Awareness Of Open Educational Resources Research Articles

Teacher Education Lecturers' Views of Open Educational Resources: A Case of South African Universities

Literature reflects that universities freely share their teaching materials as Open Educational Resources (OER). The major objective of this study was to investigate lecturers at faculties of education views of the usefulness of OER for academic purposes at selected South African universities. This study is grounded in the Technology Acceptance Model, TAM (Davis, 1989); and the Unified Theory of Technology Acceptance and Use, UTTAU (Bagozzi, 2007) and Theory of Diffusion of Innovations, TDI (Rogers, 2003). These theories justified this investigation explores lecturers at faculties of education views of the usefulness of OER for academic purposes at selected South African universities. The study was informed by the qualitative research approach, which employed semi-structured interviews. Four lecturers were sampled purposively from each university to participate in the study and the data were analysed thematically. The findings of this study are that although the lecturers had an inadequate understanding and knowledge of OER, they were able to display their disposition toward in the usefulness of OER in applying in their pedagogical practices. What is now needed is for South African universities to ensure greater OER awareness and assist lecturers to acquire knowledge of OER so that they can infuse and utilise it effectively in their daily teaching-and-learning environments.

Embracing the Promise of Open Educational Resources: Faculty Insights and Implications in Higher Education

This study examines faculty perceptions, awareness, and utilization of Open Educational Resources (OER) in higher education and identifies barriers hindering their adoption. The research encompasses multiple perspectives, including demographic information, teaching practices involving technology, familiarity and opinions regarding OER, types of OER utilized by faculty, ease of searching for OER, a comparison between open and traditional resources, intentions to use OER in the future, and factors deterring the adoption of OER. The study employed a quantitative approach using an online survey questionnaire to gather data. A random sample of faculty members from the University of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia was recruited (n = 139). Using descriptive and MANOVA tests, the findings highlight a preference for blended teaching styles, significant awareness of OER, ease in searching for OER, and a strong intention to use OER in the future. The results emphasize the importance of addressing concerns related to institutional support, intellectual property policies, recognition of contributions, and creating a supportive environment to enhance faculty engagement with OER. The study implications suggest comprehensive and targeted approaches to support faculty members in adopting and utilizing OER effectively, including promoting gender equity, enhancing ease of adoption, considering workload impact, recognizing differences based on teaching experience, tailoring support based on teaching style, and actively promoting the benefits and opportunities of OER.

Use and Acceptance of Open Educational Resources in Library and Information Science Departments in South African Higher Education Institutions

Technology advancement has caused various changes in education, a phenomenon which demands academics to keep up with these changes. Covid-19 caused multiple educational challenges, as online teaching had to be adopted and implemented quickly. The scarcity of online teaching and learning resources has been one of the major problems in South African education. The establishment of open educational resources (OERs) came with some solutions during the trying times of the pandemic, where direct contact with other people was significantly reduced. OERs are educational materials in the public domain introduced with an open licence, such as digital textbooks, research papers, lecture notes, assignments, tests, projects, audios, videos, and animations. It emerged in this study that library and information science (LIS) departments have some awareness of OER. LIS staff employ OERs in their work. However, LIS students rarely utilise them in their studies. It was discovered that LIS departments experience challenges regarding the awareness of copyright, technological problems, quality assurance, and a lack of understanding OER. It can be concluded, based on the findings, that LIS departments were not fully prepared for the changes (moving to online learning) implemented in response to the pandemic. Thus, the study recommends that there should be improved OER awareness, academic staff training, workshops, adequate ICT infrastructure, and improvement of technical skills to increase the utilisation of these resources in LIS departments. This paper depicts an overview of OER and the involvement and opportunity it holds for library and LIS professionals.

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

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.

