Page - 61 - in Radical Solutions and Open Science - An Open Approach to Boost Higher Education

64 S.AffounehandZ.N.Khlaif other classmates and teachers,which results in the lack of the critical thinking andproblem-solvingskills that aredevelopedby interacting inaclassroom. 2. The limitations of technology and accessibility can be a barrier, especially for people who are still terrified of using technology.Moreover, a computer and high-speed internet are requirements for open education anddistance learning, so it can cost a lot to set up facilities, especially those for live communication. Since, distance learningprograms sometimesneedhigh-tech toolswhichcould be expensive. These tools can be used to develop new learning materials for courses, updating them,andmarketing thecourses. 3. Somestudentsliveoutsidethestudyarea,which,inatraditionallearningprocess, requires themtoorder somematerials thatneed tobemailed to them.However, indistance learning, theydonotneed thesematerials tobemailed to them. 4. Distance learning is different than traditional learning in the senseof feedback. Indistance learning, students donot get immediate feedback; theyhave towait for reviewandcomments fromtheir teachers. 5. Distancelearningisnotrecognizedworldwide.Someemployersmightnotaccept onlinedegrees, or it canbe less suitable for somefields (Vlasenko,n.d.). 4.5 UsageofOpenEducation Massive openonline courses (MOOCs), opendigital textbooks, andvideo lectures are themostpopularopeneducational resources.ThegreatestnumberofMOOCsin EuropeisprovidedinGreatBritain(234courses), followedbyFrance(137courses) andGermany (111 courses). At the global level, 27% ofMOOCs originate from theUSA, 17% from India, 13% inChina, and 4% each fromGreat Britain, Aus- traliaandCanada,while theremaining31%comefromothercountries(http://www. moocs.co/).Accordingly,mostlyOERsinwell-knownrepositoriesareintheEnglish language:96%onOERCommons,94%onCurriki,89%onMerlot,70%onCours- era and83%onedX.However, theMITOpenCourseware repository, the leader in theOERinitiative,has translatedsomecoursesandothereducationalmaterials into at least10 languages (Gutonberblog,2018). OER received support in a recent study by InsideHigher Ed (2018) survey on school leaders and teachers’ opinions on technology. Presidents strongly agreed (61%) or agreed (30%) that ‘textbooks and course materials are too expensive’. 85%ofpresidents alsoagreed (85%)or stronglyagreed (52%) that colleges should adopt free andopenly licensedonline educationalmaterials. Presidents of doctoral universities,whetherpublicorprivate,wereslightlylesslikelythantheircounterparts inother institutions toagree, at49%and40%, respectively. Distanceandopeneducationare thebest solutions for studentswhohave trouble attendingtraditionalclasses;theyallowthosestudentstoattendeducationalprograms according to their scheduleswithoutaffecting theirpersonalorprofessional lives.A persononlyneedsacomputerandaninternetconnectiontofinishanonlineprogram