Open Educational Resources Initiatives Research Articles

Open Educational Resources Initiatives In India: An Overview-

Open Educational Resources Initiatives In India: An Overview-

Open self-paced introductory course in nuclear engineering – How to guarantee student learning

Ease of access to various free educational resources on the internet has often the disadvantage of resulting in scattered and fragmented knowledge and skills. Students “pick and choose” what they believe to be relevant for their learning but lack the necessary overview of the field to select those resources adequately and properly. This also applies to nuclear engineering, for which educational materials can be found on the web. Although some Massive Open Online Courses exist in this area, access to those often requires registration, or those courses are given during limited times. Following the Open Educational Resources initiative, there was thus a need to develop educational materials that are truly open and freely accessible to all, while guaranteeing student learning. This paper reports on efforts along those lines, which resulted in the planning, development, implementation and offering of three self-paced open course modules in nuclear engineering. Through a careful course design and use of the various features of a specific educator-to-educator Learning Management System, the students are guided through highly structured course materials capitalizing on a diversity of activities proposed to the students. Through self-assessment competence tests, the students can measure their mastery of the field, ultimately resulting in the delivery of a certificate of successful completion of the modules. This paper also presents, from a teacher’s perspective, some lessons learnt that could benefit other teachers interested in embarking on similar endeavours.

Open educational resources and student performance trajectories: B is achievable, A illusive

ABSTRACT Open Educational Resources (OER) are regularly adopted, yet questions persist about efficacy. Do OER improve student performance? Research produces ambiguous results, because these are derived from small sample sizes, inadequate efficacy measures, and neglect of interactional effects. We examine the effect of OER on student grades using over 500,000 courses, including 72,000 students during four years (2017-2020), from a community college in the Northeast of the USA. Relying on logistic regression models, we test the probability of passing and passing with the highest grade. Students who participate in OER initiatives have higher odds of both. Concurrently, these odds are affected by demographic and academic factors. The odds of passing are higher in OER classes for students in good academic standing, entry level, face-to-face classes. The odds of passing with a high grade are more nuanced. Minoritized students in advanced level, in-person OER courses are more likely to earn a “B.” White students in entry level, online, non-OER courses are more likely to earn an “A.” Overall, OER help most students pass up to a “B.” However, they fall short of helping select students reach an “A.” If OER are to replace traditional textbooks, more efforts are needed for maximal productivity.

Formation and Use of Open Access Resources in University Libraries during the Pandemic and Martial Law in Ukraine

Objective. The research is aimed at revealing the repository as an important tool for storing and promoting open access resources and open educational resources (OER) as a component of open access resources, and the role of the library in these processes. Methods. To achieve the purpose of the research, a complex of scientific methods was applied, including analysis and synthesis, comparison, statistical method and direct study of practical experience through the analysis of library reports. Results. During the research it was summarized the information about open access resources, in particular OER; examples of the national policy of forming repositories were considered; the experience of the formation and use of institutional repositories in the technical universities of Kharkiv and Mykolaiv was studied; the foreign experience of creating and functioning of repositories of the information-library profile was considered. Conclusions. The further direction of the university library in the promotion of the OER initiative is substantiated, namely, convergence of library activities with educational activities in the aspect of creating, planning, and organizing access to open educational electronic resources.

Programmatic Characteristics of Open Education Initiatives at U.S. Post-Secondary Institutions

Although a number of academic research papers showcase the benefits of Open Educational Resources (OER) on student success metrics, the literature still lacks a central collection of knowledge identifying programmatic characteristics between 4 year public, 4 year private, and 2 year community colleges that support these OER initiatives in the United States. To address this gap in the literature and provide evidential statistics that suggest common programmatic characteristics, this quantitative study collected 149 survey responses from program managers of OER-related initiatives at institutions of higher education in the United States. While some previous research on this topic has focused on regional adoption or other aspects of OER usage, this research focuses on how these initiatives are started, funded, governed, and assessed. The results of this study build on existing evidence that OER programs tend to be overseen by committees, are more likely to offer incentive payments for faculty, and offer at least some form of program assessment.

Investigation of open educational resources adoption in higher education using Rogers’ diffusion of innovation theory

Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching, and research resources provided under the Creative Commons (CC) licenses and can be freely used, shared, and modified. However, OER adoption is not widespread, and various barriers remain in the way of its growing emphasis. This article is aimed to investigate OER adoption in higher institutions by using Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) theory. 422 responses to an online survey from faculty are gathered and analyzed, where adaptive attributes of DOI are adopted. The results of the descriptive method confirmed that relative advantage has a positive impact on faculty OER adoption. Indeed, positive impacts of observability and complexity are also shown. Ultimately, the findings from the structural model used, indicated that there is a positive correlation between trialability and respectively complexity and compatibility. Whereas relative advantage of OER impacts positively complexity and negatively compatibility. This study showed that it is not enough that faculty agree on OER benefits for teaching and research, the OER adoption rate must increase. Decision-makers in higher institutions are asked to perform additional OER initiatives to overcome challenges related to OER trialability, complexity, and compatibility.

