My dear @Mardene, please read this experience and initiative, it was held in Belgrade, Serbia! It is on promoting adoption of open educational practice.

http://cdn.efquel.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Building-trust-in-OER.pdf

www.oer-quality.org

My dear @Mardene, please read this experience and initiative, it was held in Belgrade, Serbia! It is on promoting adoption of open educational practice.

http://cdn.efquel.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Building-trust-in-OER.pdf

www.oer-quality.org

I am very comfortable using the open education resources as long as you can compare that with your known source of information. You can also ask the same question - How reliable is the textbook? How do you make sure that information given in a new textbook is corroborated? The sources from which many of these are made available are world class and make sure that you are utilizing the right type. See this report for further information.

http://www.col.org/PublicationDocuments/pub_PS_OER-IRP_web.pdf

http://universityreadersblog.wordpress.com/2012/05/22/assessing-the-reliability-of-open-educational-resources/

I feel comfortable with the material from Opeware courses of MIT.

If there's one thing that the information age has taught us, it's that throwing new technology tools and resources at people and expecting them to adapt them successfully is unreasonable and unrealistic. The rule definitely applies in the K-12 educational environment, where preliminary and ongoing professional development is key to ensuring that new innovations "stick," both in and out of the classroom.

Take open educational resources (OERs)--copyright-free teaching, research, and learning materials that are in the public domain--for example. A novelty for many K-12 educators who are accustomed to having textbooks, assessments, and other materials prepared for them, OERs can create significant challenges when introduced to today's teachers.

Below are five professional development tips that will ensure smooth adoption of these innovative resources.

Acknowledge that not all Teachers Are Comfortable with Technology

Not all teachers are tech-savvy and willing to integrate state-of-the-art resources into their classrooms. Some just like the "old ways" of instructing and prefer to stick to those methods.

"If you want teachers to take advantage of OER you really have to assess their comfort levels with it," advised Neeru Khosla, co-founder at open content provider CK-12 in Palo Alto, CA. "You can't expect the mid-range of teachers--that large percentage of them who are on the bell curve--to just accept the new technology if they don't know how to use it."

To overcome this hurdle Khosla said OER champions must create value propositions for the open content and help teachers understand the advantages it provides. Getting teachers "hands on" with the marerials and showing them how to use them--via one-on-one demonstrations and webinars, for example--will also "go a long way in helping teachers get more comfortable with the technology," said Khosla.

Create a Culture of Professional Development

Rather than offering professional development on a sporadic or ad hoc basis, create a culture around it. Get teachers, administrators, and even students involved in the process. Encourage sharing, said Khosla, and use community collaboration as a way to not only keep everyone up to date and informed, but also to save money.

"Everyone should make it their job to contribute to this type of ongoing professional development," said Khosla. "That way you won't miss out on important little OER nuggets just because they're not associated with a $300 professional development class."

Help Teachers Sift Through the Piles of Resources

Colleen Worrell, manager of professional development at Virtual High School in Maynard, MA, said she sees the sheer volume of OER resources available today as a huge challenge for K-12 teachers. The fact that most of those instructors are accustomed to working from a single textbook and a few ancillary resources places the hurdle even higher.

To ease some of that burden and help teachers integrate OER into their lesson plans, Worrell culls through the OERs to find the best resources. She shares these with the teachers and talks to them about the best ways to adopt and integrate that content.

"Someone has to do the vetting for the teachers," said Worrell, "even if it's just creating a social book-marking list of the top 10 OER social studies sites. Everything helps."

Encourage an Environment of Reinvention

OER isn't only about using non-copyrighted, digital materials in the classroom--it's also about adapting and adjusting that content to make it even more relevant for today's learners. Sharing that mindset with teachers is an important professional development strategy, according to Jason Neiffer, Curriculum Director at Montana Digital Academy in Missoula, MT.

Read more at http://thejournal.com/articles/2012/11/1/5-professional-development-tips-for-open-educational-resources.aspx#ZJiOAFJgDiwu73xR.99

I am very comfortable with it because as a Librarian in a Developing country working in a small private university this is my saving grace for my students. I rely on OER a great deal to provide information for my customers.

I think that if there are clear rules of accepting and rejection of the materials proposed for OER, there shouldn't be doubts for using them. Of course irrespective of kind of material (print, digital, open or not) we always shoud be careful when reading and choosing material for research - take a look of Alan Sokal's case (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokal_affair). You must have always the eyes open! It doesn't matter where - open acces or renowned journal/ database, hoax can happen.

Our university has a clear policy on the use of references and textbooks by our students (and teachers)- they have to be evaluated by a university committee. While I found many open resources very useful, I am not comfortable using them and advising them for use by our students because of this policy. I hope and I am certain that eventually our university officials will make the appropriate guidelines for their use.

I think there still lack of awareness of the value of OER in higher education. Realising the benefits can be achieved after adapting open education practice, and monitoring its impact on students' learning performance and teaching staff development.

Thanks for all your contributions to this question.   No doubt there is a lack of awareness because there are lots of excellent resources available via this medium.

RESULTS FROM THE 2ND WORLD OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES (OER) CONGRESS

The Congress closed as experts and national delegates from 111 countries adopted by acclamation the 2017 Ljubljana OER Action Plan.

This Plan presents 41 recommended actions to mainstream open-licensed resources to help all Member States to build Knowledge Societies and achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal 4 on “quality and lifelong education.” The 2017 Ljubljana OER Action Plan provides recommendations to stakeholders in five strategic areas, namely: building the capacity of users to find, re-use, create and share OER; language and cultural issues; ensuring inclusive and equitable access to quality OER; developing sustainability models; and developing supportive policy environments...

https://wbc-rti.info/object/news/17862