Open Educational Resources (OERs)—free, open-sourced online instructional materials that teachers can modify and adapt as needed—can be helpful in efforts to supplement and customize curriculum. Yet some research shows K–12 teachers don't often use such resources.
A study recently published by the Association for Educational Communication and Technologies explores what factors might help make K–12 teachers more likely to take advantage of OERs. One factor examined was whether engaging in open educational practices—in which teachers, with guidance, explore a few OERs and even create some—increased teachers' use of such resources.
Previous research by one author of the study found that teachers "perceived ease of use" of OERs—how much effort they thought it would be to find and use such resources—was the main factor determining how likely they were to incorporate them into their instruction. The current study, involving 68 teachers taking an ed-tech course, looked at whether engaging in open educational practices (such as finding several OERs related to a topic and "remixing" elements from them to create a lesson plan or video tutorial) increased the teachers' willingness to use OERs. Results showed that both participants' perceived ease of use of OERs and stated intention to use them did increase after engaging in such practices.
In the study, researchers also asked participants questions about their experiences in working with OERs and what they saw as the main the barriers to their use. The challenges mentioned by the teachers included the inconsistent quality of the resources—which required them to spend time vetting to find resources that were good quality—and the need to adapt many of them to fit their students' diverse needs. One teacher felt these factors " nullified the time-saving benefit." However, the teachers noted that working with OER's as part of the study helped cultivate not just awareness of OERs, but also a more positive attitude toward them in general.
The researchers suggest that to get more teachers using OERs, teacher education programs should discuss how to use them in instruction and give preservice teachers chances to try them out in practice. They recommend that school districts create trainings for teachers to get familiar with these resources and support their use in instruction as needed.
