Adoption and Usage of Open Educational Resources in Universities: A Framework for Sustainable Open Educational Practice

Abdulmumin Isah, University of Ilorin 
Adeyinka Tella, University of Ilorin and University of South Africa 
Vusi Tsabedze, University of Eswatini

https://doi.org/10.9743/JEO.2025.22.1.6

Abstract

This paper investigated academic staff and students’ adoption and usage of open educational resources (OER) in Nigerian universities. We determined the diffusion of OER among academic staff and students, identified challenges they faced in adopting OER, and proposed a framework for sustainable open educational practice. A total of 850 respondents representing 440 academic staff and 410 students constituted the sample for the study. Three research questions guided the study and a questionnaire was used for the collection of data. The results reveal that academic staff in Nigerian universities use OER as the basis for entire courses. They are used to construct and prepare lessons and as supplements to their own original educational materials. Students adopt and use OERs to prepare for lessons in the courses they take in the university. This shows that OERs in Nigerian Universities are diffused freely and legally, through university libraries, institutional repositories, virtual library platforms, and individual subscriptions. We also propose a framework for sustainable open educational practice in Nigeria; however, inadequate access to OER on campus, low trust in the quality of OERs, difficulty in accessing them due to slow internet connection and language problems, and inadequate training in the adoption and use of OER are challenges we identified. Based on the findings, we recommend that adequate access to OERs should be provided on campus and that academic staff should encourage their students to use OERs to support their traditional course materials.

Keywords: open educational resources, adoption, use, framework, and sustainable open educational practice.