One of the biggest benefits of OER is to students themselves. From elementary school through college, OER content enriches education programs by providing educators with additional low cost, peer-reviewed content that can be used to enhance, and in some cases, replace existing course content. Specific, real-world examples developed for trade use or industries can be referenced alongside course activities to provide practical experience to students that may not be possible using traditional course materials. The result is a richer, deeper and overall more effective learning experience. The low or no cost value of OER content is tremendously valuable to the students as well. Community colleges and universities that have adopted OER curricula and course materials see an immediate savings for students, sometimes in the triple digits per course for course-related materials, resulting in higher enrollment levels, as well as increases in course completion. OER also allows students to compare similar courses and gives them the opportunity to test out of course materials before enrolling, further cutting education costs, and allowing students to engage in courses they truly need.
The open, and often digital, nature of OER content greatly enhances the ability to expand the reach of learning assets at little to no cost, providing access to education for people that may not otherwise have it due to financial, geographical, or time restraints. Online OER course content can be made available immediately, helping learners effectively engage with the course earlier, and the lower cost of materials reduces the number of learners dropping courses due to expenses. The ability to repurpose OER content for specific purposes, such as continued education modules or practice quizzes, also provides a method for further expanding the reach of educational content. By being able to surface and repurpose a specific element of a broader OER course, the content can be used real-time, in contextually relevant surroundings, that might not otherwise be practical in traditional classroom settings.
By using and developing OER content, educators enhance the courses that they are developing, and enhance their own experience and effectiveness as an educator because of their engagement in the OER community and the peer review of their content.
High-quality OER gives educators an expanded bank of peer-reviewed, flexible resources, and examples to shape and enhance their curriculum. Open access to legacy content, the preservation of materials for endangered subjects, and authentic materials developed for professional sectors, allow educators to increase the effectiveness of their content, and give a deeper level of experience to their students. By engaging with OER content, educators are also dialoguing with organizations consisting of peers, industry leaders, and subject matter experts centered around OER content development.
Higher-learning institutions are in a unique position of being able to lead the development of, and benefit from the use of OER content. Reduced costs in educational materials through the use of OER in classrooms has the immediate effect of increasing student enrollment, engagement, and retention, resulting in more students and more course enrollment. The majority of educators believe in the value of OER content. An institution's promoted use and development of OER enables educators to develop richer, more effective content, and encourages educators to engage in peer groups and organizations that further develop the resources in their subjects. As a result, OER usage also drives the adoption of educational technologies, which opens institutions to opportunities such as increased capacity to support remote students. When OER content is utilized to expand an audience, such as releasing a video recording of a lecture, there is not only expanded reach for the content and course awareness, there is also an increase in reputation and recognition for the organization. Through the ability to repurpose OER content, the costs of content development, particularly for general topics, can be reduced, and the pooling of resources toward course development allows for the preservation and continued development of smaller subjects that may not be maintainable at an institutional level. Lastly, a new partnership opportunity with students arises from the use of OER, as the students transition into their careers. Current and former students can both use and help maintain OER content. Institutions can encourage current students to engage with the development and maintenance of the content, and those students can continue to engage and develop the content after they leave the institution.
As technology continues to rapidly evolve our lives, required knowledge and labor skills are in a continual state of flux. OER provides organizations and workforce development agencies a bank of repurpose-able educational resources that can be tooled to fit the specific needs of an organization today, and change for the needs of tomorrow at a small fraction of the cost of traditional course development. Institutions can more easily and effectively work with instructional designers and content providers in different sectors to re-use and re-contextualize content for their specific subject areas. Real-time, portable modules can be practically applied remotely to address a specific educational need. OER also gives industry the opportunity to work alongside higher education institutions and subject matter experts to author and develop practical OER content for use on the job, both ensuring quality continued education for existing staff, as well as the development of a qualified workforce for the future.
OER content producers maintain copyright for their original content, allowing the content to help build their recognition and credibility as subject matter experts to a broader audience than otherwise possible. Their content is open to peer review and student feedback, allowing content producers to benefit from the knowledge of the real-world application of their educational content. Furthermore, content producers that participate in OER development can collaborate across sectors, institutions, and disciplines, broadening their experience, expertise, and prestige in their given field.