Understanding K‐12 teachers’ intention to adopt open educational resources: A mixed methods inquiry

Abstract

AbstractTeachers in K‐12 settings often teach out of textbooks in order to provide differentiated instruction. Open educational resources (OER) might be an effective alternative to traditional textbooks for K‐12 teachers because of a free access to a rich collection of open‐licensed educational materials. Understanding how to encourage teachers to accept OER is thus critical. However, existing evidence mainly concerns the advantage of OER in cost reduction but overlooks the merit of openness. To fill this gap, this mixed methods inquiry, implementing the technology acceptance model, integrated qualitative and quantitative findings to obtain a comprehensive understanding of teachers’ intentions of adopting OER in K‐12 settings. This study found that perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness predicted K‐12 teachers’ intention to adopt OER with attitudes toward OER as a mediating variable. Perceived ease of use also determined perceived usefulness. Teachers’ perceptions of OER adoption were also examined for additional insight into the quantitative findings. Practical implications of adopting OER in K‐12 curriculum were discussed. Practitioner NotesWhat is already known about this topic K‐12 teachers need to teach out of textbooks to provide differentiated instruction but publishers usually charge teachers high subscription fees without giving them permission to customize the resources. Open educational resources (OER) allow teachers to retain, reuse, revise, remix and redistribute free open‐licensed resources. Teachers’ intention to use technology predicts their actual technology use, but evidence regarding reinforcing teachers’ intention to adopt OER is limited. What this paper adds This paper demonstrates the perceived ease of use of OER is a primary factor in how useful teachers consider them to be, how teachers feel about them in general, and how likely they are to use OER. This paper shows perceived usefulness of OER determines teachers’ attitudes toward and intention to use OER. This paper shows teachers’ attitudes toward OER mediate the effect of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness on their intention to adopt OER. Implications for practice and/or policy Simplifying the search process by improving the design of OER repositories to reinforce teachers’ perception that OER are easy to use. Establishing quality assurance of OER to strengthen teachers’ perception that OER are useful. Advocating open educational practices in K‐12 settings to engage students and teachers in the creation and curation of open content. Initiating nationwide campaigns (eg, #GoOpen) to engage school districts and teachers in producing and publishing high‐quality OER.