Creation Of Open Educational Resources Research Articles

Faculty Incentive Programs for Open Educational Resources: A Scoping Review

This scoping review examines the characteristics and reported outcomes of faculty incentive programs used to promote the adoption, adaptation, or creation of Open Educational Resources (OER) by academic libraries at higher education institutions. The study uses the PRISMA protocol for scoping reviews. The authors reviewed 1901 records: 1499 were from database searches and 402 from the grey literature. Twenty-three records met the inclusion criteria for this study. This study aims to contribute useful insights to academic library administrators for the development of future OER faculty incentive programs.

Academic Path Linked to Research and Extension: The Experience of the Remote Experimentation Laboratory (Rexlab) of The Federal University of Santa Catarina

Objective: This study aims to investigate the trajectory and contributions of the Remote Experimentation Laboratory (RExLab) over its 27 years of existence, focusing on the integration of technology in education and its relevance to teaching and learning. Theoretical Framework: RExLab was founded in 1997 with the aim of promoting digital inclusion and democratization of science education through the provision of Remote Laboratories. Over the years, the research group has added more resources to its projects, such as the integration of technologies in education, teacher training, and the creation of Open Educational Resources (OER), receiving several awards and distinctions along the way. Method: The research adopted a documentary and bibliographical approach, tracking the evolution and impact of RExLab from its inception to the present moment. Data collection was conducted through the analysis of documents and publications related to RExLab. Results and Discussion: The results highlight RExLab's contributions to the integration of technology in education, demonstrating its role in generating practical knowledge to solve specific problems and in understanding the experiences and perceptions related to technology in education. The discussion contextualizes these results in light of the theoretical framework, emphasizing the importance of RExLab for teaching and learning. Research Implications: This research reflects on how RExLab can continue to be an ally in the integration of technology in education, even in the face of future challenges. Its implications encompass both the field of education and applied research. Originality/Value: This study contributes to the literature by highlighting the importance of RExLab as a successful model in the integration of technology in education over time. Its relevance lies in the emphasis on the practical application of research and in promoting equality through education.

Bridging the Divide: Indigenous Language Integration in Open Educational Resource Accessibility

The use of information resources is dependent on their accessibility by users. The accessibility of information has attracted the attention of researchers from different parts of the world. However, Open Educational Resources (OERs) accessibility issues have not been adequately addressed in South Africa. This article explores the use of indigenous languages in the development and adaptation of OERs for accessibility at the University of South Africa. A total of 108 OERs were available for selection on UnisaIR. Ten of the 108 OERs were purposefully selected. Exploring and analysing OER development at Unisa took a qualitative and exploratory approach. This article presents the findings of a thematic analysis that was used to identify dominant themes in OER. The findings highlight two main concerns that underpin OER operations at Unisa: 1) translation as a method of OER creation and/or adaptation; and 2) deficiency of OER creation in indigenous languages. Though using indigenous languages in the construction of OERs can help to address the accessibility gap in the supply of teaching and learning resources, this aspect of accessibility as a discourse in the OER space has yet to be explored extensively. It is a matter of concern that many OERs at Unisa are written only in English. To address the gap in accessibility of OERs in the South African context, the following three language-related factors should support the creation of OERs: development in local languages, linguistic pluralism, and translation into indigenous languages.

Evaluation of University Websites in Nigeria using the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

Providing accessible open educational resources (OER) is essential for users with impairments to access university resources. To achieve this, web content accessibility guidelines (WCAG) have been developed. In this study, we used the AChecker web accessibility evaluation tool to assess the content of 42 federal university websites in Nigeria and recorded their conformance level to the WCAG. The findings show that at Level A (Minimal Compliance), there were 855 known problems, 55 likely problems, and 7536 potential problems. At Level AA (Acceptable Compliance), 2516 known problems, 58 likely problems, and 15537 potential problems were identified. At Level AAA (Optimal Compliance), 2679 known problems were found, while there were no likely problems, and 16772 potential problems. The results indicated that most websites did not conform to the accessibility guidelines, highlighting the need for educational institutions to comply with WCAG2.1 content standard. The study recommends introducing accessibility training courses in web design and development to ensure effective OER creation for people with diverse abilities. Furthermore, enforcing the implementation of these guidelines by flagging down non-compliant educational websites was suggested. There is a problem of lack of accessibility in federal university websites in Nigeria, leading to unequal access to web content for users with varying abilities. The study aimed to identify aspects of the websites where accessibility needs to be improved and promote diversity and inclusiveness for users with different abilities to have equal access to web content.