Empowering Future Educators: Leveraging Openness by Design when Integrating Technology in Teacher Education Programs

Teacher educators who design and teach educational technology courses have an important role to play in developing thoughtful approaches to using educational technology in teaching and learning through the development of digital literacies that make use of accessible, meaningful, and pedagogically appropriate technology. Several researchers have argued that K-12 teachers are well suited to both adopt and develop aspects of open education by growing awareness of open educational resources and practices. This paper aims to articulate the potential, gaps, and opportunities for teacher educator programs to bring aspects of open education into teacher training. Based upon a small survey with students in a teacher education program in British Columbia Canada, gaps in knowledge among teacher candidates are identified and reflections from participants provides motivation to consider how open educational resources and practices might be further integrated into teacher education programs. Kahle’s (2008) design philosophy approach is recommended and discussed based on the results with a focus on using technology to prioritize openness that aligns well to prominent themes in teacher education programs.

RESEARCH ON EFL STUDENTS’ AWARENESS AND PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS THE UTILIZATION OF OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES IN VIETNAM

The adoption of Open Educational Resources (OER) in higher education has been extensively studied worldwide, but there is a lack of research on OER awareness and usage among university students in Vietnam. This study used both quantitative and qualitative approaches to investigate students' awareness of OER and their perceived benefits and challenges when using OER materials. Participants were students in the English Language Teaching Program at UD-UFLS, who were randomly selected to participate in semi-structured interviews through focus groups. The study collected data from 80 questionnaire responses and interview transcripts. Marcus's Theory of Technology Adoption provided a framework for the investigation of OER use. The study identified several benefits of OER utilization, including increased access to materials, cost-effectiveness, flexibility, and autonomy in learning. However, limited knowledge of OER and a lack of support from faculty were identified as barriers to the use of OER among students at UD-UFLS. The results of this study can inform stakeholders about the potential benefits of OER and encourage the promotion of OER in higher education institutions in Vietnam, including UD-UFLS.

The UNESCO OER Recommendation: Some Observations From the ICDE OER Advocacy Committee

In this article, ambassadors of the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) Open Educational Resources (OER) Advocacy Committee (OERAC) provide a snapshot of regional and global Open Educational Resources (OER) initiatives. This committee has been active since 2017 with membership renewed biannually. The ambassadors work to further OER awareness and understanding, to increase global recognition of OER, and provide policy support for the acceptance and application of OER. This overview highlights national and regional initiatives associated with the UNESCO OER recommendation and the five action areas that include: building capacity and leveraging OER; developing supporting policies; ensuring equity and effectiveness; encouraging sustainable OER model development; and, promoting and facilitating international collaboration. In addition, monitoring and evaluation of the action areas are suggested to be prioritized. This overview is not exhaustive, and much work remains to implement the OER Recommendation at scale, maximize its implementation, connect these recommendations to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), along with the futures of education with a new social contract for education, individuals, and the planet.

Postgraduate Student‘s Open Educational Practices and Hurdles among Faculty of Science at Alagappa University during the Pandemic

This study aims to analyze the practices and hurdles of open educational resources (OER) among faculty of science postgraduate students at Alagappa University, Tamilnadu, India, during the pandemic period. The present study has employed the “questionnaire” as a tool developed by the investigator through a systematic and comprehensive approach in the research design of the questionnaire forms for the survey in various phases. The investigator conducted a pilot study in different Alagappa University, India, departments. The faculty of science students of Alagappa University, Tamilnadu, India, has been selected for the population of the study. A total of 396 postgraduate faculty of science students from the departments chosen at Alagappa University, Tamilnadu, India, were initially collected. However, 30 samples were excluded due to incompleteness. A simple random sampling method was employed to select 366 data for the study. All faculty of science students at Alagappa University, Tamilnadu, India were aware of OER. However, one-fourth of students rarely used OER per day, and only a few students used it monthly. OER was taught to students by faculty at Alagappa University, which created awareness and usage of OER. More announcements or news about OERs being posted on official university websites would increase student awareness of OERs. The significant hurdles shared by students in this study in using OERs are the low quality of OER, limited technology, the OER repository, and the time-consuming to download OER resources.

