Recommendations to Optimize the Use of Open Educational Resources in Vietnamese Higher Education Context

Abstract

In recent years, Open educational resources (OER) have developed rapidly and been widely used in higher education institutions in developed countries. OER are believed to be able to expand access, reduce costs, and improve education quality. In Vietnam, OER have been implemented since 2005, but so far, the use of the resources for education in general and higher education in particular has not been as successful as initially expected. The present study adopts the systematic literature review method by incorporating in-depth evaluation of past studies from 2015 to 2021. Thirty-four scholarly papers and scientific reports regarding benefits and limitations of OER, as well as suggestions to improve the use of OER were examined. The results show that for students, the limitations associated with using OER include poor Internet connection in school, lack of guidance on how to use the resources specifically, and low autonomy. From instructors’ perspective, limitations lie in their understanding of copyright and open license issues, as well as the difficulty in selecting and editing OER content to suit the exploiting process. Some recommendations are drawn to address the above limitations, with the hope to help improve the efficiency of the implementation and use of OER in Vietnamese higher education context.

Open Education Resources in EFL teaching at School of Languages and Tourism: Opportunities and challenges

“…Several research papers and scientific reports were reviewed to learn more about the strengths and weaknesses of OERs and how they might be overcome. Nguyen et al [14] conducted research in which the findings indicate that Vietnamese students' lack of autonomy, a lack of direction on how to use the materials explicitly, and a bad Internet connection at school are the main barriers to using OERs. Instructors face challenges in selecting and altering OERs resources to suit the exploiting process due to a lack of familiarity with copyright and open licensing problems.…”