OER: Benefits and Challenges

OER: Benefits and Challenges

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  Definition “Open Educational Resources(OER) are freely accessible, openly licensed documents and media that are useful for teaching, learning, educational, assessment and research purposes.” ~Wikipedia
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  Benefits 0 Open EducationalResources (OER) help professionals exchange ideas and research freely 0 OER help learners connect with people, innovative ideas, and global trends 0 OER materials can work as supplementary materials and allow students to explore course content further on their own (self-directed learning) 0 OER materials may contain more current and up-to-date information on a subject 0 OER materials offer a rich variety of formats (games, audio, videos, presentations, 3-D simulations, etc.) which aligns well with the principles of Universal Design for Learning 0 OER help educators reduce cost for students
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  Challenges 0 Not allopen educational resources are of good quality and/or peer-reviewed 0 Looking for high quality open educational resources is time consuming 0 Materials that are available may not match specific course requirements and outcomes 0 The idea of using OER requires paradigm shift which educators and administrators may not be ready to make yet 0 A process for keeping existing materials up-to-date has not been established yet
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  Future Trends OER havea huge potential and will continue to revolutionize the way we work and provide instruction. Current trends in technology, business, and education emphasize strong need in establishing global networks of shared knowledge which we can build upon in order to continue moving forward as a society.