Benefits and Limitations
This week I’ve been going over the following materials:
As I was reviewing the articles the lasting impression that stuck with me was the benefits of using OER versus traditional textbooks. Before OER is adopted one of the bigger concerns faculty have is the quality of the text. Is OER going to live up to the same level that publisher books set? From Hilton’s et. al (2016) article they mention that there was no difference in student performance when comparing courses using open or publisher materials. In fact, student’s the “Z-courses” had a higher probability of getting a passing grade than those in a traditional course who had a higher chance of dropping or withdrawing from the class.
Now before I move on I do want to include a disclaimer that even the authors admit that while they do talk about the benefits they are also quick to explain there are some holes for example the faculty who were involved in the studies had already adjusted their teaching with OER, the students were not a controlled group so there isn’t a way to tell the percentage of what type of student was in each class. However, what these studies do present is that there is a lot more research that needs to be done.
While I am excited about the findings that OER improves affordably and accessibly; I’m more interested in the design of courses with OER. One of the impressions I had was rather than fidgeting with the publisher content to have it work for you and stay in the right copyright lanes. Open content gives you the permission to make the content relatable to what you are teaching. Hilton’s et. al mentions that they were able to create laser-focused alignment between the student outcomes, assessment, and instructional material because of the provided flexibility.
Resrouces:
- Hilton, J., Fischer, L., Wiley, D., & Williams, L. (2016). Maintaining Momentum Toward Graduation: OER and the Course Throughput Rate. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 17(6). http://dx.doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v17i6.2686
- Wiley, D., Hilton, J., Williams, L., & DeMarte, D. (2016). The Tidewater Z-Degree and the INTRO Model for Sustaining OER Adoption. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 24(41). http://dx.doi.org/10.14507/epaa.24.1828
- Fischer, L., Hilton, J., Robinson T. J., & Wiley, D. (2015). A Multi-institutional Study of the Impact of Open Textbook Adoption on the Learning Outcomes of Post-secondary Students. Journal of Computing in Higher Education. 10.1007/s12528-015-9101-x
