Mapping Global OER Trends in Higher Education
PDF

How to Cite

Iwu-James, J., & Eneogwe, U. (2026). Mapping Global OER Trends in Higher Education: A Systematic Review with a Comparative Analysis of Nigeria. International Journal of Librarianship, 11(3), 73–87. https://doi.org/10.23974/ijol.2026.vol11.3.634

Abstract

The study examined global trends in the adoption of Open Educational Resources (OER), with a comparative analysis of Nigeria. The study is a synthesis of 40 global studies on trends in the adoption of OER and 15 studies on the trends in the adoption of OER in Nigeria. The study adopted the PRISMA 2020 approach, which is a systematic approach to the evaluation of the literature, with the process involving the steps of identification, screening, eligibility, and inclusion. The evaluation process adopted the CASP, MMAT, JAB Checklist, and AACODS framework. The study found that globally, there are trends in the awareness, adoption, and infrastructure of OER, while in Nigeria, the challenges are awareness, adoption, digital literacy, and infrastructure. The study recommended that awareness and capacity-building workshops should be conducted among students and faculty; OER policy should be implemented; infrastructure should be put in place for digital resources and the development of OER; open pedagogy should be encouraged to engage students in the development of resources; and research should be conducted on the adoption of OER, student outcomes, and faculty engagement.

https://doi.org/10.23974/ijol.2026.vol11.3.634
PDF

References

Abduldayan, A. H., &Jibril, A. F. (2024). Open educational resources integration in colleges of education in Kwara State, Nigeria. Information Impact: Journal of Information and Knowledge Management, 15(2), 16–26.

Adedoyin, O. B., Altinay, F., Gemikonakli, E., Altinay, Z., &Dagli, G. (2024). National policy on open educational resources for higher education in Nigeria: Evaluation of institutional compliance rate to infrastructure and the connectivity goal. Higher Education Policy, 1–30.

Adil, H. M., Ali, S., Sultan, M., Ashiq, M., &Rafiq, M. (2024). Open education resources’ benefits and challenges in the academic world: A systematic review. Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication, 73(3), 274–291.

Atenas, J., Ebner, M., Ehler, U. D., Nascimbeni, F., &Schön, S. (2024). An introduction to open educational resources and their implementation in higher education worldwide. Weizenbaum Journal of the Digital Society, 4(4).

Baas, M., Van der Rijst, R., Huizinga, T., Van den Berg, E., & Admiraal, W. (2022). Would you use them? A qualitative study on teachers' assessments of open educational resources in higher education. The Internet and Higher Education, 54, 100857.

Bello, A. (2023). Determinants of lecturers’ acceptance, use, and attitude towards open educational resources for knowledge sharing in universities in North-East Nigeria (Doctoral dissertation).

Bossu, C., Pete, J., Prinsloo, P., &Agbu, J. F. (2019). How to tame a dragon: Scoping diversity, inclusion and equity in the context of an OER project.

Butcher, N. (2015). Basic guide to open educational resources (OER).

Cronin, C. (2017). Openness and praxis: Exploring the use of open educational practices in higher education. International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 18(5), 15–34.

Dahiru, M. (2025). Barriers to adopting ICT-based teaching methods in Nigerian polytechnic institutions. SSRN. https://ssrn.com/abstract=5285586

Das, D. R. K., &Singha, D. A. (2023). Open educational resources (OER) repositories: A comprehensive analysis of usage patterns and impact on education. Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal).

Esan, O., Okoro, A., &Adeyemi, T. (2024). Perceived usefulness and use of OER among postgraduate students in South West Nigeria. Communicate: Journal of LIS, 9(1), 55–70.

Forehand, L. C. (2024). From Access to Equity: The Role of OER and Technology in Higher Education. California State University, Long Beach.

Gurav, V., & Nagarkar, S. R. (2024). Open educational resources: A review of the concept, benefits, challenges, and key institutions and initiatives. In Emerging technologies in library services: Innovation for access and engagement (pp. 296–310).

Hilton, J., &Laman, C. (2020). Meta-analysis of cost savings from OER in universities. Educational Research Review, 30, 100314.

Koseoglu, S., &Bozkurt, A. (2018). An exploratory literature review on open educational practices. Distance Education, 39(4), 441–461.

Lawal, U. S., & Ahmed, A. (2025). Analysis of open educational resources availability and accessibility for learning activities among students at Kaduna State University: Implications for institutional policy. African Journal of Educational Assessors, 11(1).

Luo, T., Ye, J., & Hong, W. (2020). The power of open: Benefits, barriers, and integration strategies. Open Learning, 35(2), 135–152.

Mensah, K. (2024). Challenges and opportunities of implementing open access policies. African Journal of Information and Knowledge Management, 3(1), 40–52.

