How university teachers in developing countries perceive the use of open educational resources in higher education

Abstract

This study was conducted to find out how lecturers in developing countries perceive the use of Open Educational Resources (OER). A group of teachers at the Instituto superior Politécnico José Antonio Echeverría, Facultad de Ingeniería Eléctrica (Havana, Cuba) participated in a course about the use of Learning Management Systems that only used OER. After they had been introduced to the concept they answered a questionnaire with a number of statements about the use and sharing of free material on the internet. The answers show that the lecturers were positive to the use of free course material and expressed their willingness to make their own material available. The results also confirm the hypothesis that peer recognition is an important reward for the time and effort spent on producing freeware. The authors assert that extensive use of OER could increase the quality of education, as well as making education more accessible in developing countries. To stimulate the production and dissemination of OER it is recommended that institutions of education worldwide promote the use of OER and encourage lecturers to take part in the free sharing of material on the internet.