In recent years, higher education has undergone significant changes in how students access knowledge and how educators design learning experiences. The rise of online learning, blended learning, generative artificial intelligence, and flexible education models has created new expectations for universities: making learning resources more accessible, up to date, responsive to diverse learner needs, and better aligned with professional practice.

Against this backdrop, Open Educational Resources (OER) have emerged as a key trend in modern higher education. OER are teaching, learning, and research materials that are in the public domain or released under open licenses, allowing users to legally access, use, adapt, reuse, and share them. Beyond reducing learning material costs, OER support innovative teaching methods, personalized learning, and a stronger culture of knowledge sharing.

From Traditional Learning Materials to Open Educational Resources

For decades, printed textbooks and commercial learning materials have been the primary educational resources in higher education. However, this model faces growing challenges, particularly in terms of cost. In many countries, students spend substantial amounts each year on textbooks, reference materials, and digital learning platforms. High costs may delay access to essential materials, disrupt learning from the start of a course, or even force students to reduce course loads or discontinue their studies.

Traditional learning materials also struggle to keep pace with rapid change. Data, business cases, technologies, and industry trends can become outdated quickly, while printed textbooks cannot be updated frequently enough to reflect evolving labor markets, socioeconomic developments, or technological advances.

In addition, commercial textbooks offer limited flexibility, making it difficult for educators to adapt content to learning outcomes, student needs, or specific academic programs. As higher education increasingly emphasizes flexibility, personalization, and practical relevance, OER provide an effective alternative.

Making Higher Education More Accessible and Flexible

One of the greatest advantages of OER is expanding access to learning materials at little or no cost. Students can use course resources from the first day of class without financial barriers or delays, promoting more equitable access to education.

For educators, OER provide greater flexibility in course design. Rather than relying on a single textbook, instructors can combine, revise, and update open resources to better support learning objectives. Outdated statistics, case studies, or examples can easily be replaced with current, locally relevant content.

OER also encourage educators to move beyond delivering content toward designing engaging learning experiences. Adaptable resources make it easier to implement project-based learning, case analysis, professional practice, classroom discussion, and other active learning approaches.

Generative AI Creates New Opportunities for OER

Generative AI is creating new momentum for OER development. When used responsibly, AI tools can assist educators by reviewing drafts, generating discussion questions, designing assignments, creating assessment rubrics, suggesting practical examples, translating openly licensed materials, and improving accessibility through image descriptions.

However, AI cannot replace educators' academic expertise and professional responsibility. AI-generated content must be carefully verified, particularly regarding data, case studies, and scholarly references. Universities should also ensure that AI-supported OER development complies with copyright regulations, licensing requirements, and academic integrity standards.

AI should therefore be viewed as a powerful support tool, while the quality of OER ultimately depends on educators' expertise, pedagogical judgment, and commitment.

Supporting Competency-Based Education

OER are increasingly linked to competency-based education, micro-credentials, short courses, and lifelong learning. As labor market demands evolve, learners need continuously updated, job-relevant skills alongside traditional degrees. OER enable universities to develop affordable short courses, modular learning materials, and self-directed learning resources.

These resources help learners strengthen professional competencies, acquire new skills, and prepare for changing workplace requirements. For universities, OER also expand educational opportunities for diverse learner groups while reinforcing their role within lifelong learning ecosystems.

Universities’ Role in Advancing OER

Individual faculty efforts are important but insufficient to maximize the impact of OER. Universities need institutional strategies, supportive policies, and enabling environments that encourage educators to discover, create, adapt, and share open educational resources.

Support measures may include developing institutional OER repositories, providing training on Creative Commons licensing and copyright, establishing quality evaluation guidelines, promoting OER adoption in course syllabi, and recognizing OER development in academic evaluations. Libraries, instructional designers, educational technology specialists, and research teams can also collaborate to build sustainable open education ecosystems.

For Thanh Do University, promoting open education and open science aligns with its commitment to higher education innovation, digital transformation, and broader access to knowledge. OER represent not only a solution for learning materials but also a new approach to knowledge management, curriculum development, and teaching quality enhancement.

Thanh Do University Open Science and Open Education Library Portal 

Toward a Culture of Knowledge Sharing

OER offer multiple benefits for higher education by lowering financial barriers, expanding access to learning materials, supporting continuous curriculum updates, encouraging pedagogical innovation, and promoting lifelong learning. More importantly, they foster an academic culture built on collaboration, openness, and the responsible use of knowledge.

In the digital era, knowledge should not remain confined within closed systems. Instead, it should be organized, validated, shared, and reused to benefit wider learning communities. Developing and adopting OER is therefore a practical pathway for universities, including Thanh Do University, to build a more open, flexible, equitable, and socially responsive higher education system.

To effectively integrate OER into higher education, educators can consult “Open Education and Open Science: A Practical Guide for Educators and Researchers”, published by Thanh Do University. The guide covers practical topics including locating and evaluating OER, using Creative Commons licenses, selecting open textbooks, integrating Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) into academic programs, and utilizing open multimedia resources. Through these practical recommendations, educators can effectively select, adapt, combine, and reuse OER that align with course objectives, learning outcomes, and student needs, ultimately enhancing teaching quality and expanding students' access to knowledge.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Phan Thi Thanh Thao, President of Thanh Do University, with the book “Open Education and Open Science: A Practical Guide for Educators and Researchers”, nominated for the 2025 Open Education Awards for Excellence (OEAwards). 

Thanh Do University

Address: Km15, National Highway 32, Hoai Duc, Hanoi, Vietnam

Hotline: (+84) 934 078 668 - (+84) 243 386 1601

Website: https://thanhdo.edu.vn/ 

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