Transformative Curriculum Design through Open Educational Resource Creation

At their best, open educational resources (OER) are known to foster equity, accessibility, and flexibility for users and include multiple perspectives from a collaborative community for creators and contributors (Hylén, 2006). Therefore, when planning our university’s first offering of a week-long course (re)design workshop (based on Saroyan & Amundsen, 2004), recognizing we had been primarily using materials from other post-secondary institutions, we opted to create resources specific to our university through a one-day facilitated writing sprint. Moving beyond offering information simply for course design, we decided to create an OER that encompasses three main areas of curriculum planning and design: composition, mapping, and alignment of learning outcomes; choice and alignment of instructional strategies and learning activities; and alignment of outcomes assessment at all levels. During the OER content development stage, the group also recognized the opportunity to position the OER, named CRICKET, as a community building tool, focusing on learning re-design. The site not only hosts curriculum planning and design information, it also features an OER authoring tool that invites participants to share their work with their peers. Through our OER creation process, we determined that OER have the potential to transform not only how information is disseminated and used, but also how it is created.

Guidelines: The Do's, Don'ts and Don't Knows of Creating Open Educational Resources.

In medical education, there is a growing global demand for Open Educational Resources (OERs). However, OER creators are challenged by a lack of uniform standards. In this guideline, the authors curated the literature on how to produce OERs for medical education with practical guidance on the Do's, Don'ts and Don't Knows for OER creation in order to improve the impact and quality of OERs in medical education. We conducted a rapid literature review by searching OVID MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Central database using keywords "open educational resources" and "OER". The search was supplemented by hand searching the identified articles' references. We organized included articles by theme and extracted relevant content. Lastly, we developed recommendations via an iterative process of peer review and discussion: evidence-based best practices were designated Do's and Don'ts while gaps were designated Don't Knows. We used a consensus process to quantify evidentiary strength. The authors performed full text analysis of 81 eligible studies. A total of 15 Do's, Don't, and Don't Knows guidelines were compiled and presented alongside relevant evidence about OERs. OERs can add value for medical educators and their learners, both as tools for expanding teaching opportunities and for promoting medical education scholarship. This summary should guide OER creators in producing high-quality resources and pursuing future research where best practices are lacking.

The Role of Teamwork in the Creation of Open Educational Resources for Closing SDG-Related Knowledge Gaps

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with their interconnected targets can only be achieved if their interactions are seriously taken into consideration. Education for sustainability is crucial for raising awareness of different stakeholders about the SDGs and their interactions. The paper discusses how teamwork creation of Open Educational Resources (OER), with their specific benefits, can contribute to closing knowledge gaps about the SDGs and their interactions. The example of OE4BW (Open Education for a Better World) international mentoring program and its energy-related hub, called the SDG7 Hub is presented and discussed, and its future development, targeting the creation of OER to close the SDG7-related knowledge gaps, is suggested. The resulting guidelines are generalized to provide a further increase of OER’s contribution to the achievement of SDGs.

Potential ethical problems in the creation of open educational resources through virtual spaces in academia

The concept of open educational resources (OER) is an emerging phenomenon that encourages modern teaching and learning in the higher education sector. Although many institutions are promoting the adoption and creation of OER, they are still lacking in the policies and development guidelines related to the creation. This could perpetrate the potential ethical problems that affect the development of OER. This study aimed to find out ethical procedures and peer-review processes associated with the adoption and development of OER. A qualitative approach was used to gather data from OER developers in the academic space. Structuration theory was considered the main theoretical underpinning of this study. The commonly used big data virtual spaces for OER, such as social media and learning management systems (LMS), were identified. The study articulates three major causalities of OER's ethical problems, as follows: non-compliance to openness, transactional purchases of OER, non-incentives for developers. Also, the scholars' ideas and OER outputs cannot be undermined; however, there is a need for a peer-review process in the creation of OER. Institutions are expected to formulate the standards and requirements to be followed in the creation of OER because OER contributes to the rising of big data in the education domains. The study recommends that OER be developed for a specific purpose and aligned with the specific subject content, and the resource must be precise and peer reviewed for quality measures.

