Postgraduate Student‘s Open Educational Practices and Hurdles among Faculty of Science at Alagappa University during the Pandemic M. Muniyasamy and R. Jeyshankar* Abstract—This study aims to analyze the practices and hurdles of open educational resources (OER) among faculty of science postgraduate students at Alagappa University, Tamilnadu, India, during the pandemic period. The present study has employed the “questionnaire” as a tool developed by the investigator through a systematic and comprehensive approach in the research design of the questionnaire forms for the survey in various phases. The investigator conducted a pilot study in different Alagappa University, India, departments. The faculty of science students of Alagappa University, Tamilnadu, India, has been selected for the population of the study. A total of 396 postgraduate faculty of science students from the departments chosen at Alagappa University, Tamilnadu, India, were initially collected. However, 30 samples were excluded due to incompleteness. A simple random sampling method was employed to select 366 data for the study. All faculty of science students at Alagappa University, Tamilnadu, India were aware of OER. However, one-fourth of students rarely used OER per day, and only a few students used it monthly. OER was taught to students by faculty at Alagappa University, which created awareness and usage of OER. More announcements or news about OERs being posted on official university websites would increase student awareness of OERs. The significant hurdles shared by students in this study in using OERs are the low quality of OER, limited technology, the OER repository, and the time-consuming to download OER resources. I. INTRODUCTION Open Educational Resources (OER) is a term coined by UNESCO in 2002 [1], referring to all the freely accessible online educational materials [2]. It should adopt the 5Rs conditions mentioned in the OER that allow retaining, reusing, revising, remixing, and redistributing a rich collection of openly licensed resources [3, 4]. OER encompasses all types of textbooks, course materials, images, videos, games, Audio/Video lectures, open software, simulations, research data, research papers, research outputs, etc. [5, 6]. It is digital and free of charge to all [7–9]. OER has significantly contributed to providing quality learning resources at Alagappa University, Tamilnadu, India [10]. The appropriate use of OER can widen access to education, reduce costs, and improve the quality of education in India Manuscript received September 5, 2022; revised November 2, 2022; accepted December 16, 2022. M. Muniyasamy is with Alagappa University, Karaikudi, Tamilnadu, India. R. Jeyshankar is with the Department of Library and Information Science, Pondicherry University, Pondicherry, India. *Correspondence: jeyshankar71@gmail.com (R.J.) [11]. Quality of education improves when instructors and learners can easily access resources they could not access due to high costs and copyright laws [12]. Education has witnessed a significant paradigm shift in teaching methods and educational resources. Access to e-resources is better suited for users connected to a university or corporate network when a library chooses to use a specific authentication and authorization method. By implementing this method, the library can ensure that access to its digital resources is secure and dependable [13, 14]. In today‘s environment, users often link to resources remotely from home, coffee shops, or other locations. While some current methods in wide use for accessing e-resources have traits that help protect patron privacy, they can also have traits that may hinder it. The program allows librarians to develop expertise in developing OER initiatives on their campuses [15, 16]. The new education system emphasizes online-based teaching-learning approaches [17]. We must also bring the most extraordinary transformation in the future school sector [18]. It is an open educational resource that includes classes and programs, curricula, didactic modules, student guidelines, textbooks, articles in research, videos, podcasts, assessment tools, interactive material (simulations), databases, software, applications, and all other educational matters [19]. Open education services consist of education content, software, resources for an application, and external links [20]. OER with teaching methods is problematic but can effectively foster learning when adequately implemented. ―OER‖ is the standard solution for all disasters that impact students‘ education (viral outbreaks, war, flooding, rain, recession, famines, storms, etc.). Teachers using the Internet can utilize asynchronous discussions, real-time chat, online testing, and document sharing. These Internet tools may sometimes refer to as Web-based or Web-supported technology. Free online education may enhance the educational experience through computer-communications technology, but face-to-face expertise is still required [21], [22]. Parents in India are protesting the online learning strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Indian Ministry of Higher Education. Parents are pushed for complete control over their children rather than traditional learning. As a result, it is critical to identify the parents‘ role when their children utilize e-Learning during COVID-19 [23, 24]. The present study aims to discover the Practices and Hurdles of Open Educational Resources (OER) among Post Graduate students of the Faculty of Science at Alagappa University, Tamilnadu, India, during the pandemic period [25]. International Journal of Information and Education Technology, Vol. 13, No. 3, March 2023 526 doi: 10.18178/ijiet.2023.13.3.1835 Index Terms—Massive open online courses, open educational resources, open educational practices, science students