Dr. Magdalena Spaude works in the Vice-Rectorate for Teaching and Studies at the University of Cologne (UoC) as an expert for open education and digital teaching and learning. As part of this position, she advises teachers and students on the subject of open education and open educational resources (OER) as well as open infrastructures at the UoC (Edulabs).
Open Educational Resources promote the quality of teaching and learning materials and educational processes as a whole
Open and non-open teaching and learning materials: what’s the difference?
If an interested colleague from my university, who has heard a bit about Open Educational Resources (OER) but doesn’t really know much about them, were to ask me how open educational materials differ from non-open ones, I would give her a relatively short answer: “OER are available under an open licence. This means that other people can use, copy, change and distribute OER. For non-open educational materials, you need the author’s consent under current copyright law. And this can be subject to many conditions, which makes re-use unattractive.”
As the colleague is interested, she could say that she has heard that OER can actually promote the quality of teaching materials and educational processes. However, she wonders how this can be the case if the difference is purely of a copyright nature. I would be very pleased to hear this intelligent question and I would invite her for a coffee so that I could talk to her about it in peace. Fortunately, that’s my job at the University of Cologne 😊. My points as to why OER can improve the quality of teaching materials and educational processes would be as follows:
1/ OER can serve as inspiration
Teachers who are in the process of preparing teaching materials for their own pupils or students can be inspired by OER, which are freely accessible on the internet. For example, if my colleague wants to cover the topic ‘Ecological determinants of the habitat preference of otters (or: Where does the otter like to live?)’, she can look online for appropriate accessible materials and concepts. She can try to search for specific levels (in this case university) to find a suitable offer for her student group. However, she can also look for more difficult or simpler presentations of the topic to get ideas on how she can create internal differentiation in her group. Of course, my colleague may also come across aspects of the topic in the OER she has found that she might not otherwise have addressed. This can encourage her to think about why it might make sense to include this aspect after all.
And as well as inspiration in terms of content, she can of course also pick up didactic ideas. How do the others present the topic? What media do they use? What tasks do they set? And how are these tasks implemented, e.g. how are interactivity and learning incentives increased? Open teaching materials therefore enable at least a very basic exchange of ideas regarding the content and form of teaching materials, which can increase the quality and therefore the learning success of pupils and students. Here in relation to the otter and its environment.
2/ OER can be customized
According to the open licence, OER can be modified, i.e. adapted. If my colleague doesn’t just want to be inspired by the materials found online, but wants to use them straight away, she can modify the OER. For example, she can use excerpts from videos, add text or combine images and graphics. In this way, she can better cater to the needs of their target group or better reflect the teaching situation. As mentioned above, modifications allow for internal differentiation, i.e. catering to individual learning paths and interests. Perhaps a student is particularly interested in what an otter habitat in a coastal region looks like.
Furthermore, open teaching materials can be kept up to date through the possibility of customisation, both in terms of content as well as media and technology. Another advantage that can lead to an increase in quality is the translatability into other languages. (Just like ‘normal’ copies, translations may not be made without the author’s permission). Teaching materials in the language of the learners make them more accessible and thus facilitate the learning process compared to a foreign language. As an advantage, however, aspects of a topic may appear in the original foreign-language texts that would otherwise not have been present. This broadens learners’ horizons.
3/ OER enable feedback
Ideally, my colleague would do two things after reusing external materials:
- publish the materials that she has modified ;
- and give direct feedback on the original materials.
For example, she could point out additional content, give further ideas for tasks and methods, describe what worked particularly well with her students or give ideas for increasing accessibility. All the other teachers, including the creators, could incorporate the feedback into their teaching and thus possibly improve it.
Such a feedback culture promotes collaboration and knowledge sharing between teachers, institutions and even countries. Through the collective contribution of many experts, the quality of materials can be continuously improved and innovative teaching methods and best practices can be easily disseminated.
4/ OER promote cooperation and, in the best case, participation and innovation
The points mentioned so far can work asynchronously and without personal communication. However, an increase in the quality of teaching materials and educational processes can be achieved in particular where teachers, e.g. from different institutions or even countries, already co-operate in the creation of the materials and the planning of the entire didactic scenario. All their competences manifest themselves in such an ‘educational project’. Cooperation and communication are rightly regarded as so-called future skills. These can also be promoted in students by involving them in the design of the teaching materials or teaching concepts and thus also contributing their perspectives, ideas and needs. This participatory approach turns Open Education Resources into Open Education.
5/ OER are sustainable
Sustainability can also be a quality feature. Open publication increases the sustainability of teaching and learning materials. This is because OER are stored in accessible repositories where they are available to everyone for a long time. They are not produced as disposable items, e.g. for a single course at a single (higher) education institution. In addition, resources can be saved by using open teaching materials. First and foremost, this is the working time of teachers and therefore money. If teachers’ time is saved, then presumably energy is also saved, e.g. that of the notebook.
Conclusion
I hope that my colleague will find these comments interesting, ask me further questions and perhaps talk to her colleagues about OER and open education. And ideally, she will look for OER on the topic of ‘Where might the otter live’, adapt them for her students, publish the new teaching materials and collaborate with other teachers and perhaps even students, whose competence growth is at stake.
Please note that this article has been translated with the help of artificial intelligence and reviewed by individuals who are not professional translators. Despite our efforts to ensure accuracy and fidelity, errors or inaccuracies may remain. Feel free to let us know at: euniwell@univ-nantes.fr.
