To a certain degree it is irrelevant whether faculty are aware of or use open educational resources (OERs) since most of the benefit is felt outside the traditional education system, yet as the existence of this report (75 page PDF) shows the user of OERs by faculty, and especially of OER textbooks, is of significant interest to many producers of OERs. Having said that, I can't say I'm confident that faculty tell the truth in surveys like this. For example, some 87 percent of them cite cost as a significant factor in choice, however, "faculty actions may belie their stated level of concern; if cost were primary in their decision process we would expect to see far more low cost and no cost textbook options, both open and commercial, to have been (selected)." Personaally I think they just don't care. If they cared at all, they would have at least become aware of OERs, even if they found them to be of lower quality. But for three quarters of faculty, awareness remains elusive, which means they aren't even looking.
Today: 0 Total: 21 [Direct link] [Share]
View full size
