Institutions should embrace OERs to support students: Opinion

Postsecondary institutions should embrace open educational resources (OER)s to help them meet their full potential, writes David Steele. Steele describes a recent report that highlighted the importance of financial, professional, and structural institutional commitment to OERs. The research suggests that OERs give instructors and students more freedom with material, help students feel more invested in their learning, and support students in forming a cultural connection to the material, but that there still needs to be more understanding and support around OERs for the institution to reap these benefits. Through discussions with subject experts, Steele encourages members of leadership to provide top-down support for OER adoption and suggests that faculty members “start small” when implementing OERs. Inside Higher Ed (Subscription) Note: Archived stories may contain dead links or be missing source links.