Open educational resources : between McSchool and creative school

Abstract

The purpose of the paper is to analyse whether open educational resources (OER), perceived by their enthusiasts as a key factor to economic, social and environmental progress, are a sufficient element to trigger a revolution in education - the world education systems suffering from the process of McDonaldization which impedes them from evolving towards the XXI century “creative school” structure. The analysis, based on a number of surveys conducted and published in Poland between 2013 and 2015 (Poland being in fact used as a case study) reveals, firstly, that the usage of OER is less frequent and common than it is supposed to be. Secondly, these resources serve as a complement to the traditional methodologies rather than a source of creative change, their real potential remaining undiscovered. Last but not least, to flourish, this potential demands a switch of paradigm at each level of the educational ecosystem, which principally means more freedom for teachers to create their own methodologies, including creative usage of OER, and ways of assessing students.