Again embraced the flexibility that is OP and went running (OK'ed by HOS) in the sun in the afternoon, so here I am at 8pm, on flexi-time.
I digress...
SO... waded through that document... {Open Education Practices: A User Guide for Organisations}. Plenty of fodder for the neurons in there.
Some tidbits that I liked...
- "Informational and personal connections are being made through this social media, and all of it creates an impressive opportunity for learning. But as yet educational institutions struggle to define themselves within this social media age, often rejecting the idea of social networked learning because it is regarded as unstructured, undisciplined and inferior to institutionalised learning."
- Jan Hylén's definition for OER as: "digitised materials offered freely and openly for educators, students and self-learners to use and reuse for teaching, learning and research."[3]
- This means that any resources created by staff can be freely used, distributed and modified providing attribution is given to the original author. This approach encourages sharing and collaboration with regard to resources.
- http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Open_Education_Practices:_A_User_Guide_for_Organisations
So I am embracing this definition... any resource, anywhere, anyhow, and everyone gets to have a stab at it... but leave my name there as well. Sounds fair to me, and sounds like the power of numbers, improving resources for all to use, but mention my name.
So this is not my definition - but it is what I would say.
Have encountered a couple of responses to this concept...
- Scenario one:
- Scenario two
Enter OP. Open resources. Take your unit. Make it your own. Use what we have. Do with it what you will... quite challenging, but in the end, very sensible. Fantabulous. Had heaps to get started on. Adding my bits. Nothing from scratch. Wunderbar. And open to the general population... I also don't mind because I think this is the reality...
- "Many staff express the fear that people will no longer enroll in courses if their teaching material is freely available, but others point out that so much is already freely available and that most students want a qualification which requires assessment not content. Open Educational Resources are a way of attracting people to the Polytechnic, because they can see the sort of material we use, and they can orientate themselves to the courses before they start." Robin Day
Importance: up-skilling anybody and everybody is generally a good idea. And pooling resources (including HR/IP) seem very sensible. It's hard to be an expert in everything, so share the gold, I say. Free education yes - but in the end, we have to make money and produce work-ready quality graduates... so a little more more is required to open our current resources up to Bob, Bill, Jane and Mary to manage their own NCVN in its entirety. In the end, this is win-win for all... educators learn, share better quality resources with learners and everybody has time for a wine.
Super. Now for mine. E noho ra...
PS: Am super frustrated that the fonts and presentation are so crap, and can't seem to work out how to fix it... apologies for those type-a's that also find this offensive...
No worries Helen I was able to get past the fonts. You make some very valid points and the theme running through is that it is okay to share resources but give attribution to the person who did all the work creating them, and make sure people aren't economically disadvantaged through the sharing process. Fair comments.
ReplyDeleteAnything that makes learning and teaching more sustainable has to be good as you say. What sorts of resources do you or would you be willing to share on an open platform?
I agree people have to weigh up the advantages of providing open, free resources and opportunities against potential commercial losses. Sometimes the time saved by collaborating on creating materials saves on any $ lost in people stealing the gold. Also the openness of materials can add economic benefits through the interest they may attract from potential students who may like the look of the free materials provided by an organisation, and as it gives them a taste for what they are in for, they may choose that organisation over another. Ta da enrolment fees are paid.