The role of brokers in cultivating an inter-institutional community around open educational resources in higher education

Brokers are individuals who facilitate transfer of knowledge and resources, and coordinate efforts across boundaries of organizations. They are defined by their role rather than their organizational position. Brokers might be imperative for the formation and maintenance of inter-institutional relationship as they have the responsibility and the necessary structural position to connect otherwise separate groups. In the context of this study, brokers had the role to cultivate an inter-institutional community around open educational resources (OER) by connecting groups of teachers across higher education institutes. OER provide higher education institutes with an aid to face the challenges of improving teaching and learning. Yet most OER users encounter challenges that relate to finding resources that are relevant, up-to-date, and of good quality. Communities could minimize this issue, but many OER initiatives fizzle out as expanding their impact is an arduous task. This qualitative descriptive study draws upon cultural-historical activity theory to understand the complexities associated with the role of brokers in creating sustainable collaboration on OER across 15 higher education institutes in the Netherlands. Data was collected from project documents, process reports, reflections reports, and a retrospective focus group. The findings show that brokers engaged in a wide variety of actions but that a small-scale, personal, and content-oriented approach to encourage teachers to engage with the OER repository and the online community was perceived as the most valuable. Brokers also experienced conflicts due to the demanding context they were operating in, the ambiguity of their role, and the organizational constraints they were confronted with. Practical implications refer to supporting higher education institutes that wish to initiate sustainable collaboration across institutes.

Are we there yet? A systematic literature review of Open Educational Resources in Africa: A combined content and bibliometric analysis.

Although several studies have been conducted to summarize the progress of open educational resources (OER) in specific regions, only a limited number of studies summarize OER in Africa. Therefore, this paper presents a systematic literature review to explore trends, themes, and patterns in this emerging area of study, using content and bibliometric analysis. Findings indicated three major strands of OER research in Africa: (1) OER adoption is only limited to specific African countries, calling for more research and collaboration between African countries in this field to ensure educational equity; (2) most of the OER initiatives in Africa have focused on the creation process and neglected other important perspectives, such as dissemination and open educational practices (OEP) using OER; and (3) on top of the typical challenges for OER adoption (e.g., infrastructure), other personal challenges were identified within the African context, including culture, language, and personality. The findings of this study suggest that more initiatives and cross-collaborations with African and non-African countries in the field of OER are needed to facilitate OER adoption in the region. Additionally, it is suggested that researchers and practitioners should consider individual differences, such as language, personality and culture, when promoting and designing OER for different African countries. Finally, the findings can promote social justice by providing insights and future research paths that different stakeholders (e.g., policy makers, educators, practitioners, etc.) should focus on to promote OER in Africa.

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.

Lagniappe: Open Educational Resources Initiatives among North Carolina’s Community Colleges

This article describes early cooperative efforts among North Carolina's Community Colleges to provide open educational resources for campus programs and encourage their adoption.

OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES: AN OVERVIEW

This paper focuses on historical background and the emergence of the concept of Open Educational Resources. The paper discusses the its definitions, types and formats of OER. The copyright and licensing consideration for OER are alsodiscussed. Further, the paper highlights the advantages and disadvantages of OERs. Some important Open Educational Resource initiatives in India is listed.

Affording Access: Pathways to Reducing Textbook Costs

After piloting an Open Educational Resources (OER) grant program, librarians from the University of Scranton’s Weinberg Memorial Library OER Committee conducted a survey of librarians about the inclusion of library resources in OER initiatives. The survey examined if institutions defined library resources as OER, why libraries chose not to include library resources, and, if included, the types of library-licensed or purchased content. The survey found that most (18 of 27) respondents did not include OER and library resources together and, of the institutions that did, a majority (5 of 9) used licensed library resources in addition to open educational and open access resources. The conclusion of this article looks at the pilot grant program and the OER Committee’s decision to realign and rebrand the grant in light of the survey results.

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.

Sustaining Open Educational Resources (OER) initiatives in Nigerian Universities

ABSTRACT Open educational resources (OERs) have increased in popularity and are becoming an important method of providing access to, and enhancing, the teaching and learning experience for both lecturers and students. Despite their popularity, approaches that may work best for sustaining OER initiatives in Nigerian universities are still evolving in Library and Information Science (LIS) literature. Considering the current budget climate for higher education in Nigeria, a framework that is tended towards the sustainability of OER needs to be developed. This article examines opportunities and threats surrounding OER, as well as highlighting major players in the OER landscape. A mixed method approach consisting of a survey and focus groups was used to gather both qualitative and quantitative information from academics and librarians at selected universities in Nigeria, who participated in the Nigerian Universities Commission’s (NUC) OER ranking exercise. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis respectively. While this paper provides recommendations based on findings on one hand, it also proffers suggestions for other libraries interested in growing OER initiatives focusing on development, implementation and assessment for universities operating with limited resources.

