Open Education: Resources and Practices

There are many reasons why instructors might employ open pedagogy, open resources, and/or open courseware. Here are a few oft-cited and compelling cases:

Affordability

Between the 1970s and 2020s, the cost of course materials has risen at three times the rate of inflation. According to the Education Data Initiative's 2022 report on college textbook costs, "The average full-time, in-state undergraduate student at a four-year public university pays $1,226 for books and supplies in one academic year." Predictably, students facing these expenses are forced to make difficult decisions: In a 2020 survey, although 90% of college students expressed concern that not purchasing course materials would negatively impact their grades, 65% said they had chosen not to purchase a textbook that year due to cost, and 63% said they made the same decision in the previous year. Three publishing companies control over 80% of the U.S. college textbook market. Open educational resources and practices are important interventions into course material costs.

Student Success

There are a number of studies confirming the aforementioned negative relationship between expensive course materials and student outcomes (Florida Virtual Campus, 2022; Clinton-Lisell & Kelly, 2024). For many, open education resources and practices not only eliminate barriers to success caused by financial burdens, but also improve student success outcomes compared to expectation.For example, A 2018 study at the University of Georgia found significant improvement in student outcomes in courses where OER was adopted. While D/F grades and withdrawals (DFW rates) fell and grades improved for all student populations in courses that adopted OER, the benefits of OER were even more significant for Pell-eligible students, students of color, and part-time students.

Broadening Information Access

UNESCO has centered open education in its work to facilitate the free flow of information globally. Their emphasis on open information is due in large part to the benefit of free access to high-quality information and educational materials for students and teachers around the world, particularly for those in impoverished communities. The inherent adaptability of open educational resources means they can be legally modified to fit the cultural context of a given educational setting. As open educational practices are adopted at a greater scale, the size and quality of the global open educational resource collection will improve, ultimately supporting high-quality education at a lower cost, and empowerment through the open proliferation of valuable information, for people around the world.

Ethical Concerns

This perspective might include the general belief that proprietary control of information is unethical when that information is intended for the common good, and/or that public institutions have an ethical obligation to make available and accessible the knowledge they generate with public audiences.