quality

resources that meet their students’ individual needs

Resources be adapted without concerns of copyright infringment

Audio resources and alt-text make courses more accessible to students with visual and hearing impairments

Benefit 2: Can save students and learning institutions money

Makes access to educational resources easier for low-income students

Quality resources are available without the high cost often associated with them

Saves learning institutions the costs of ordering textbooks and subsidizing costs for students

Benefit 3: Can save instructors time in course preparation Part-time instructors care about teaching

quality courses, but don’t always have enough time for unpaid prep work

OER courses are already designed, so they save instructors prep time

Instructors can spend more time providing feedback to students instead of course design

OERs still allow for flexibility in how to teach

Benefit 4: Allow for creativity in course design

Instructors can enrich their courses with a wide variety of materials of different mediums: books, videos, audio recordings, etc.

All learning styles can be engaged Side benefit: Instructors can be sure that they

are following copyright laws in the use of course materials

Benefit 5: Engage students in the use of technology

For some students, especially in the field of ESL, using technology is a challenge

OER resources are a way of showing students how the Internet puts quality resources right at their fingertips

Teaching an OER course or using OER resources can be a great introduction to the use of technology in the classroom, if introduced appropriately

Challenges of OER Time spent finding appropriate materials

(especially for ESL classes) Time spent to make resources accessible Time spent to make resources fit classroom

needs Possible lack of material in some fields Information overload (for instructors and

students)

Challenge 1: Time spent finding appropriate materials (especially for ESL classes) The more specific the needs of the

instructor, the more challenging to use OER

Weeding out resources that aren’t what you want can take time

Find ESL resources that will instantly be appropriate for your students’ specific level could be difficult

Challenge 2: Time spent to make resources accessible If a course isn’t designed to be

accessible, this places a burden on the instructor

Finding time to adapt the course could be difficult for some instructors

This challenge could go away the more people start using OER, and the more accessible resources become standard

Challenge 3: Time spent to make resources fit classroom needs

Education is never one-size-fits-all Finding a course that can be taught as-is could

be difficult or nearly impossible (at least in ESL) Some courses and materials may have aspects

or pieces that don’t fit the needs of a particular class

For ESL instructors, picking resources that will fit with the required class curriculum could take time

Challenge 4: Possible lack of material in some fields

OERs are a relatively new thought The amount of resources in some specialized

fields may be sparse This presents a challenge for instructors with a

desire to use OER but who can’t find resources This challenge could go away as OER becomes

more popular

Challenge 5: Information overload (for instructors and students) The sheer amount of OERs found online

can be overwhelming Instructors may find it difficult to decide

which resources to use, and how to use them

Weeding out unnecessary or not useful resources could be challenging

Conclusion OER has a variety of benefits, including:

The ability to adapt resources Low costs for students and institutions Huge potential for creativity of instructors

However, along with the benefits, a variety of potential challenges exist: Time spent adapting and finding resources Possibility of information overload A lack of material in some fields

Overall, OER is to be embraced and is surely to be a huge part of the future of education for many fields.