Turkish Teachers’ Awareness and Perceptions of Open Educational Resources

Authors

  • Ozgur Ozdemir Indiana University - Bloomington
  • Curtis Bonk Indiana University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.56059/jl4d.v4i3.224

Keywords:

Open Educational Resources, OER

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore K-12 teachers’ awareness of open educational resources (OER) as well as their perceptions of its potential opportunities and challenges for teaching practices. Data were gathered from 99 online survey respondents and six interviewees in this study. Findings showed that teachers are aware of OER to a certain degree; however, a misunderstanding exists between digital educational content on the Internet and openly licensed content compatible with the OER definition. Lack of knowledge regarding licensing mechanisms of OER is a major issue among teachers. Whereas, teacher perceptions that the use of OER leads to the improvement in student performance is highly beneficial, the time required to search, select, edit, and apply OER was discovered as the greatest challenge to OER utilization. Results of this study can inform potential OER movement contributors, such as teacher professional development specialists, developers of OER repositories, and academics interested in OER.

Author Biographies

Ozgur Ozdemir, Indiana University - Bloomington

Ozgur Ozdemir is a Ph.D. candidate in the department of Instructional Systems Technology in the School of Education at Indiana University - Bloomington. He holds a bachelor’s degree as well as a master’s degree in instructional design and technology. His research interests include open education, open educational resources, open textbooks, teacher technology integration and professional development, and emerging learning technologies. Email: oozdemir@indiana.edu

Curtis Bonk, Indiana University

Dr. Curtis J. Bonk is Professor at Indiana University teaching psychology and technology courses. Drawing on his background as a corporate controller, CPA, educational psychologist, and instructional technologist, Bonk offers unique insights into the intersection of business, education, psychology, and technology in his popular blog, TravelinEdMan. In addition to many national and statewide innovative distance teaching awards, in 2014, he received the Mildred B. and Charles A. Wedemeyer Award for Outstanding Practitioner in Distance Education. From 2012 to 2017, Bonk has been annually named by Education Next and listed in Education Week among the top contributors to the public debate about education from more than 20,000 university-based academics. He has authored several widely used technology books, including The World Is Open, Empowering Online Learning, The Handbook of Blended Learning, Electronic Collaborators, Adding Some TEC-VARIETY which is free as an eBook (http://tec-variety.com/), and, most recently, MOOCs and Open Education Around the World (http://www.moocsbook.com/). Email: cjbonk@indiana.edu

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Published

2017-11-20

How to Cite

Ozdemir, O., & Bonk, C. (2017). Turkish Teachers’ Awareness and Perceptions of Open Educational Resources. Journal of Learning for Development, 4(3). https://doi.org/10.56059/jl4d.v4i3.224

Issue

Vol. 4 No. 3 (2017): ISSUE 3

Section

Research Articles

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Received 2017-05-19
Accepted 2017-07-21
Published 2017-11-20