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Towards utilising emerging technologies to address the challenges of using Open Educational Resources: a vision of the future

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Abstract

The rapid advancements in online education have pointed to a new open learning approach using Open Educational Resources (OER). In this approach, educators and learners can freely access or redistribute educational resources that have been released online in the public domain under an open licence. Whereas this approach looks appealing in reducing learning costs, as well as in enhancing learning quality and facilitating knowledge sharing, several challenges might hinder the adoption of OER, such as locating and selecting the most appropriate resources among the thousands that are published and that are available online, and trusting them. This paper elaborates on those challenges and suggests an emerging technologies-based perspective for addressing the efficient inclusion of OER. To this end, this paper discusses how the integration of emerging yet essential technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and blockchain, with big learning data and educational data mining algorithms could have a profound impact on enhancing OER-based learning and teaching. The dynamics of incorporating these technologies to solve several OER challenges are demonstrated through numerous examples, and the potential limitations are also discussed. The paper concludes with visions of the future, possible research challenges and directions.

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Funding

This paper was funded by  “Department of science and technology of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region: Construction and application of innovative design method system of ‘Internet +' education service industry” (Project no. AB18126068), and the International Joint Research Project of Huiyan International College, Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Smart Learning Institute, Beijing Normal University, 12F, Block A, Jingshi Technology Building, No. 12 Xueyuan South Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100082, China

    Ahmed Tlili & Ronghuai Huang

  2. Big Data Center for Technology-Mediated Education, Beijing Normal University, Room 1302, No. 8 Li-Yun Building, Hai-Dian District, Beijing, 100875, China

    Jingjing Zhang

  3. Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), IT-Bygget, 142, Gløshaugen, Sem Sælands vei 9, 7034, Trondheim, Norway

    Zacharoula Papamitsiou

  4. Faculty of Engineering, University of Duisburg-Essen, Lotharstraße 65, 47057, Duisburg, Germany

    Sven Manske & H. Ulrich Hoppe

  5. College of Information, University of North Texas, 3940 North Elm Street, Denton, TX, 76207, USA

    Kinshuk

  6. Department of Computational and Cognitive Science, University Duisburg-Essen, Lotharstr. 63/65. 47058, Duisburg, Germany

    H. Ulrich Hoppe

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  1. Ahmed Tlili
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All information, comprising the articles and papers analyzed, has not been used for purposes other than originally intended i.e. to contribute to scholarly research. The authors have included some of their own work in the analysis according to the criteria outlined in the article.

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Correspondence to Jingjing Zhang.

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Tlili, A., Zhang, J., Papamitsiou, Z. et al. Towards utilising emerging technologies to address the challenges of using Open Educational Resources: a vision of the future. Education Tech Research Dev 69, 515–532 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-021-09993-4

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