This paper discusses the concept of Open Educational Resources (OERs). The discussion then shift to OER sustainability, a fundamental element essential for the success of OER. Special attention is given to the following as they relate to the OER sustainability: instructional design & presentation; cost of production and maintenance; support; and OER communities of practice as relate to scalability. The paper concludes with recommendations for OERs future research.
Issues in Informing Science and Information Technology 4. 2007
Amee Godwin's contribution to the OSS and OER in Education Series. In this post, she writes about OER as an active collaborative process aimed at enhancing teaching and learning.
Andy Lane's contribution to the OSS and OER in Education Series. In this post, he describes Open Learning and Open Educational Resources activities and projects at The UK Open University. He asks some critical questions about what it means to talk about Open Teaching (whether using OERs or not) and how might that teaching be organized so that it is supportive of informal and/or formal learning.
This Guide comprises three sections. The first – a summary of the key issues – is presented in the form of a set of ‘Frequently Asked Questions’. Its purpose is to provide readers with a quick and user-friendly introduction to Open Educational Resources (OER) and some of the key issues to think about when exploring how to use OER most effectively. The second section is a more comprehensive analysis of these issues, presented in the form of a traditional research paper. For those who have a deeper interest in OER, this section will assist with making the case for OER more substantively. The third section is a set of appendices, containing more detailed information about specific areas of relevance to OER. These are aimed at people who are looking for substantive information regarding a specific area of interest. Prepared by Neil Butcherfor the Commonwealth of Learning & UNESCOEdited by Asha Kanwar (COL) and Stamenka Uvalić-Trumbić (UNESCO) Reader Comments
A group of educators will meet at Foothill College this week to begin studying how to encourage widespread adoption of free online textbooks.
Funded by a $530,000 grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources hopes to ease the burden on students who routinely pay $150 for clunky, hard-bound books, according to Judy Baker, dean of Foothill Global Access, an online-learning program.
The majority of grant money will go to the consortium's new Open Textbook Project, a collaboration with other schools and educational groups already using Web-based books to study the long-term feasibility of switching to online books, she said.
This presentation was delivered November 18 2009 at the Teaching with Technology Miniconference hosted by the Centre for Educational Technology at UCT. Higher education institutions in the 21st century find themselves in a complex and often contradictory environment as many of the world's leading institutions are formulating policy to give their content away for free and are investing significant resources in establishing open content platforms while other smaller institutions are holding onto content and proprietary systems in order to protect their identity and intellectual capital. The open educational resources OER movement follows in the wake of open source software and open access publishing initiatives and is fast transforming the way in which teaching and learning materials are created, shared and appropriated. Drawing on the concept of the Knowledge Commons and the principle of sharing knowledge for greater good, the OER movement has the potential to play a substantial role in disrupting the traditional flow of information and transforming how institutions view their pedagogical practices. The OER UCT project hosted by the Centre for Educational Technology at the University of Cape Town and funded by the Shuttleworth Foundation aims to showcase the teaching efforts of UCT academics by encouraging the publication of resources as OER. The project is also in the process of building a directory listing the UCT Collection of OER which will go live from early 2010 offering unprecedented potential for the sharing and visibility of teaching materials and global institutional and individual profiling on international OER sites. In this presentation Michael Paskevicius and Michelle Willmers will introduce the new terrain of OER and showcase the teaching and learning materials created by UCT academics that are already available worldwide and how UCT is gearing up to help you do the same
Christine Geith's contribution to the OSS and OER in Education Series. In this post, she writes about how OER may be shaping the future of a new type of university.
Cole Camplese's contribution to the OSS and OER in Education Series. In this post, he looks at how the Web is finally starting to fulfill its promise as a platform to support and extend conversations.
Open Educational Resources (OERs) are bringing a wealth of information, through various technologies, to all corners of the planet. This vital new movement has greatly impacted how our next generation now learns, but the promise is far grander. For the movement to reach it’s full potential, it must keep pace with technology. As Web 1.0 has moved on to the more interactive Web 2.0, so must the OER movement progress to the more interactive, student-centered, social learning environment of Learning 2.0. In this analysis I will share current examples of social learning in OERs. First, I will look at the trend of consumers becoming producers on websites such as Connexions and Rip Mix Learner. Second, I will examine the current and future role of education in social and interactive sites like Facebook and Wikipedia. Third, I will address how social learning is incorporated into OERs that are created for developing countries. And finally, I will discuss future trends and how OERs can, and must, continue to drive learners to interact and connect when they are in disparate areas.
This collection begins with an overview of collaborative learning and OERs and is followed by modules taking a deeper dive in the specific areas around the topic.
"This blog was created to keep our expanding audience informed about what is going on in the world of Open Textbooks and related topics. Please read and enjoy the posts. You are encouraged to add any comments that add to the discussion."
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Craig Perue's contribution to the "OSS and OER in Education Series." In this post, he shares his experiences while leading eLearning@UWI’s investments in open-source software to make eLearning a self-sustaining, across all of the campuses of the 15-country University of the West Indies.
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