Arab Educational Information Network

It is necessary to enhance the learning and educational experience and process to students through endorsing Open Educational Resources (OER) activity in academic institutions. Therefore, resources should be shared openly to improve the educational experience by accessing resources easily. The aim of this research is to identify the need for OER among the Department of Information Studies (DIS) female students and its use in the College of Basic Education (CBE) at the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET) in the state of Kuwait. A descriptive analysis was used to identify the awareness of the need for OER within CBE among ISD students in PAAET. Furthermore, an online questionnaire was sent to 104 female students in the Information Studies department at CBE. The main findings indicated that students were aware of OER, as well as there is a clear weakness from information specialists at CBE\PAAET regarding the role of OER in an academic condition. Moreover, the results confirmed that there are challenges that hinder the use of OER at CBE, such as a lack of information specialists’ support in providing OER and a lack of electronic support to access such resources. Therefore, recommendations to CBE on establishing an effective OER environment within the PAAET were proposed. (Published abstract)