Chinese Faculty Members’ Open Educational Resources (OER) Usage Status and the Barriers to OER Development and Usage

Authors

  • Yuqing Guo Zhejiang University
  • Muhua Zhang Zhejiang University
  • Curtis J. Bonk Indiana University
  • Yan Li Zhejiang University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v10i5.4819

Keywords:

Open Educational Resources (OER), perceptions, usage, barriers

Abstract


The purpose of this study was to investigate faculty members’ usage of Open Educational Resources (OER) as well as the barriers to OER development and usage. 360 faculty members from Zhejiang University (ZJU) in China were randomly selected to complete a survey. The study found that: (1) most of surveyed faculty members rarely utilized OER, while they had some awareness of sharing educational resources; (2) the majority noticed online educational materials published for learning or reference, while they ignored open source software or licensing tools for sharing and reusing resources; (3) lack of time and skills were significant obstacles for faculty members to develop OER, while lack of incentives was a potential obstacle; (4) content, experience, and school factors affected faculty members’ OER usage; (5) online teaching experiences impacted incentive to develop OER as well as how to develop OER. It also played a key role in faculty members’ perceptions about the experience and habit factors as possible barriers to OER usage. Results of the study implicate that more serious efforts are needed to improve the awareness and development of OER in China.

Author Biographies

Yuqing Guo, Zhejiang University

Assistant Professor, Department of Curriculum and Learning Science, College of Education, Zhejiang University

Muhua Zhang, Zhejiang University

Doctoral student, Department of Curriculum and Learning Science, College of Education, Zhejiang University

Curtis J. Bonk, Indiana University

Professor, Department of Instructional Systems Technology, Indiana University

Yan Li, Zhejiang University

Professor, Department of Curriculum and Learning Science, Zhejiang University

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Published

2015-11-13

How to Cite

Guo, Y., Zhang, M., Bonk, C. J., & Li, Y. (2015). Chinese Faculty Members’ Open Educational Resources (OER) Usage Status and the Barriers to OER Development and Usage. International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (iJET), 10(5), pp. 59–65. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v10i5.4819

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Section

Papers