A Study of College Professors Perception of Open Educational Resources in the Classroo

The problem addressed in this study was the rising cost of textbooks and the challenges to find quality OER resources, cost effective OER, and the credibility of the resources for OER. The purpose of this qualitative case study research design was to examine the perception of eight college professors who work with and have created OER for higher education and the quality of the materials, cost effectiveness, and the credibility of the resources. The goal of this study was to improve the knowledge of OER and how the professors thought OER worked in their classrooms. College professors have been identified as critical players in the implementation of Open Educational Resources (OER) in universities all over the world. Through semi-structured and open-ended interviews, the validity of the study and the participants' experiences with OER were strengthened. The researcher created a data collection system to gather the information from the interviews; which allowed for categorizing the data into themes. The study produced final results that the professors prefer using OER in the classroom and that OER are more cost effective and more easily available for the students. The study also provided final results that the students were more engaged, better prepared for class, and had the necessary materials to be successful in the classroom. The professors declared they were more 'free' without an issued textbook and could teach relevant material to the students. Further research is recommended to study a larger population of professors who use OER and some that do not, but also include students and how they feel about OER in the classroom.