Abstract
This article examines Utah residents’ views of incentives and disincentives for the use of OpenCourseWare (OCW), and how they fit into the theoretical framework of perceived innovation attributes established by Rogers (1983). Rogers identified five categories of perceived innovation attributes: relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability. A survey instrument was developed using attributes that emerged from a Delphi technique with input from experts in the OCW field. The survey instrument was sent to 753 random individuals between 18 and 64 years of age throughout Utah. 
 
 Results indicated that the greatest incentives for OCW use were the following: (a) <i>no cost for materials</i>, (b) <i>resources available at any time</i>, (c) <i>pursuing in depth a topic that interests me</i>, (d) <i>learning for personal knowledge or enjoyment</i>, and (e) <i>materials in an OCW are fairly easy to access and find</i>. The greatest disincentives for OCW use were the following: a) <i>no certificate or degree awarded</i>, (b) <i>does not cover my topic of interest in the depth I desire</i>, (c) <i>a lack of professional support provided by subject tutors or experts</i>, (d) <i>a lack of guidance provided by support specialists</i>, and (e) <i>the feeling that the material is overwhelming</i>. The authors recommend that institutions work to transition some OCW users into degree-granting paid programs as well as adopt a marketing campaign to increase awareness of OCW. Additionally, OCW websites should make their content available to recommendation engines such as ccLearn DiscoverEd, OCW Finder, or OER Recommender and should reciprocally link to one or more of these sites.
Highlights
Background to the StudyOpenCourseware (OCW) is dedicated to the development of freely available, stand-alone online courses and teaching materials informed by the best current research
There is a strong international presence with institutions participating in many regions, including Brazil, Columbia, Japan, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and Venezuela, to name a few (OCW Consortium, 2009; Caswell, Henson, Jensen, & Wiley, 2008)
The greatest incentive overall for OpenCourseWare use by the Utah adult population is that there is no cost for materials, followed by the materials being available at any time: 1. i26 – no cost for materials (M = 4.59, SD = 0.68), 2. i17 – available at any time (M = 4.35, SD = 0.89), 3. i12 – pursuing in depth a topic that interests me (M = 4.24, SD = 0.93), 4. i9 – learning for personal knowledge or enjoyment (M = 4.22, SD = 0.93), and
Summary
OpenCourseware (OCW) is dedicated to the development of freely available, stand-alone online courses and teaching materials informed by the best current research. OCW includes items such as lecture notes, reading lists, course assignments, syllabi, study materials, tests, samples, simulations, and the like (Educause Learning, 2006). Institutions of higher learning involved in OCW initiatives in the United States include founder Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Incentives and Disincentives for the Use of OpenCourseWare Arendt and Shelton. There is a strong international presence with institutions participating in many regions, including Brazil, Columbia, Japan, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and Venezuela, to name a few (OCW Consortium, 2009; Caswell, Henson, Jensen, & Wiley, 2008). An OCW consortium can be found at http://www.ocwconsortium.org/ and has been formed to develop a shared mission, goals, priorities, visibility, and searchability. OpenCourseware is gaining momentum, there remain questions about its reach and effectiveness globally, nationally, and locally
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