There’s a lot of hype and plenty of expectations in
higher education surrounding open educational resources (OER). Those
expectations are one of the hurdles that OERs must overcome.
“OER should be a source of inspiration for innovation
and creativity in the world of college course materials,” Brian Jacobs,
president of the virtual bookstore Akadémos, wrote in an
article in Campus Technology. “When that happens, the sky will be the limit for the OER
movement.”
Jacobs said OERs must become “as good or better” than
content now being commercially produced in order to gain acceptance. But first,
faculty must learn how to develop open course materials and get past doubts
about the quality of free resources.
He also said institutional processes and a lack of tools to help faculty find and assess the materials must be changed or developed from scratch.
“It’s not enough for institutions, foundations, and
even the federal government to produce these open resources,” Jacobs said.
“There has to be a way for the OERs to be discovered, evaluated, and used
effectively in the classroom.”
