An Exploratory Study of K-12 Teachers’ Perceptions of Adopting Open Educational Resources in Teaching

With the increased use of digital resources, the use of open educational resources (OERs) has become more demanding in K-12 education, especially after the outbreak of COVID-19. OERs support teachers by providing them with the ability to adapt or create learning materials to meet students’ needs. To engage K-12 teachers in the use of OERs, it is important to understand the factors affecting their willingness to adopt them. This study investigated K-12 teachers’ perceptions of using OERs in teaching. The variables, including teachers’ perceived ease of use of OERs, perceived usefulness of OERs, and technology integration self-efficacy, were examined. Other factors associated with teachers’ intention to adopt OERs were explored. Participants were teachers at a university in the north-eastern United States. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were applied to analyze the collected data. The results indicated that the proposed variables significantly correlated with intention. Ease of use, usefulness, and technology integration self-efficacy were all significant predictors of teachers’ intention to adopt OERs, with perceived usefulness being the strongest predictor. K-12 teachers’ perceived advantages and disadvantages of using OERs in teaching are reported and discussed.