Lecturers' perceptions and experiences of open educational resources in teaching and learning

English: Teaching and learning in the 21st century has undergone changes that have been brought about by a number of innovative tools. Information Communication Technology (ICT), for example, has assisted in many ways to enhance teaching and learning by allowing for the integration of Open Educational Resources (OERs). Although the concept of OERs was coined in 2002, there are different views on why such educational resources have not been widely embraced as the solution to the lack of free, copyright free, relevant and high-quality educational resources in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). On the one hand, these mixed views with regard to the integration of OERs in teaching and learning in HEIs are coming from the lecturers who are sceptical and do not trust that such educational resources may have an impact on their daily activities. On the other hand, the long-held belief pertaining to the superiority complex of the copyrighted educational resources in comparison to the freely available OERs continues to be a bone of contention in a number of HEIs. The uneasiness surrounding the abandonment of traditional ways and the difficulty of embracing change are also contributing factors that emerge from every discussion on the integration of OERs in teaching and learning. This study sought to gather the perceptions and experiences of some lecturers from the University of the Free State (UFS) with regard to the integration of OERs in teaching and learning. The study is informed by an interpretivist paradigm that falls within discursive qualitative research. It is also centred on the Knowledge Management (KM) processes model that consists of knowledge discovery, knowledge capture, knowledge sharing and knowledge application (Becerra-Fernandez & Sabherwal 2010:56). The investigation consisted of semi-structured interviews conducted with eighteen selected lecturers who met the specified criteria. The findings from this case study indicate that there is still a lack of awareness among lecturers on what OERs are or how they can be integrated into teaching and learning. There is also evidence of the sporadic usage of OER principles by lecturers in their daily teaching and learning activities. Many of the lecturers who responded showed a willingness to participate in initiatives that would lead to the development, promotion and implementation of OERs in teaching and learning at the UFS. The KM processes model has also revealed that, although not inadvertently, lecturers acknowledge and can identify, at various levels, with the 5Rs principles of OERs. The poor presence of the KM processes is an indication that OERs need to be properly introduced to solidify their usage and integration in teaching and learning at the UFS.