The reduction in costs for students is a major benefit of OERs but they're also much more flexible than commercial textbooks.
Advantages of OERs include:
- Immediate and continued access: Students can access OERs anywhere in the world, at any time. This includes both before courses start and after courses end.
- Enhancement of regular course content: You can use different types of materials, including multimedia, to help engage students. OERs can be useful supplementary material when students need background information or are interested in extending their knowledge.
- Adaptability: You can add, remove and edit content to suit your needs. If you're using an OER textbook you don't need to worry about using the whole book to justify the cost to students.
- Increased diversity: You can use a selection of resources to include a wide range of perspectives, such as Indigenous voices, and/or edit resources to ensure language is inclusive and relevant to your students.
- Continual improvement: OERs can be quickly improved through direct editing or via feedback and any mistakes can be corrected without needing to wait for a new edition or going through a lengthy review process.
Watch this short video from SUNY Canton to hear about the impact OER have had on their staff and students.
