Open Educational Resources: Barriers and Open Issues

TL;DR

This paper identifies and analyzes social, economic, and technical barriers hindering the adoption of Open Educational Resources, offering insights and a conceptual model to promote more inclusive and sustainable educational access.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive classification of barriers to OER adoption based on a systematic literature review and expert evaluation, along with a conceptual model for understanding their relationships.

Findings

Identified 26 barriers across social, economic, and technical dimensions.

Developed a conceptual model illustrating relationships among barriers, OER elements, and mitigation actions.

Provided insights to support policies and strategies for increasing OER adoption.

Abstract

Open Educational Resources (OER) are freely available teaching and learning materials, such as textbooks, videos, and interactive games, that can be used, reused, adapted, and shared. OER can leverage access, collaboration, and innovation in education; however, their adoption and long-term use remain limited. Motivated by this issue, this manuscript examined the literature and identified 26 social, economic, and technical barriers that hinder teachers, students, and institutions from creating, using, and maintaining OER. These barriers were evaluated through semi-structured interviews with experts to ensure their understandability, correctness, completeness, and relevance. We adopted a four-step research method: (1) a tertiary study that identified barriers from 26 secondary studies; (2) analysis and classification of the barriers according to social, economic, and technical dimensions and the OER lifecycle activities they affect; (3) design of the conceptual model to represent relationships among OER elements, barriers, and mitigation actions; and (4) evaluation through expert interviews. These barriers are also illustrated using a real-world OER. The findings provide insights for the education community, supporting inclusive strategies, institutional actions, and public policies to reduce social, economic, and technical barriers to OER. By addressing factors that affect accessibility, sustainability, and equitable participation, this manuscript advances universal access to educational resources and fosters more inclusive educational ecosystems.