Integration Of Open Educational Resources in Course Materials: A Content Analysis of the Teacher Education Programme in Open and Distance Education

Open Educational Resources (OER) comprise freely accessible, openly licensed educational materials that educators and learners can adapt and share for teaching and learning. The Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL) has recently increased OER integration into various programme learning materials. This study examined the integration of Open Educational Resources (OER) in teacher education course materials at the Open University of Sri Lanka. Using systematic content analysis, researchers evaluated OER frequency, type, and pedagogical quality in two Postgraduate Diploma in Education study guides: Educational Psychology and Educational Technology Foundations. The analysis revealed significant disciplinary variations in the adoption of OER. The Educational Technology Foundations guide incorporated 40.23% OER content with an average integration score of 3.5, while Educational Psychology included only 21.75% OER content, scoring 3.18. Both guides relied heavily on supplementary rather than primary OER content, with technical issues, including broken links and outdated materials, undermining the effectiveness of implementation. The absence of interactive OER activities represents missed opportunities for modeling innovative teaching practices. Findings reveal a policy-practice implementation gap where faculty technological expertise and disciplinary context significantly influence OER adoption patterns. The study recommends targeted faculty development, systematic quality assurance, and enhanced integration of interactive OER to realize the transformative potential of open educational resources in teacher preparation programs.