Review of Linked Data and Open Educational Resources in Academia: Potential Benefits and Challenges

Abstract

This study aims to establish the importance of open educational resources through linked data among academics in higher educational institutes. This paper examines the potential benefits and challenges of using linked data technologies for open educational resources (OERs) in university academics. This study is based on a descriptive literature review published in national and international literature. This study demonstrated that the use of linked data to integrate open educational resources supported university academia in improving learning, teaching, and research activities. The relevant literature established the dynamic role of linked data for the enhancement of open educational resources and associated potential benefits and multiple challenges by the academia. The study sensitizes the educational institute’s administration to take initiatives for the open educational resources in terms of open education, open repository and open courseware. The results of the study develop the understanding of students, teachers and information professional in higher education institutes locally and internationally. Moreover, this study provides the recommendations to investigate this phenomenon in depth in order to apply linked data in the academic setting. In this era of information and communication technology where the web has become increasingly important. These phases include open research, open sciences, and open educational resources that incorporate linked data require in-depth examination in in local perspective to become more visible in academia