Creation of open educational resources during educational practice by means of cloud technologies

Practical training is an integral part of the professional training of future teachers. During the practical training, trainees not only implement their own theoretical training in practice, but also increase the level of information competence. The rapid use of e-learning resources for distance learning during epidemiological constraints caused by biological threats poses new challenges to education in the availability of e-learning resources. The development of electronic educational resources is a difficult task, one of the ways to solve it is to involve future teachers in this process during the initial practice. The experiment of creating open educational resources by means of cloud technologies during the training practice showed the probability of solving this problem. Restrictions in direct contact between participants in the experiment, both due to epidemiological restrictions and through practical training in various educational institutions, are solved through the use of cloud technologies. The latter provides an opportunity to easily disseminate developed open educational resources and disseminate best practices in creating educational content.

Achieving Universal Digital Literacy through Universal Design for Learning in Open Educational Resources

Over the years, the Spanish education authorities have proposed various measures, such as the creation of Open Educational Resources (OERs), to guarantee the inclusion of all students in the education system. However, the literature on this topic indicates the persistence of certain challenges relating to the accessibility of OERs. In this regard, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is presented as a possible solution to this problem as it advocates the personalisation of learning and facilitates the achievement of universal digital literacy. This study seeks to investigate the accessibility of OERs’ design for those early stages in education that are managed by the Spanish education authorities. To this end, a guide of indicators has been designed to assess OERs in accordance with the principles of UDL. The sample is made up of 67 OERs, selectively based on a number of requirements. This study uses a quantitative and exploratory research methodology for the analysis of the data obtained. The main findings highlight the shortcomings of OERs in terms of accessibility, adaptability and universality, demonstrating that OERs do not respond to the principles of UDL.

Sustainable development of education - attitudes of Polish academics towards OER

The emergence of the Internet has radically changed the possibilities for disseminating scientific knowledge and made open resources available to a wide audience. Open resources are part of the trend of sustainable development, not only closing the gap in the availability of knowledge but also actively supporting the ideas of lifelong learning. Open resources are also an opportunity to develop and promote an educational unit. It is extremely important to be aware of the changes, as, despite the development of information and communication technologies and the growing popularity of open educational resources, they are still at an early stage of development in the Polish academic environment. This article aims to review the attitudes of the research and teaching staff of the largest Polish academic centres towards open educational resources. The study analysed the level of awareness of researchers and educators about open educational resources and presented the main barriers to their creation. It also highlighted efforts to develop open educational resources (OER) and outlined future research directions. The article raises the issue of sustainable education, which is part of the assumptions of the programme "Transforming our world. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development" implemented by the United Nations. Furthermore, it is assumed that the active participation of educational units in the creation of open educational resources can contribute to the development of sustainable education, responding to socio-economic needs.

Will Academic Library Publishing Break OER? A Diffusion of Innovations Study

Academic libraries are among the organizations advocating for open educational resources (OER), often playing a key campus role in education, advocacy, and support of their creation and publication. Publication of OER resonates with the role of the academic library. Because “incongruence in perceptions” (Chtena 2019: 24) can cause difficulties and unforeseen challenges with implementation and use of OER, organizations involved in OER initiatives need familiarity with how OER and organizational values align. The goal of this exploration was to investigate how academic libraries enact academic library publishing programs and the ramification that has in the diffusion process of OER in higher education. Data collected in this single case study research project was analyzed through the lens of Diffusion of Innovations Theory. The findings from the study suggest that, if academic libraries are to enact the creation and publication of OER in ways appropriate to their conception, those involved will need to be intentional about ensuring enactment of the values foundational to OER. Future suggested research includes a multiple-case study comparative research study looking at academic library publication of OER, exploration of how opinion leaders and attributes of innovations impact academic library publication of OER, and investigation into the impact of organizational structure on the diffusion of OER creation and publication.

