Quality Higher Education Opportunities through Open Educational Resources

Abstract

Learning is a lifelong process for every individual that can accomplish through different educational resources. Traditionally access of different educational resources was too dificult and record and disseminate so on. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is now playing an important role for the dissemination of sustainable quality learning resources worldwide (Pal and Panigrahi, 2013). OER currently most often used is “digitized materials offered freely and openly for educators, students and self-learners to use and reuse for teaching, learning and research”. OER includes learning content, software tools to develop, use and distribute content, and implementation resources such as open licenses. It is also refers to accumulated digital assets that can be adjusted and provide beneits without restricting the possibilities for others to enjoy them. Camilleri & Tannhauser (2012) also stated OER as “teaching, learning and research materials in any medium, digital or otherwise that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits no-cost access, use, adaptation and redistribution by others with no or limited restrictions”. The limited restrictions are further described by Wiley (2009) in a 4R-framework of four rights: i.e. 1. Reuse: the right to reuse the content only in its unaltered form; 2. Revise: the right to adapt, adjust, modify, or alter the content itself; 3. Remix: the right to combine the original or revised content with other content to create something new; 4. Redistribute: the right to make and share with others copies of the original content, your revisions, or your remixes. All the 4Rs giving rights of OER open. Evidences show that OER is a boon to the teaching learning world and became a necessary social infrastructure due to its access without cost. However, the premature death of many OER initiatives mandates our further attention to the quality dimensions and the solution to the challenges that grew along with this movement. Researches around the world are optimistic about the growth of OER's eficiency, relevance and potential to promote creativity. This paper explores the beneits, the quality concerns and indicators, and concludes with suggestive continuum of models to make the quality of OER to the required level and meet the challenges.