Open Educational Resources address the equity issue of accessibility in education. While the lack of accessible educational materials can be an issue in any level of education, this week’s article and video really brought attention to the use of OER in higher education. Financial accessibility is the most significant benefit of OER in colleges and universities. Textbooks alone can add hundreds of dollars to a student’s expenses every semester. When professors use open resources instead, the material becomes more accessible to students. While this is an obvious benefit of OER, the UNH video highlighted other advantages that I had not considered previously. From a teaching standpoint, OER can be reused, revised, remixed, and redistributed in ways that $500 textbooks cannot. The ability to reuse materials means that teachers can use those materials in their lessons. Furthermore, the ability to revise the materials means teachers can adjust the materials to fit their instructional goals. Remixing offers teachers the ability to combine materials with other materials to enhance the learning experience, and redistribution allows teachers to share the materials with students for free. After all, sharing is the key to education. Overall, OER allow teachers to create more meaningful, purposeful learning experiences for students. Teachers can choose exactly how and what to teach their students using open materials.
Open Educational Resources address the equity issue of accessibility in education. While the lack of accessible educational materials can be an issue in any level of education, this week’s article and video really brought attention to the use of OER in higher education. Financial accessibility is the most significant benefit of OER in colleges and universities. Textbooks alone can add hundreds of dollars to a student’s expenses every semester. When professors use open resources instead, the material becomes more accessible to students. While this is an obvious benefit of OER, the UNH video highlighted other advantages that I had not considered previously. From a teaching standpoint, OER can be reused, revised, remixed, and redistributed in ways that $500 textbooks cannot. The ability to reuse materials means that teachers can use those materials in their lessons. Furthermore, the ability to revise the materials means teachers can adjust the materials to fit their instructional goals. Remixing offers teachers the ability to combine materials with other materials to enhance the learning experience, and redistribution allows teachers to share the materials with students for free. After all, sharing is the key to education. Overall, OER allow teachers to create more meaningful, purposeful learning experiences for students. Teachers can choose exactly how and what to teach their students using open materials.