This dissertation consists of two separate studies exploring current and emerging technologies for education. The current technology is presented in the first study as an open educational resource (OER) for language learning. This study explored the affordances of OERs for language by comparing a traditional textbook and an OER web-book in terms…

Instructors are steadily incorporating collaborative learning technology into their online classes to help promote effective learning strategies. A learning management system (LMS), such as Blackboard, offers their own collaborative technologies, but some instructors are turning to free and open source system (FOSS) to conduct these collaborative…

Improving pronunciation in second language (L2) learning requires timely and personalized feedback but educators have limited time to dedicate in the classroom. While there are many educational tools available, educators are still struggling to integrate technology in their practices. To address this challenge, this study explores repurposing a…

Open educational resources (OER) have open licensing or public domain designations that allow users to retain, reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute content unencumbered by traditional copyright restrictions. As such, they can replace costly traditional textbooks, provide all students with access to materials on the first day of class, and invite…

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) use free or low-fee short courses to increase access to education both in the United States and internationally. Since the University of Illinois partnered with the MOOC provider Coursera in 2013 it has seen over 1.55 million enrollments in over 125 open courses, as well as the development of four online…

Change is inevitable in education particularly with instructional materials. As technology advances, so does the opportunity to personalize, differentiate, and accelerate learning for students. Open Educational Resources (OER) provide just such an opportunity for educators. Successful resource adoption requires a plan and a committed person to…

Purpose: The purpose of this Delphi study was to identify and describe the perceptions of open educational resources (OER) higher education experts regarding the activities needed at colleges and universities in the United States in order to advance faculty adoption of OER over the next 10 years. Also, this study examined those activities that…