Benefits and challenges of using oer in higher education: a pragmatic review

Abstract

The teaching–learning process is not only focused on traditional classroom instruction but also encompasses the online teaching process. It demands the importance of OERs in both the teaching–learning process and also in the assessment process. It helps in providing a new direction in the area of OER in higher education. The purpose of the study is to explore the importance of OER in higher education and to examine the challenges faced by teachers or students in making, sharing, and using OER in different areas of higher education. 167 peer-reviewed articles were searched, and downloaded, and then only 40 articles were selected for final analysis through the PRISMA method. The findings of the present study reveal that most of the faculty members and students widely used OER in the different teaching–learning processes of higher education. The use of OER helps in cost reduction for purchasing of books, enhances enrolment ratio, enhances the teaching and research skills, and also supports the students for their examination. Though there are a lot of benefits of using OER in higher education proper institutional policy, financial support, basic knowledge of technology, lack of awareness and proper peer feedback, and lack of cooperation from institutions are the major constraints for the development of quality OER resources.