Date

12-11-2024

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Education (PhD)

Chair

Alex Boggs

Keywords

open education resources, OER, open education, higher education, perspectives, faculty

Disciplines

Higher Education

Abstract

The purpose of this hermeneutical phenomenological study is to describe the experiences and perceptions of open educational resource creators and adopters at southeastern United States community colleges. The theory guiding this study is the connectivism learning theory developed by Siemens and Downes as it addresses how learning occurs through digital resources and tools. The central research question for this study is what are the lived experiences of community college educators who adopted and created open educational resources? The research design method for this qualitative study is a hermeneutical phenomenology to focus on the lived experiences of the study participants. The sample selection and setting are 10 educators working for community colleges in the Southeastern United States who created and adopted open educational resources. The data were collected through the use of interviews, artifacts, and journal prompt responses. The semi-structured interviews and journal prompts were analyzed and synthesized using van Manen’s analysis method and thematic coding and the artifacts were examined using BCOER’s OER evaluation checklist. The three themes emerged from the data were enhancing the user experience, evaluating the materials, and building community. The findings of this study emphasized the freedom participants experienced using OERs in the educational environment and the connections established within the educational community. The findings also noted OERs are user-focused and driven due to the increase in student and instructor engagement with the material and ease of access for anyone desiring to use OERs.

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