How Much Do Faculty Think Students Should Pay for Course Materials? A Survey of Instructors’ Use of Current Course Materials and OER Use

Introduction: Campus affordability initiatives promote the adoption of free, low-cost, and open educational materials. Coordinators first need to understand faculty usage of instructional course materials, textbook selection authority, and their price tolerance for, knowledge of, and use of open educational resources (OER). Methods: Faculty at a medium-sized research university in the Midwest were invited to participate in an online survey about their current use of instructional course materials, their knowledge of material cost, and student purchasing habits. The survey had a completion rate of 128 responses, representing all teaching ranks on campus. Results: Instructors assign a wide range of materials and rarely hear from students about their inability to purchase textbooks. The majority find US$100 or more an acceptable price and believe that more than 70% of students purchase all required items. Over half of respondents make the final decision about their materials, and factually accurate content is the top priority when making selections. Eighty percent have some awareness of OER, but OER use is low. Discussion: Response rate was too low to make general assumptions but suggests areas for further exploration and provides base data when working with departments. A faculty member’s selection authority could be limiting OER use and impacting students. Discussions need to take place about an acceptable price for department courses and how faculty decide to require materials. Conclusion: Outreach to campus partners should promote high-quality materials as instructors consider this the most when selecting resources. Further examination of how selection authority impacts OER use and student success need to occur.

Examining the Use of Renewable Assignments in a Teacher Education Course to Build Understanding of Open Educational Resources

Despite a culture of sharing in education, awareness of Open Educational Resources (OER) in teacher education and K-12 education is limited. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to explore graduate-level teacher candidates’ (n = 9) understanding of OER, the value they placed on it, and their self-efficacy in sharing work openly after participating in a renewable assignment. Data collected included a survey, course artifacts, and interviews. Of the nine participants, three openly licensed their work and one shared their resource publicly on OER Commons. Further findings indicate that the participants’ understanding of OER improved and they valued OER as part of their practice in both using and sharing resources. Participants indicated that they lacked teacher self-efficacy about their work for varied reasons. However, after receiving positive student outcomes and feedback from peers, participants were more open to sharing their work publicly. Implications for teacher education are discussed.

Understanding Mathematics Instructors' Perceptions of OER: A Mixed Methods Study

The adoption of open educational resources (OER) in an institutional setting has been shown to reduce the cost of course materials for students, minimize inequities, and allow instructors to customize course materials. This study tapped into instructors’ perspective of limited adoption of OER in a Mathematics department at a land-grant University in the Southeastern United States. A convergent mixed-methods study was conducted to determine how Mathematics instructors used both commercial and open-license course materials, and how OER were perceived within the Mathematics department, as well as to gauge barriers to the adoption of OER. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected by a preliminary survey administered to the Mathematics department and follow-up semi-structured interviews with voluntary participants. The results show that there are numerous barriers that deter Mathematics faculty from the use of OER, including content quality, time concerns, and difficulties customizing content. Additional themes derived from the interviews were that textbook adoption for the lower-level mathematics courses is often determined by a department-level committee, but mathematics instructors have attempted to integrate OER in their teaching. The findings of this study provided practical implications for raising mathematics instructors’ awareness of OER and identifying the action plan for implementing OER in mathematics classrooms.

The Book Costs How Much??? Textbook Cost & OER Awareness in Political Science

Introductory level political science courses are a near-universal experience for undergraduate students in the US. Despite the wide occurrence of introductory courses, and the increasing attention paid to student loan debt, the cost of the teaching materials for introductory courses has largely been ignored in political science. This paper brings together several data sources to show how political science has not been attentive to textbook costs and highlight one possible solution, Open Educational Resources (OER), which has the potential to increase access to political science for all students.

