The aim of IJOER is to provide a venue for the publication of quality academic research with an emphasis on representing Open Educational Resources in teaching, learning, scholarship and policy. The International Journal of Open Educational Resources (IJOER) is a bi-annual, open access, double-blind peer-reviewed academic publication.
As educational institutions of all levels continue to experience tightening budgets, areas in which to reduce costs represent a shrinking pool. Those who have been integrating OERs within curricula over the last few years, however, have quickly recognized not only significant cost savings, but have also pioneered valuable research studies exploring topics around a) student/faculty/administrator/librarian perceptions of OERs in practice; b) various pedagogical approaches; and c) policy and practice implications.
The IJOER publishes articles that focus on topics based upon the Open Educational Research Hub’s 11 hypotheses developed by de los Arcos, Farrow, Perryman, Pitt, & Weller (2014). The OER Research Hub “provides a focus for research, designed to give answers to the overall question ‘What is the impact of OER on learning and teaching practices?’ and identify the particular influence of openness” (de los Arcos, et al., 2014, p. 2).
OER Research Hub’s 11 Hypotheses:
- Performance: Use of OER leads to improvement in student performance and satisfaction.
- Openness: The Open Aspect of OER creates different usage and adoption patterns than other online resources.
- Access: Open education models lead to more equitable access to education, serving a broader base of learners than traditional education.
- Retention: Use of OER is an effective method for improving retention for at-risk students.
- Reflection: Use of OER leads to critical reflection by educators, with evidence of improvement in their practice.
- Finance: OER adoption at an institutional level leads to financial benefits for students and/or institutions.
- Indicators: Informal learners use a variety of indicators when selecting OER.
- Support: Informal learners adopt a variety of techniques to compensate for the lack of formal support, which can be supported in open courses
- Transition: Open education acts as a bridge to formal education, and is complementary, not competitive, with it.
- Policy: Participation in OER pilots and programs leads to policy change at an institutional level.
- Assessment: Informal means of assessment are motivators for learning with OER.