Teaching Note—Adopting, Adapting, and Creating Open Textbooks: A Brief Guide for Faculty

ABSTRACT Across North America, the open education movement has blossomed in the past 10 years, with a majority of institutions of higher education employing open textbooks in at least one course. Unfortunately, social work lags behind other disciplines in the adoption, adaptation, and creation of open educational resources. This teaching note offers practical advice for faculty exploring open education based on the lessons learned from the author’s two open textbook projects for undergraduate and graduate social work research methods. As universities, states, and international bodies increase funding for open education projects, the field of social work should demonstrate its commitment to equity, inclusion, and justice by leading these efforts within our classrooms, discipline, and institutions.

Opening up Educational Practices through Faculty, Librarian, and Student Collaboration in OER Creation: Moving from Labor-intensive to Supervisory Involvement

This article presents a case study for transitioning library-led open-educational resources (OER) initiatives away from labor-intensive activities to a model where library personnel focus on project management responsibilities. This shift from labour-intensive activities, such as workshops and training sessions, led to more collaborative partnerships with faculty and students to produce OER projects. In particular, we focus on labour implications for the various stakeholders involved and the sustainability of these initiatives. We describe several initiatives undertaken by the Ohio University Libraries to encourage open educational resource adoptions and projects, including a grant-funded initiative to provide support services for faculty creating OER. That funding, which was awarded to enhance undergraduate education, has been used to support the development of five OER projects that have directly involved students in the creation of those materials. We provide an overview of the various ways in which students have become involved in OER creation in partnership with faculty and librarians and discuss the impact these partnerships have had on student-faculty-librarian relationships and student engagement. Among these projects are an Hispanic linguistics open textbook created using only student-authored texts, student-generated test banks to accompany existing OER materials for a large-enrollment art history course, and several other projects in which hired student assistants are helping faculty to develop content for open textbooks. This article helps to address a gap in the literature by providing transparency regarding the personnel, costs, and workflow for Ohio University Libraries’ OER initiatives and addressing potential areas of concern surrounding student labour.

Faculty Survey on OER: Perceptions, Behaviors, and Implications for Library Practice

INTRODUCTION The Mary Couts Burnett Library at Texas Christian University (TCU) seeks to learn more about university faculty members’ perceptions and behaviors related to open educational resources (OER), and to identify one or more initiatives to increase adoption of OER at the university. METHODS The researchers sent a survey to all university faculty using Qualtrics™, and 104 persons responded. The survey used a combination of multiple-choice and free-text questions, and covered OER adoption and creation by faculty members, their perceptions of OER, and recommendations related to possible initiatives to increase OER interest. RESULTS Among respondents, almost half used OER either currently or in the past, while a fifth created their own OER. When comparing OER to traditional textbooks in terms of being scholarly, the majority indicated that OER and traditional textbooks were about the same level, but a quarter of faculty indicated that traditional textbooks were more scholarly. When asked about initiatives the library could pursue to increase faculty OER creation, the leading responses included financial support of faculty using OER, along with training opportunities. DISCUSSION The researchers were pleased to see that many faculty have used OER either currently or in the past, and that many had positive views surrounding OER. The researchers now have data that support the establishment of OER initiatives. CONCLUSION The survey informs the TCU Library and academic libraries in general. Two initiatives that libraries should consider are establishing an OER training program for faculty and developing a grant program to support faculty members who are adopting or creating OER. Libraries should collaborate with other units on campus such as the center for teaching excellence or the faculty senate.

The School Librarian's Role in the Adoption of Open Textbooks

Trends in adopting open educational resources (OER) in K-12 schools have opened numerous opportunities for schools to utilize their school librarians in new roles. The purpose of this study is to examine if schools are using their school librarians during the transition to OER use and if so, in what capacity. If not, why? In this study we used Rogers' (2003) diffusion of innovation theory, which describes the importance of change agents in the successful adoption of an innovation. We used thematic analysis and descriptive statistics to examine the research questions. Participants include a sample of representatives from school districts, which have signed on to be a #GoOpen school. Our results show that less than half of the schools use their school librarians in the OER creation and adoption process, but many participants acknowledgeschool librarians possessed a specialized skill set which could be beneficial in future OER creation projects.

