Integrating Open Education Resources in Teacher Education Classes

The term "Open Educational Resources" (OER) at UNESCO's 2002 Forum on the Impact of Open Courseware for Higher Education in Developing Countries was coined to describe a new global phenomenon of openly sharing educational resources in 2002. In this context, OER was defined as ''the open provision of educational resources, enabled by information and communication technologies, for consultation, use and adaptation by a community of users for non-commercial purposes'' (UNESCO, 2002). Since then, integrating OER into classrooms has been one of the leading educational trends in higher education (Horizon Report, 2018). OER integration in the classroom has the potential to fuel collaboration, encourage the improvement of available materials, and aid in the dissemination of best practices (UNESCO, 2002; Winitzky-Stephens & Pickavance, 2017). Also, it can help cut costs for both the institutions and learners. (Becker, Cummins, Davis, Freeman, Hall & Ananthanarayanan, 2017; Hilton, 2016; Olcott, 2012). Given the promising advantages of OER, this emerging instructional method should have widely been adopted in education by instructors. However, as reported by educators and researchers (Browne, Holding, Howell & Rodway-Dyer, 2010; Kortemeyer, 2013), the adoption of OER has not been a mainstream instructional approach in classrooms as there have only been occasional attempts by enthusiastic educators. This qualitative research project examined the impact of OER-adopted courses on students' academic performances, instructors' performances, and students' perception of the use of OER in four graduate-level Teacher Education and Special Education courses at a midsize public university in the Midwest.