Open Educational Resources in Higher Education

Abstract

Open Educational Resources (OERs) are changing the learning and teaching landscape in many different fields. In the area of higher education, OERs are swiftly becoming important elements in support of Open Educational Practices (OEPs) and the Open Education Movement. Research suggests that OERs and OEPs might be powerful vehicles for professional development, for teacher collaboration, and to enhance knowledge of technology in language pedagogy (Borthwick & Gallagher-Brett, 2014). Nonetheless, in spite of the increasing popularity of open education, little is known with regard to the production and use of OERs in languages other than English (Zancanaro & Amiel, 2017). This paper examines concepts, advantages and challenges related to Open Education and briefly reviews studies which discussed the production of OERs in languages other than English in higher education. The few studies addressing the development and use of OERs in languages other than English show that more research is needed to increase visibility of open education for less prominent languages and to support the Open Education Movement in higher education. DOI:10.2458/azu_itet_v6i1_berti