EurOP2E \u2013 the European Open Platform for Prescribing Education, a consensus study among clinical pharmacology and therapeutics teachers

PurposeSharing and developing digital educational resources and open educational resources has been proposed as a way to harmonize and improve clinical pharmacology and therapeutics (CPT) education in European medical schools. Previous research, however, has shown that there are barriers to the adoption and implementation of open educational resources. The aim of this study was to determine perceived opportunities and barriers to the use and creation of open educational resources among European CPT teachers and possible solutions for these barriers.MethodsCPT teachers of British and EU medical schools completed an online survey. Opportunities and challenges were identified by thematic analyses and subsequently discussed in an international consensus meeting.ResultsData from 99 CPT teachers from 95 medical schools were analysed. Thirty teachers (30.3%) shared or collaboratively produced digital educational resources. All teachers foresaw opportunities in the more active use of open educational resources, including improving the quality of their teaching. The challenges reported were language barriers, local differences, lack of time, technological issues, difficulties with quality management, and copyright restrictions. Practical solutions for these challenges were discussed and include a peer review system, clear indexing, and use of copyright licenses that permit adaptation of resources.ConclusionKey challenges to making greater use of CPT open educational resources are a limited applicability of such resources due to language and local differences and quality concerns. These challenges may be resolved by relatively simple measures, such as allowing adaptation and translation of resources and a peer review system.

Uso de repositórios de recursos educacionais abertos nas práticas pedagógicas: uma revisão sistemática

The creation of Open Educational Resources (OER) has as its basic principle to provide democratic access to knowledge. To achieve this purpose, OER should be made available in Learning Object Repositories (LOR), and they must have open access. The objective of this research is to identify the use of LOR in pedagogical practices and the support material to be an OER. Data were collected from scientific articles, published from 2014 to 2018, available from the Web of Science, Scopus, DOAJ, ERIC, Redalyc and in institutional repositories of scientific publications made available in Brazil and Spain. The search consisted in identifying articles that reported proposals for teaching-learning practices, using open access resources and repositories. Applying the systematic review methods, 1,201 publications were initially retrieved, and from this list, 42 articles were selected for reading and analysis, as they present relevant content with the theme of this research. It was possible to identify teaching initiatives using OER, practices with the objective of acquiring technological knowledge and using it to promote participatory and collaborative learning with the use of OER. However, it was not possible to identify consolidated practices in the publications, as the OERs presented were not available for free use and, therefore, distanced themselves from the concept of open access.

Human-Centered Design as an Approach to Create Open Educational Resources

Open educational resources (OER) play an important role in teaching and learning, especially in lifelong learning. Educational resources should be created in a way that addresses lifelong learners’ needs. Human-centered design (HCD) is a design perspective and an iterative process that involves users in all phases of the process. Thus, an HCD approach can provide relevant advantages when creating OER for lifelong learning. This work presents the Design Toolkit as a case study of digital open educational contents for design education that has been created following an HCD process. The orientation of the Design Toolkit is to provide users OER in a tool format rather than in a traditional manner. The main goal of this research is to contribute to the understanding of how HCD impacts OER creation. The research focuses on teachers, assessing the Design Toolkit content organization and analyzing teacher adoption and usage of the resources. The HCD approach fosters teachers’ satisfaction, promotes OER adoption and provides new design requirements for a future iteration of the HCD process. The results show that designing OER involving users through an HCD approach sets the focus adequately on their needs and limitations. Teachers feel satisfied with the Design Toolkit, fostering the adoption of OER in different educational contexts. Finally, users’ involvement in the whole HCD process points out design and educational requirements for future work.

“Open”-ing Up Courses for Diversity and Deeper Learning

Universities increasingly require students to enroll in diversity coursework, which is positively associated with a range of academic and social outcomes and psychological wellbeing. However, these courses can be challenging for both students and faculty to navigate. For institutions to effectively engage diversity on campus, attention must be paid to pedagogical and curricular transformation—not only in stand-alone diversity classes, but in major-specific coursework as well. This conceptual paper explores the benefits of using open educational resources (OER) and open educational practices (OEP), in combination with the Hewlett Foundation’s Deeper Learning framework and empathic scaffolding, in promoting social justice and equity in courses by diversifying curricular content and enhancing students’ learning and skill development. Pedagogical and curricular examples from instructors’ diversity initiatives in two academic fields, drawing from a larger study on OER creation and adoption, are shared as a potential reference point for faculty interested in implementing similar practices.