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Benefits and Challenges of

OER
Christine Moon, SPSCC

Christine Moon - OER Presentation.

 OER (Open Education Resources) have many benefits and
challenges for both authors and students.

Benefits: Challenges:
 Cost savings  Difficulty finding adequate content
 Access for everyone  Unclear copy right information
 Shared thought  Technology
 Clear attributions  Cost to copy
 Wider audience  Cohesion

                        
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Benefit 1: Cost Savings

 In my opinion, the best benefit of using OER for college courses is eliminating the cost of
textbooks and materials to the student. OER allows the professor to provide students with
course texts and/or compilations of articles and other materials at no cost to the student. As
text prices rise in the industry and students must decide how to spend limited resources,
OER can provide a cost- and worry-free option for students to get the same information
that would be presented in a traditional published textbook.

Christine Moon - OER Presentation

Benefit 2: Access for Everyone

 OER provides equitable access for all students regardless of their financial situation or life
circumstances. Utilizing OER in a course is a way to attain equity and inclusion for all
students.

Christine Moon - OER Presentation

Benefit 3: Shared Thought

 One of the exciting things about OER for professors and leaders in the field is the ability to
share thoughts and ideas with others easily while maintaining ownership of them.
Professors can share content for classes in the form of activities, text, research, videos,
pictures, and more. With Creative Common attributes content can be protected and credit
can be given to the author.

Christine Moon - OER Presentation

Benefit 4: Clear Attributions

 OER and the use of Creative Common licensing for original thought and product can be
protected in a way that works for each individual author. Sharing materials is made easier
with these clear attributions.

Christine Moon - OER Presentation

Benefit 5: Wider Audience

 With OER materials can be shared with a wider audience. Anyone can share their
creations with others around the world easily on shared websites. We all benefit from the
increased amount of quality products shared through OER.

Christine Moon - OER Presentation

Challenge 1: Difficulty Finding Adequate Content

 I can share from experience that although there is a lot of quality OER available, it can be
difficult to find something adequate for your course. Many of the courses I teach do not
have OER content matching my needs and therefore I am still utilizing texts from my field
of study.

Christine Moon - OER Presentation

Challenge 2: Unclear Copyright Information

 While taking the OER class and completing the assignments I struggled to find copyright
information to accurately cite the source. There is an amazing attribution tool that can be
used, but even with that the correct citation was not created and you need to know how to
create it on your own. It would be amazing if someday every source had the correct
citation in the same place clearly available.

Christine Moon - OER Presentation

Challenge 3: Technology

 Although OER provides content access to all students, all students do not have equal
access to technology to view it on. Many of the students in our program at SPSCC have
challenges with the cost of purchasing reliable computers or tablets that would allow them
full access to OER materials. Students also struggle with their access to adequate internet,
limiting their ability to view the OER materials consistently.

Christine Moon - OER Presentation

Challenge 4: Cost to Copy

 Although OER can be read on a device such as computer or tablet, many students have
difficulty reading this way and would be forced to copy the content. I currently have a
student who suffered a brain trauma in a car accident. She has difficulty spending too much
time in front of a computer. If my course materials were OER she would have a hard time
keeping up with the work and would need to copy the materials. The cost of copying OER
onto paper may be less than buying a textbook, but it still negates the benefit of being no
cost and equally accessible to students.

Christine Moon - OER Presentation

Challenge 5: Cohesion

 A final challenge to OER can be the cohesion of the materials presented in a course. If a
professor is unable to find an adequate OER text, they may need to pull together materials
from a variety of sources. Students have expressed frustration and confusion with the lack
of cohesiveness of OER materials and how it relates to the flow of the class. Using a
traditional text typically provides a framework for the quarter and a clear map for the
course.

Christine Moon - OER Presentation

Conclusion

 Although I have identified an equal number of benefits and challenges to OER, I believe
that overall, there are stronger benefits that make exploring the use of OER for a course
essential. Providing free and quality OER course materials is one of the best ways for
professors to create an equitable educational experience for all.

Christine Moon - OER Presentation