This 2006 article from iJournal by Lisa Petrides and Cynthia Jimes summarizes some of the research about how much OERs are actually being used by instructors in HE and discusses what needs to be done to increase the sharing and use of OERs. It seems clear to me that the use and production of OERs will continue to grow; the larger problem will soon be how to find and filter the resources that become available. ____JH
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"In a survey of community college instructors, (Petrides et al., 2006b, forthcoming) 92 percent of the respondents reported that they had searched for course-related materials on the Internet. Reasons cited included their desire to integrate OER materials into their courses, to improve their teaching methods and knowledge, and to connect with colleagues who had similar teaching interests. Likewise, MIT’s recent evaluation report of its OCW collection revealed that educators were accessing OER to support their course planning and preparation and to enhance their personal knowledge (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2006). Ninety-six percent of these educators indicated that MIT’s OCW collection has or will help to improve their courses. Students and self-learners, representing the largest number of OCW users, accessed the collection for various reasons, including planning future studies, complementing their existing courses, or improving their personal knowledge."
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