Abstract:

The Open Educational Resources (OER) movement has emerged as a cornerstone of contemporary digital education policy, yet it continues to be characterized by a persistent and frustrating contradiction. This phenomenon, which can be described as the OER paradox, describes a situation in which stakeholders in the educational sector, particularly those actively engaged in projects funded as part of the German federal government's OER strategy, profess their support for the (joint) creation, use, adaptation, remixing, and sharing of resources, but themselves have only a negligible number of published OER in the relevant index for OER, the Open Educational Resources Search Index (OERSI). The OER paradox thus poses a crucial challenge to the sustainable expansion of digital educational resources.

This article examines this paradox, focusing on the following areas of research:
(1) the quantifiable extent of the discrepancy between positive attitudes and actual publication rates within the OERSI ,
(2) the more precise identification of obstacles and barriers such as lack of time, legal uncertainties and technological limitations ,
(3) the modeling of action-guiding attitudinal components .

The research design follows a dual method-approach. To determine the extent of the publication gap, a quantitative survey compares the registry of individuals involved as project managers and project staff in funded projects of the OER strategy of the Federal Republic of Germany with their contributions in the OERSI. Using established and newly developed instruments, both quantitative and qualitative data on the affective, behavioral and cognitive components of the relevant attitudes are collected. The theoretical framework is based on the theory of planned behavior, which identifies perceived behavioral control as a crucial predictor of actions in contexts with low volitional control. A prior study conducted among school teachers revealed that thus the exceptionally high affective commitment to a culture of sharing among experienced educators, the actual publication of OER remains limited, primarily due to perceived legal uncertainties, lack of time and the desire for reciprocity in sharing of resources. By identifying critical weaknesses within this OER-affiliated sample, the authors expect results that can serve as a starting foundation for further development of targeted support structures that are essential for bridging the gap between ideological commitment and actual educational practice.

Keywords:

OER, Open Educational Resources, OEP, Open Educational Practice, Collaboration, attitude-behavior gap.