Mishra, M., Dash, M. K., Sudarsan, D., Santos, C. A. G., Mishra, S. K., Kar, & da Silva, R. M. (2022). Assessment of trend and current pattern of open educational resources: A bibliometric analysis. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 48(3), 102520.

National Universities Commission (NUC). (2021). National Universities Commission (NUC) OER policy for Nigerian higher education. NUC.

National Universities Commission (NUC). (2022). Strategic plan for the development and use of open educational resources (OER) in Nigerian universities. NUC. https://www.nuc.edu.ng/

Ndibalema, P. (2024). Global trends on adoption of open education resources in higher education institutions: A bibliometric analysis. Huria: Journal of the Open University of Tanzania, 31, 15–34.

Nyamboga, F. N. (2024). Adoption of open educational resources (OER) in promoting blended learning at university libraries in Nairobi County, Kenya (Doctoral dissertation, KeMU).

Obinyan, R., Adepoju, T., &Ogunbiyi, M. (2023). Students’ awareness and use of OER in Nigerian universities. International Journal of Research and Review, 10(3), 1–14.

Ogunbodede, K. F., &Cocodia, B. (2023). Promoting the use of open educational resources by librarians in university libraries in Nigeria. International Information & Library Review, 55(4), 329–338.

Ogunbodede, T., Adeyemi, A., & Bello, M. (2021). Awareness and use of OER by academic staff in Federal College of Education (Technical) Asaba. RSU Journal of Education, 12(1), 25–36.

Okonkwo, C. A. (2012). A needs assessment of ODL educators to determine their effective use of open educational resources. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 13(2), 289–310.

Olufunke, A. C., &Adegun, O. A. (2014). Utilization of open educational resources and quality assurance in universities in Nigeria. European Scientific Journal, 10(7).

Omoike, A. D., &Oyelude, A. A. (2024). Perception and use of open educational resources by distance learning students of University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Journal of Library Services and Technologies, 6(1), 183–201.

Onaifo, D. (2016). Alternate academy: Investigating the use of open educational resources by students at the University of Lagos in Nigeria (Doctoral dissertation, University of Western Ontario).

Otto, D., Adawi, T., & Lindberg, J. (2021). Trends and gaps in empirical OER research: A systematic mapping. Contemporary Educational Technology, 13(1), ep292.

Panday Shukla, P. (2023). Comparing an open educational resource and a traditional textbook: Learner outcomes and engagement. Foreign Language Annals, 57(2), 425–449.

Porter, D. A. (2013). Exploring the practices of educators using open educational resources (OER) in the British Columbia higher education system.

Priya, M. R. S., &Senthilnathan, S. (2024). Transforming pedagogy: The role of open educational resources in modern education. In Changing landscape of education.

Rich, J., Doyle, K., &Orbach, D. N. (2025). Student-generated open educational resources (OERs) to inspire the next generation of STEM students and teachers. International Journal of Science Education, 1–18.

Smart, K., &Ogbomo, V. (2023). Awareness of OER and utilization by postgraduate students of NOUN. Lagos Journal of Information Science Research, 5(1), 12–28.

Sousa, P., Farrow, R., Perryman, L., & Pitt, R. (2023). A systematic review of systematic reviews on open educational resources. International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 24(1), 1–22.

Tlili, A., Essalmi, F., Jemni, M., &Kinshuk. (2022). Are we there yet? A systematic literature review of open educational resources in Africa. PLOS ONE, 17(11), e0276145.

Tlili, A., Jemni, M., Kinshuk, &Essalmi, F. (2023). Are open educational resources (OER) and practices (OEP) effective in improving learning achievement? A meta-analysis. International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning, 18(1), 23–46.

UNESCO. (2002). Forum on the impact of open courseware for higher education in developing countries. UNESCO. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/

UNESCO. (2012). The Paris OER Declaration. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/

UNESCO. (2019). UNESCO recommendation on open educational resources (OER). UNESCO. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/

UNESCO. (2021). Global OER recommendation review: Taking stock of progress made in the implementation of the 2019 UNESCO recommendation on open educational resources. UNESCO. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/

UNICEF. (2022). Education budget brief: Dealing with new demands emanating from the ‘education for all’policy.

Wang, T., &Towey, D. (2017). Open educational resource (OER) adoption in higher education: Challenges and strategies. In 2017 IEEE 6th International Conference on Teaching, Assessment, and Learning for Engineering (TALE) (pp. 317–319). IEEE.

Werth, E., & Williams, K. (2023). Learning to be open: Instructor growth through open pedagogy. Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, 38(4), 301–314.

Zaid, Y. A., &Alabi, A. O. (2021). Sustaining open educational resources (OER) initiatives in Nigerian universities. Open Learning, 36(2), 181–197.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Copyright (c) 2026 International Journal of Librarianship

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.