The use of open educational resources (OER) is becoming
more popular each year, but faculty still trail behind in awareness. Babson
Survey Research Group reported in a new study that 25% of faculty are either aware or very aware of OER, up from 20% a year
ago, but 58% remained unaware or didn’t know much about open content.
Another 17% of faculty said they were aware of OER but
weren’t sure how to use them. More than 3,000 teaching faculty responded to the
survey for the report Opening the Textbook: Education Resources in U.S. HigherEducation 2015-16.
The study found that instructors of large-enrollment,
introductory-level classes adopted OER at twice the rate (10%) of other faculty
members. Nearly 50% of the respondents said they felt there weren’t enough OER
resources for the subject they taught and 45% cited the absence of comprehensive
catalogs of the resources, but 30% said they would consider using OER in the
future.
“There is potential for growth for OER, as
many faculty report that they are willing to try these resources,” said Jeff
Seaman, co-author of the report. “However, while faculty cite cost to the
students more than any other factor in selecting educational materials,
concerns about the time and effort it takes to find and evaluate these
materials remain a significant barrier to wider adoption.”