How to Promote the Use of Open Educational Resources (OER) in Higher Education. A Parley with OER Experienced Teachers

The idea of Open Educational Resources (OER) is nowadays widespread in higher education. However, notwithstanding their supposed benefits, the actual adoption of OER in teaching remains low. Due to this absence, various studies have primarily focused on (the lack of) OER awareness among teachers and identified barriers to their use. This article argues that the current debate could benefit from insights from those who are already using OER in their teaching practices. Examining their perspectives can disclose measures that promote the adoption of OER. A mixed-method approach was applied that comprised an expert survey among 32 OER experienced higher education teachers in Germany, which results were then subject to a focus group discussion with 20 of them to validate and differentiate the results. Overall, the results reveal that teachers prefer measures comprising incentives and support rather than obligations. Exemplarily, a commitment to publish all materials as OER was rejected. Instead, a more fundamental transformation was requested from closed to open practices. Therefore, it can be stated that the teachers underlying path is guided by a desire for a shift towards openness in higher education. The measures favoured by the teachers can thus be understood as essential puzzle pieces that contribute to the bigger picture of openness.

In Keeping with Academic Tradition: Copyright ownership in higher education and potential implications for Open Education

Most postsecondary institutions in the United States have a copyright and/or intellectual property (IP) ownership policy, outlining under various circumstances the ownership of copyright and IP generated by faculty, staff, and students (Patel, 1996). As awareness of open educational resources (OER) increases and both faculty and student creation of openly licensed materials builds momentum, a closer examination of copyright ownership policies and what legal and ethical implications they may have for open education is crucial. This study analyzed 109 copyright ownership policies at both public and independent two-year and four-year postsecondary institutions of higher education in the U.S. and surveyed facilitators of open education initiatives (generally librarians and related educators) at these same institutions (N = 51) to gather the perceptions and preferences of their copyright policies with respect to locally-developed OER. The content analysis revealed that while the ownership of scholarly works overwhelmingly belongs to the person who created the work, variables such as unusual support and potential uses affect copyright ownership. These factors can be problematic for faculty who receive support through campus programs to create and share openly licensed instructional materials beyond their institution and are also problematic for students participating in OER-enabled pedagogy coursework and projects. While our survey showed that many in the open community indicate that they have great confidence in their understanding of these policies, that certainty is often pinned to a sense of shared values and unspoken assumptions, rather than clear legal rules or reliable policy.

Awareness and Use of OER by Higher Education Students and Educators within the Graphic Arts Discipline in Greece

In recent years, Open Educational Resources (OER) have gained significant reach globally as a means of facilitating free and open access to educational materials. However, most of the empirical research on the adoption of OER in higher education is conducted in the US, while Europe and other countries, including Greece, fall behind. To that end, this research focused on the awareness and use of OER by higher education students and educators within the Graphic Arts discipline in Greece, to provide evidence regarding the adoption of OER to university administrations and libraries and encouraging their use across campus. The findings suggest that awareness is low, especially among undergraduate students, despite the fact that educators are aware of OER and already share their work as such. This paradox is probably related to students’ vague knowledge of what OER are and how to use them for learning. Therefore, actions are required from educators, university administration and librarians to inform students of the benefits of OER adoption in the educational process as well as to communicate educators’ OER efforts to students. Moreover, participants identified as the biggest obstacle for adopting OER in Graphic Arts the lack of a portal that accommodates OER for this discipline, which lays the groundwork for further research.

Users Awareness and Usage of Open Educational Resources in Central Universities of North India

Technological advancements and open educational resources (OER) together have opened up wider opportunities to access globally created educational resources by anyone across the globe. A paradigm shift has been witnessed in the format of learning resources, their access methods, and the medium of delivery of the knowledge content. The findings of this research reveal that the academic community of central universities (CU) of North India is well aware of open educational resources. E PG Path Shala is the most popular and most widely used, followed by NPTEL and YouTube. The majority of users use OERs as and when they require them. The purpose of using OERs for the majority of respondents is to prepare class notes. Most of the faculty and research scholars use OERs to improve their professional competency. The majority of respondents desired that the institutions should provide free internet/Wi-Fi on campus and should also provide regular updates about OERs.

