Why Use OER?

Why Do Educators Use OER?

The worldwide OER movement is rooted in the human right to access high-quality education. This shift in educational practice is not just about cost savings and easy access to openly licensed content; it’s about participation and co-creation. OER offers opportunities for systemic change in teaching and learning content through engaging educators in new participatory processes and effective technologies for engaging with learning.

There are many reasons to use OER. Here are just a few:

  • Affordable — students save money
  • Flexible — redistribute and reuse content
  • Customizable — revise and remix
  • Up-to-date — add the latest research, events, information
  • Accessible — can be more accessible than print copies
  • Beneficial to all — knowledge can be freely and widely distributed around the world
  • Immediately available online — students don't have to wait to gain access to material

Here is some more detailed information from SPARC Links to an external site.:

Students learn more when they have access to quality materials. The rapidly rising cost of textbooks in higher education has left many students without access to the materials they need to succeed. Studies on OER usage show Links to an external site. that students who use OER do as well or better than those using traditional materials, since they have easy access to the content starting day one of the course. Students in courses that use OER are also less likely to drop or withdraw from the course.

Textbook costs should not be a barrier to education. The price of textbooks has skyrocketed more than three times the rate of inflation for decades. College students face steep price tags that can top $200 per book, and K-12 schools use books many years out of date because they are too expensive to replace. Using OER solves this problem because the material is free online, affordable in print, and can be saved forever. Resources that would otherwise go to purchasing textbooks can be redirected toward technology, improving instruction, or reducing debt.

Students learn more when they have access to quality materials. The rapidly rising cost of textbooks in higher education has left many students without access to the materials they need to succeed. Studies on OER usage show that students who use OER do as well or better than those using traditional materials, since they have easy access to the content starting day one of the course. Students in courses that use OER are also less likely to drop or withdraw from the course.

Technology holds boundless potential to improve teaching and learning. Open Education ensures that teachers, learners, and institutions can fully explore this potential. Imagine an American History textbook with the latest news from the current election, or a math tutorial that incorporates local landmarks into word problems. Imagine a lecture attended by hundreds of thousands of people across the globe, or a peer-to-peer exchange between Canadian students learning Mandarin with Chinese students learning English. All of this and more is possible when the pathways for technology in education are fully open.

Better education means a better future. Education is the key to advancing society’s greatest goals, from building a strong economy to leading healthy lives. By increasing access to education and creating a platform for more effective teaching and learning, Open Education benefits us all.

Optional Student Impact Videos

As one of the goals of the OERI Student Impact Project Links to an external site., the team of 10 colleges created campus-based videos highlighting student experiences with textbook costs and ZTC/OER classes. These videos, captured and edited in various ways, showcase the voices of California Community College students in ZTC/OER classes. The pilot colleges were given full artistic licenses to create these videos using the video and production tools they had. 

Attributions