1.4 Benefits of using language OERs
"OER benefits" by OPENLang Network is licensed under CC BY 4.0
What are the benefits of language OERs?
OERs offer great and multiple opportunities (i.e., pedagogical, financial, etc.) to learners, students and teachers of all disciplines as well as to educational institutions. "One of the main values of OER is that they can be used worldwide independently of the system of education and national curricula frameworks" (Grodecka & Sliwowski, 2014). This is not the only OER’s benefit. OERs give access to multiple learning materials which can be easily distributed, shared, and adapted to meet learners’ needs and preferences.
The benefits of using OERs in language education are numerous:
- increase language learners’ motivation,
- improve language learners’ performance and satisfaction,
- expand access to learning for a wider range of learners ,
- give access to a rich variety of language learning materials of different formats,
- give language educators the flexibility to adopt materials specifically for their students' needs,
- support language teaching and learning practices,
- expand language educators’ roles by encouraging them to be creative and to implement innovative pedagogical approaches and teaching strategies in their classes (i.e., collaborative language learning),
- encourage language educators to engage in critical reflection of educational resources,
- promote the reformation of existing curriculum and content,
- embrace open education movement,
- enhance the demand for life-long learning,
- help language institutions, educators and students save money.
The following videos describe some of the benefits of OER.
”OER is... flexible!” created by the "Video Club” for Center for Open Educational Resources & Language Learning (COERLL) and it is licenced under CC BY 4.0. Open educational resources (OER) have many benefits: One is flexibility. Watch the video to explore how flexible are OERs:
You are invited to watch this very insightful video, in which Douglas College instructors from Language, Literature, and Performing Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, & Science andTechnology faculties about Open Educational Resources share their views and experiences on using OERs in their courses. They refer to what OER are and the benefits of using them instead of traditional academic materials:
Learning Activity 4
After watching the recommended video, you are invited to reflect on your own teaching situation and how the use of OER could benefit your language teaching and your students' learning?
Additional Resources
You can download the “BCOER poster” that is created by the BCOER, a group of BC post secondary librarians working together to support the use of quality Open Educational Resources (OER). The poster is licenced under CC BY 4.0 and presents the OER benefits for faculties and students and provides useful info and some facts.
Farrow, R., Pitt, R., Delos-Arcos, B., Perryman, L., Weller, M.,& McAndrew, P. (2015). Impact of OER use on teaching and learning: Data from OER Research Hub (2013–2014). British Journal of Educational Technology, 46,972–976. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12310
References
Beetham, H., Falconer, I., McGill, L. & Littlejohn, A. (2012). Open practices: Briefing paper. Briefing paper, JISC. Retrieved from https://oersynth.pbworks.com/w/page/51668352/OpenPracticesBriefing
Bliss, T J., Robinson, T., Hilton, J., & Wiley, D. (2013). An OER COUP: College teacher and student perceptions of open educational resources. Journal of Interactive Media in Education, 1,1–25.
Conole, G., & Alevizou, P. (2010). A literature review of the use of Web 2.0 tools in higher education. HEA Academy, UK. Retrieved from https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/5162.pdf
Grodecka, K. & Sliwowski, K. (2014). Open Educational Resources Mythbusting Guide. Retrieved from http://mythbusting.oerpolicy.eu/
Mossley, D. (2013). Open Educational Resources and Open Education. The Higher Education Academy. Retrieved from: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/open-educational-resources-and-open-education
Shmueli, E. (2017). MERLOT - A reliable framework for OER, in Proceedings - International
Computer Software and Applications Conference. IEEE Computer Society, pp. 697–699. doi:10.1109/COMPSAC.2017.280.