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.

Supporting Students: OER and Textbook Affordability Initiatives at a Mid-Sized University

ABSTRACT In 2018, the Alabama Commission on Higher Education (ACHE) kicked off a statewide program to increase awareness and adoption of Open Educational Resources (OER) at colleges and universities. Spurred by the efforts of ACHE, the University of North Alabama committed to OER and textbook affordability programs and included OER adoption as a key aspiration in their 2019–2024 strategic plan, Roaring with Excellence. With support from the president and provost of the university, Collier Library adopted strategic purchasing initiatives, including database purchases to support specific courses as well as purchasing reserve copies of textbooks for high-enrollment, required classes. In addition, the scholarly communications librarian became a founding member of the OER working group on campus. This group’s mission is to direct efforts for increasing faculty awareness and adoption of OER. This presentation will discuss the structure of each of these programs from initial idea to implementation. Included will be discussions of assessment of faculty and student awareness, development of an OER stipend program, starting a textbook purchasing program, promotion of efforts, funding, and future goals.

OER Initiatives at Liberal Arts Colleges: Building Support at Three Small, Private Institutions

INTRODUCTION Liberal arts colleges (LAC) are arguably ideal environments for the use of open educational resources (OER) given their shared emphasis on innovative pedagogy and individualized learning. However, library-led OER initiatives at LAC have just started to make progress. LAC librarians have very few models or sources of advice to which they can turn when planning OER initiatives suitable to their particular institutional context. DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAMS In this article, librarians describe their experience promoting and supporting OER usage at three small, private LAC, each at a different stage in developing formal programs to assist faculty interested in adopting and creating OER. The authors discuss strategies employed, obstacles encountered, and lessons learned, providing practical advice for achieving OER success in the LAC environment. NEXT STEPS The authors believe practical advice for the LAC context will benefit librarians at various stages of OER program implementation.

Factors Influencing the Intention to Use Open Educational Resources of Students at Universities in Economics and Business Administration in Vietnam

The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors influencing the intention to use Open Educational Resources (OER) of students at universities in Economics and Business Administration in Vietnam. The results showed that Effort Expectancy, Performance Expectancy, Lecturer Influence, and Friend Influence were the factors had higher impact on the intention to use OER of students than other factors namely School Influence and Facilitating Conditions. Furthermore, regression analysis also pointed out that there were no relationship between control variables and students’ intention to use OER. Finally, the paper also proposed several recommendations on how to implement Open Educational Resources initiatives effectively at higher education institutions in Vietnam. Keywords: Intention to Use, Open Educational Resources, Universities in Vietnam. DOI: 10.7176/JESD/11-6-10 Publication date: March 31 st 2020

It’s About Time

The price of textbooks and other learning materials hinder students’ ability to pursue higher education. Open educational resources (OER) provide one answer to this problem. Though well established in STEM disciplines, OER are less common in art history and other arts courses. The College Art Association (CAA) and the Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA) hosted panels on OER at their 2019 annual conferences. This article summarizes those panels and analyzes the speakers’ experiences within the context of OER initiatives in higher education.[This article is an expansion of conference sessions at the College Art Association conference held in New York, New York, in February 2019, and the ARLIS/NA conference held in Salt Lake City, Utah, March 2019.]

Critical Review: Professional Development Programs to Face Open Educational Resources in Indonesia

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in education has become an important issue in education reform in many countries such as Hong Kong, Singapore, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Education reform is needed to give skill set of the 21st century to students. Indonesian government has begun implementing ICT in education since 2002 marked by the establishment of the Indonesian Telematics Coordinating Team (TKTI). Although the development of ICT is still far away compared to Hong Kong and Singapore, ICT development is on the right track. In 2013, Indonesia began to initiate Open Educational Resources (OER) and teacher training on ICT. Open educational resources are digitized materials that can be freely accessed by those who want to teach, learn, or research. The OER initiatives have many challenges ahead, one of them is the development of the OER community involving all teachers in Indonesia. The gap in education quality between islands in Indonesia is added with the differences of education infrastructure and education resources. Therefore, Indonesia must create personalized professional development program based on the need of each island. The Indonesia government could initiate the OER consortium to unite all teachers to build a knowledge society. The methods of creating a professional development program could be deducted from the U.S. which has many districts and gap in education quality between states. The purpose of this paper is to develop a professional development program in creating the OER community in Indonesia. This paper tries to investigate what kind of professional development that has been set in, analyze the problems that would likely to occur, and give some solutions.