Challenges of Using OER and How to Overcome Them

Below is a table that provides the most frequently cited challenges to using OER. We have provided some possible solutions to help overcome these challenges.

Obstacle /QuestionSolution
Time to spend on adapting, adopting, and authoring OER. There are many resources that help faculty find, adopt, adapt, and create OER. Many are provided on this website. If you are not able to find what you are looking for please contact your local librarian, instructional designer, or send us an email and they/we will be happy to assist you to make your project manageable in the time you have to spend on it.
Quality- how to determine what are high quality resources. There are a number of evaluation tools that you can find on the Evaluation page of this site. In addition if you are looking for high quality resources that have been peer revised check out the Find page. The resources that we have linked to are from reputable sources and include resources that have been through a peer review process.
Licensing questions. How do I know what I can adapt and when creating my own content how do I determine the license? Creative Commons does a great job in explaining the various types of licensing which we have linked to from the Licensing page. If you have questions don't hesitate to contact your local librarian, learning designer, or Brandy Karl, Penn State's Copyright Officer bak25@psu.edu
Time to keep the resources updated and current. Some faculty have expressed that keeping OER up to date and current isn't really any extra work. Resources are updated from OER providers such as Open Stax, BC Campus. Others have said that a quick search for new content is manageable in conjunction with their beginning of the semester course preparation.
What if my students want a print version of the textbook? Most OER textbooks are available in low cost print versions. Press Books allows users to download e-books as a PDF. If you would like to include a print option for your students get in touch with your local learning designer or book store and they will be happy to help you.
What if my students want access to the content after the course has ended? As mentioned above most OER textbooks are available in a low cost print version. This allows students to maintain a copy of the material after the course has ended.