Modern education provides an opportunity to incorporate Open Education Resources (OER) into the learning process. Additional digital materials available to students can help diversify the program and broaden its focus. This proposal considers three of the most promising and effective OERs which could be incorporated into the educational process.
Learning Benefits
EDSITEment! offers the opportunity to explore American culture and history through reading materials and videos. The main advantage of this resource is that students can independently participate in “Student activities,” where they will be asked to study the topic based on the materials and answer questions. Curricula are available for teachers, which also include a variety of multimedia resources. Additionally, all submitted materials are peer-reviewed, making them a reliable source of information for students. The main learning benefit of the resource is both the possibility of in-depth study of topics using the materials and the independent activity of students.
PhET offers many interactive simulations for science and math classes. This resource will allow students to better assimilate the material through visualization and participation in the study of various phenomena. Moreover, simulations are supplemented with explanations of the studied processes and also offer additional materials. The main learning benefit of this resource is the opportunity for students to directly participate in the study of science and mathematics in a more exciting format, which can motivate their academic performance.
HippoCampus offers videos in 13 subject areas, including math, natural and social science, as well as humanities. Each section contains a series of presentations organized into a course, which are complemented by simulations. The videos clearly explain the principles and concepts of a particular discipline and contain interviews with experts. The main learning benefit is the opportunity to use multimedia materials from the courses as additional materials both in the classroom and in the independent work of students.
Potential Limitations
OER as a new tool in the educational context, in addition to its advantages, also has a number of limitations. One of them may be the perception of these resources by students as insufficiently effective due to their free access (Abramovich & McBride, 2018). This limitation can be overcome by gradually incorporating OER into the educational process as complementary to traditional materials. Students need to adapt to the new resources and capabilities of these resources so that they can provide feedback on their effectiveness. The teacher can also adjust the course materials based on the students’ reactions. Another significant limitation of the use of OERs can be the problem of including them in the grading system (Hilton III, 2020). However, this aspect is also mitigated by the fact that OERs are used as a supplement and do not replace traditional learning activities. Additionally, OER can be associated with a lack of sufficient human interaction (Sandanayake, 2019). This limitation can be overcome by using more group discussions or assignments to develop self-learning skills.
Evaluation Criteria
In selecting the listed resources, they were assessed according to a number of criteria that would identify them as effective and educationally beneficial.
- Resource availability. First of all, it was necessary to find resources, the content of which would be fully accessible and free for all users so students could easily access them.
- Content relevance. Most OER resources focus on college education, so it was important to find resources focused on school courses. Moreover, it was necessary to assess how complete and extensive content is presented on the resource.
- Credibility and expertise. The most significant factor is how reliable the information provided on the resources is. The courses presented on the described resources contain peer-reviewed materials or are provided by universities, making them credible and verified.
Research on OER
The use of OER is part of blended learning, which aims to diversify the learning experience for both students and teachers. Sandanayake (2019) notes that the resources “enhance the quality of learning experience by enabling flexibility of recourses while applying knowledge in a wider context” (p. 14). Additionally, students can self-direct their learning if they have a need or interest in a particular topic using the OER. The use of additional materials allows you to make courses flexible and focus on those aspects that need to be studied. Finally, combining text and video materials will make the learning process more exciting and easier for students.
An important advantage of OER materials is the reduction in the cost of courses for both students and educational institutions. Traditional teaching materials such as textbooks represent costs, while OER is completely free. Thus, OERs are of greatest value to those students and educational contexts where there is no opportunity to purchase expensive teaching and learning materials (Grimaldi et al., 2019). This circumstance makes OER the most effective for optimizing the costs of educational institutions. With careful monitoring of the content of resources and their evolution, they can become a significant addition to the traditional program.
In general, educational institutions and research are increasingly focusing on the incorporation of OER into the educational process. Grimaldi et al. (2019) note that existing studies do not provide unambiguous results on the effectiveness of these resources for students. However, this assumption is made due to the use of an irrelevant analysis model, so there are no statistics that could support the use of the OER (Grimaldi et al., 2019). Hilton III (2020) notes that despite the initial skepticism about OER on the part of students, at the end of the course, they state achieving learning objectives when incorporating free resources into the educational process. Moreover, educational organizations such as schools can significantly reduce the cost of educational materials using the OER.
Frequently Asked Questions
Open Educational Resources are free and without access barriers as well as are legally permitted for open use. Typically, such resources have an open license which allows all users to use and distribute course materials anytime, anywhere.
The main difference between OER and other resources is their copyright since all users can use and distribute their content with an indication of the proper citation. Additionally, OER resources can be edited, while for free online resources, this is impossible without the permission of the copyright holder.
Resource-based learning involves the rejection of the teacher as a center for the dissemination of information and the acquisition of knowledge by students from various resources. In this case, the communication between the teacher and the students is conducted mostly not personally but through the means of communication as needed. However, the use of resources as additional materials does not imply fully autonomous learning for students. The teacher acts as a support, guide, and students participate in discussions of the acquired knowledge. OERs are part of resource-based learning, but in this case, they are used to complement traditional education methods.
Responsibility for the quality of the content of a certain person or organization, as is the case with traditional publications, does not always reflect their actual effectiveness. In the case of OER, responsibility for the quality of the materials used lies with the administration of the educational institution, coordinators of educational programs, and specific teachers. The quality of the OER directly depends on how effective the choice of the teacher was in the educational process.
References
Abramovich, S., & McBride, M. (2018). Open education resources and perceptions of financial value. The Internet and Higher Education, 39, 33-38.
Grimaldi, P. J., Mallick, D. B., Waters, A. E., & Baraniuk, R. G. (2019). Do open educational resources improve student learning? Implications of the access hypothesis. PLoS One, 14(3), 1-14.
Hilton III, J. (2020). Open educational resources, student efficacy, and user perceptions: A synthesis of research published between 2015 and 2018. Educational Technology Research and Development, 68, 853-876.
Sandanayake, T. C. (2019). Promoting open educational resources-based blended learning. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 16(3), 1-16.