Open Journal Systems as a Pedagogical Tool to Teach and Learn Scholarly Publishing

Academic libraries play a pivotal role in promoting open science, providing essential services for opening research and education. The library has also a key role in increasing awareness of open educational resources and practices. Editori is an open journal service at the University of Helsinki designed with an educational focus, providing simultaneously a contribution to the rising trend of university-based and library-based publishing. We show how this service, based on Open Journal Systems (OJS), can be applied as a pedagogical tool for teaching scholarly publishing skills to university students. In 2019 Helsinki University Library initiated a pilot project together with the Working Seminar of Doctoral Programme in Philosophy, Arts and Society of the Arts Faculty of the University of Helsinki. We outline expected pedagogical outcomes from the project, relating to scholarly communication skills, report feedback from teachers and students and discuss implications for future service development. In sum, students and teachers found the Editori platform intuitive and easy to use, although the learning curve for course leaders was considered steep in the initial phase.

The Evolution of the Open Textbook Initiative

ABSTRACT In 2018, RMIT University Library was awarded $5,000 fellowship from Libraries of the Australasian Network (LATN) to investigate opportunities in open educational resources (OER). The reasons behind the application were to advocate and increase the use of OER, increase knowledge and expertise in open licencing, and leverage support, advice and appropriate infrastructure from LATN members. The associated benefits to LATN would include the establishment of an OER community of practice and the development of shared tools and resources to facilitate the uptake of open educational resources at home institutions. This is the story of how the Open Textbook Initiative evolved and how a deliberate campaign to increase awareness and adoption of OER was created. Activities included delivering OER awareness sessions, aligning OER textbooks with selected subject areas, delivering an open textbook forum, with local and international speakers, and creating a savings bank for self-reported OER adoptions. The OER textbook hero program was developed to highlight the teaching challenges faced by academic staff and explore their responses. As a result of this activity, there has been greater visibility of OER and the discussion has evolved from textbook affordability to open educational practices.

OER AWARENESS AND USAGE AMONG OPEN AND DISTANCE LEARNING STUDENTS IN SOUTH-WESTERN NIGERIA

This study assessed Open Educational Resources (OER) awareness level and usage among Open and Distance Learning (ODL) students in South-western Nigeria. A descriptive research design was adopted for the study. Three ODL institutions (University of Ibadan Distance Learning Centre, National Open University of Nigeria, Ibadan Study centre and University of Lagos Distance Learning Institute) were purposively selected. A structured questionnaire titled "OER awareness and usage Questionnaire" with a Cronbach alpha coefficient of .954 was used as data collection instrument. Data collected were analysed using frequency count, simple percentages, mean, standard deviation and Pearson Product Moment Correlation. Results of the study revealed that OER awareness among ODL students was on the average while OER usage was high. Lack of orientation on the availability and use of OER and insufficient ICT facilities in the school to access OER materials, amongst others were challenges ODL students faced using OER. It was, therefore, recommended that there should be conscious efforts by ODL institutions to devise means to increase the level of OER awareness among students and sensitise them on the inherent benefits in OER usage.Corresponding author:Sunday Abidemi ItasanmiDOI: 10.24071/ijiet.2020.040216

Opening up to OER: Creating Open Education Awareness on a large campus

ike many academic libraries, the University of Texas Libraries (UT) at UT-Austin is looking for ways to increase awareness of open educational resources (OER) on our campus. Our university does not have an OER mandate from our central campus administration, so the path towards greater awareness hasn’t been straightforward. We hope that sharing our nascent attempts to start this conversation on our campus, which have included starting a working group, offering faculty workshops, and fundraising for an OER librarian position, will help others begin to champion OER on their campuses.