Open Educational Resources in a Face-

to-Face ClassBy Julie Humm

OERIs there a place for Open Educational

Resources, OER, in a face-to-face class? What are the advantages and disadvantages of using OER in such a setting?

TimeBenefit

!  Utilizing OER could save the instructor time when designing a course whether in preparing slides or just researching a topic.

Challenge

!  Much time must be invested upfront, however, in order to sift through the wide variety of educational offerings in order to select relevant, high quality material that has the appropriate open license.

Cost of TextbooksBenefit

!  Designing and printing a textbook from open text material could cut the cost of textbooks from over $200 to as little as $30. This would be a substantial savings for students on a budget.

Challenge

!  Finding quality texts online can be challenging. Who are the authors? What are their backgrounds? Who is the editor? Is the text relevant to the specific course? Is it written at the appropriate reading level?

Textbook SpecificityBenefit

!  A textbook designed from open educational resources could be catered to the exact needs of a specific course. A chemistry course for nursing students might emphasize unit conversion problems but skip stoichiometry altogether.

Challenge

!  To design such a text would require considerable effort from the instructor, not just in selecting the material from the vast resources online but in keeping it up to date.

Examples of Good Practices

Benefit!  Being able to view posted

lectures can be a great tool for instructors to learn by example. It can be difficult to casually sit in on a lecture in person but easy to peruse one online.

!  Students benefit from another perspective of the material when watching lectures online.

Challenge

!  Once again, time is a constraint for both the instructor and the student. Managing time to meet the needs of the course by prioritizing tasks often leads to just doing the minimum requirements, leaving the OER left untouched.

VarietyBenefit

!  OER can be used to broaden the scope of slides, adding more examples, illustrations, videos etc. leading to a richer lecture experience for the student.

Challenge

!  The instructor must be diligent in attributing sources. Not all material online has a clear open license.

Student SupportBenefit

!  The instructor can prescreen the multitude of online resources and provide a collection of links for students, guiding them to lectures, review materials etc.

Challenge!  Students can easily be

overwhelmed with choices. Instructors should narrow links down to just high quality sources that are most relevant to the needs of the students.

!  Instructors will need to check links regularly to make sure they are up to date and relevant.