Assessing The Awareness and Perception of Open Educational Resources (OER) among Nigerian University Students: A Case Study

Abstract

This study investigated Nigerian university students’ awareness and how this influences their perception and use of Open Educational Resources (OER). The study adopted a descriptive method of quantitative research. 4 research questions were developed and answered and a hypothesis was also tested to determine the relationship between students’ awareness of and their perceptions of OER. Percentage, frequency, mean, standard deviation and t-test were used for the analysis. A correlation coefficient was employed to test the hypothesis. The findings of the study were: Nigeria university students have a high level of awareness of OER; the most popular OER among the Nigeria university students were Coursera, EdX, and OpenStax; OER are generally well-perceived by Nigerian university students; lack of digital literacy skills and lack of adequate knowledge to determine the quality assurance of OER are the only challenges hindering the effective use of OER among the students, and there is a significant relationship between awareness and the perception of OER by the students. The study concluded that the majority of Nigerian university students are familiar with OER and have positive perceptions of OER. The research recommends that educational institutions provide training on digital literacy skills for students to access and effectively use these OER. Also, efforts should be made to improve the quality assurance mechanisms for OER, including the involvement of educational experts in reviewing and curating OER materials. Lastly, universities, lecturers and librarians should continue to promote OER usage in teaching and learning activities to promote its adoption.