1. Open Educational Resources (OER’s) in Higher Education
Kari Jacobs
Liberty University

2. What is an OER?
OER’s are free and open resources available for teachers, students and parents.
Include YouTube, Crash Course, Online communities – Teachers Pay Teachers, Open Yale Resources, MIT, etc.
Make sure they are relevant, credible. Daniels stresses the four A’s in OER’s; “the 4 As: accessible, appropriate, accredited, affordable” (Hylen, 2006).
Basically, great resources to aid teaching and learning.

3. Benefits in Higher Education
Cost effectiveness – cheaper for students
Sharing knowledge will build on what is known and allow deeper and greater understanding. “By sharing and reusing, the costs for content development can be cut, thereby making better use of available resources. Also the quality would improve compared to a situation where everyone starts from the beginning” (Hylen, 2006).

4. Challenges in Higher Education
Argument made that OER’s are fairly new and there is a lack of policies and also copyright issues (Yuan, MacNeil, Kraan, 2012).
Diminished role of pedagogy – leaving it up to the student (Knox, 2013).
Even though it is new there are many resources, sometimes overwhelming for professors. “ The number of resources is so vast that it can literally paralyze instructors” (Knox, 2013).

5. Summing it up
OER’s can be extremely helpful in education providing teachers and students with a wealth of resources at their fingertips.
There is always a catch – whether it be making sure it is a credible source or just sifting through the vast search to find what you are looking for.
There is a place for OER in education, with certain guidelines and policies it will continue to grow.

6. References
Hylen, J. (2006). Open Educational Resources: Opportunities and Challenges. OECD’s Centre for Educational Research and Innovation. Retrieved fromhttps://
Knox, J. (2013). Five Critiques of the Open Educational Resource Movement. Teaching in Higher Education, v18 n8 p Retrieved from
Yuan, L., MacNeil, S., Kraan, W. (2012). Open Educational Resources – Opportunities and Challenges for Higher Education. Retrieved from df.