The true power of comparative research around the impact and use of open educational resources is only just being realised, largely through the work done by the Hewlett-funded OER Research Hub, based at The Open University (UK). Since late 2012 the project has used a combination of surveys, interviews and focus groups to gather data about the use of OER by educators, formal learners and informal learners across the globe. This presentation will focus on the overall picture emerging from the project's survey research, which presently comprises more than 4,972 responses, 62% of whom are informal learners, 14% of whom are formal learners and 24% of whom are educators. Results from more than fifty individual questionnaires have been compiled, including surveys of K12 and Flipped Learning teachers; college educators from the CCCOER consortium; users of iTunesU, OpenLearn, OpenStax, Saylor, Siyavula and YouTube.edu. OER Research Hub also has a general survey which is currently open so it is expected that sample size will grow.

In this presentation the research team will identify patterns in this one of the largest collections of linked survey data about OER. Key questions around OER use and attitudes will be explored with one of the biggest data sets that are available. The emergent picture is thus likely to be of interest to a wide range of OER stakeholders. Areas that will be covered include:

Who is using OER and in what ways?
- 99% of educators have adapted OER to fit their needs; 71% have created OER; 32% have created resources and published them with a CC license.
- 50% of survey respondents are male, 49% female; 35.6% speak a language other than English, and 10% declare themselves to have a disability.

What impact is OER having on teaching?
- While 32% of educators agree or strongly agree that OER use helps them reflect more on the way that they teach, the percentage of those who disagree or strongly disagree increases to 40.5%

How do students enrolled in education programmes use OER?
- For formal students using Saylor materials, the most commonly reported impact was increased motivation to study (46%).

What do we know about use of OER by informal learners?
- 35% of informal learners completing the OpenLearn survey indicated that they were more likely to take a paid-for course as a result of using OpenLearn

Are OER saving money?
- 62% of educators believe that their students have saved money by using OER, and 40% think that their institutions benefit financially.

Are OER improving access to education?
- 16% of OpenLearn users reported a disability, compared with the UK-wide figure of 8% disabled students in higher education.

Audience members are encouraged to share their reactions to the data and reflect on how it compares with their own experiences. OER Research Hub research instruments are available on open license (CC-BY) for anyone who wants to reproduce survey work, and we encourage others to share results back to the overall data set to leverage the power of openness.