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Review of OER Literature
Student Perceptions
Watson, Domizi, and Clouser (2017) surveyed students for their experiences using OpenStax OER textbooks and found students valued the quality, cost, and mobility, but one student in particular did not like the fact that digital books couldn’t be written on for personal notes. Cooney (2017) found similar student perceptions as Watson et al. (2017) with students reporting a similar level of quality between OERs and traditional textbooks, but had issues with usability or accessibility of technology. Morales and Baker (2018) looked into perceptions of secondary students after using an open science textbook and found students felt their experiences with open textbooks were positive, changed the way they learn, are more motivated to study using an OER compared to traditional closed textbooks, and overall satisfied with the quality of the OER materials.
Faculty Perceptions
Watson, Domizi, and Clouser (2017) found faculty felt OpenStax, compared to other textbooks, was lacking in supplemental resources such as chapter review questions, test banks, or PowerPoints, and felt that it would be difficult to create courses around OpenStax if they did not already have prior resources. Kaufman and Campana (2019) looked into the challenges facing the adoption of OERs. Some areas to focus on include dead links over time, data and privacy issues, alignment or changes to educational standards, and copyright issues. Belikov and Bodily (2016) collected data on faculty perceptions and compiled them into ten general categories. Challenges include the lack of awareness about OERs including what they are, difficulty discovering OERs, and confusing OERs with other digital resources. Positives include student cost benefits, and the ability to improve OERs over time for pedagogical benefits.
Impacts on Learning
Kersey (2019) collected quantitative data of student achievement in a post-secondary calculus course and found that students who used OERs had a higher first exam score due to earlier access to online homework during the semester, but students who used closed resources had higher final exam scores; this difference was attributed to the closed resource’s help resources and overall experience with homework questions. Grewe and Davis (2017) found a positive correlation between OER use and student achievement but felt further, more rigorous study is needed. Venegas Muggli and Westermann (2019) studied the use of KhanAcademy with a teacher-authored open textbook in a Chilean first-year math course found the resources had a positive impact on student achievement, but had a negative impact on student attendance. Hilton, Fischer, Wiley, and Linda (2016) found OER use improved course throughput rates, by decreasing drop and withdrawal rates while increasing student achievement compared to traditional textbooks. They suggest the reduced cost and increased academic success attributed with OERs are promising for higher education. Blomgren (2018) states the use of OERs mirrors the teaching culture of K-12, as teachers typically support and take advantage of the sharing of activities and resources. Benefits of sharing open resources include cost-savings, user-generated content, creativity, and contextualized learning opportunities.
Takeaways for OER Room
As educators, we are aware that, while OERs are beneficial to students by increasing achievement, decreasing student and school cost, and improving access and mobility of resources, there is a barrier to entry. OERs are difficult to find and the quality of OERs have to be equal or better than traditional closed resources in order to have positive benefits on student achievement. Thus, we aim to have this site act as a repository of quality, educator-reviewed OERs to diminish the entry barrier into open education.
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