Open Educational Resources : Free Content for Learners

What are OER’s?

Content openly available for learners

Courses, articles, modules, learning objects

Software, tools for learning

Available to use, re-use, remix, redistribute

Licensed but free to the end user

Why use them?

Reduce the costs of education to learners

Make education globally accessible

Collaborate, share and partner to use and provide open content

Recognize creators

Increase quality while localizing content

Conversely, content can be internationalized as well

Improve our competitive edge

Avoid duplication of effort

Change a culture

Why would anyone provide free content? They think that

Knowledge should be free

Education is a basic human right

Barriers to education must be removed

Education should be customized & localized

Is it possible? We have

A model unique to digital resource development

A successful web-based business model

Costs offset by tangible and intangible benefits

Means to overcome obstacles

You are

Interested in using Open Educational Resources in your classes?

Already using or developing OER?

Concerned about the quality of existing resources, or their applicability to their classroom?

Doubtful that you now have the time and skills needed to develop open content materials, or to adapt existing ones?

Concerned about giving away intellectual property?

Doubtful that you could successfully transition to using OER?

Would you be more interested in OER's If you could

Be compensated for the additional time and effort spent on resource development?

Gain global recognition for your work?

Reserve selected rights to your intellectual property while allowing maximum use for educational purposes?

Realize a royalty income that may exceed that for commercially published work?

Increase enrollment in your classes?

Offer your students resources tailored to your own pedagogical style and workflow?

Offer your resources worldwide?

Update your teaching resources at will?

Collaborate with colleagues around the world?

Experience a smooth transition into a brave new world?

Those were some of the benefits … Now for the small print

How do we pay for

Technical infrastructure

New skills and knowledge

Time

Lost revenue (royalties, commissions)

How do we account for

The course as an asset

Depreciation

Long term fiscal impact

Institutional effectiveness

Global impact

Effects on enrollment

Put It All Together : Common Themes, Considerations, Opportunities

Collaborate and partner

Partners may be profit, non-profit

Partnerships may be formed within the institution

Keep costs down, share costs

Avoid duplication of effort

Share technical, financial, and staff resources

Take advantage of external expertise while building internal knowledge base

Increase revenue streams

Scale early projects to benefit the most users

Identify possible partners

Local corporations

Local charitable foundations

Other schools at all levels

Utilize existing resources

Review existing projects for usability

Take advantage of existing staff development opportunities

Library resources are always free to students and faculty

Start small with a core group and build on success

Integrate projects

Maintain quality

Content and presentation

Meet needs and expectations

Peer review

Currency

Adhere to existing standards

Accessible, localized

Require constant evaluation

Compensate developers

Pay for time spent on development

Reward finished product

Protect intellectual property

Replace lost revenue streams

Protect intellectual property

New licenses reserve some rights – mix and match your own choices

Plain language presentation to users with a legal language counterpart

Education-friendly -- what Fair Use should be

Use, re-use, adapt … and attribute

More publishing opportunities

Manage sustainability

Revenue streams must extend beyond start-up

Infrastructure must be upgraded continually

Content must be upgraded continually

Plan for staff development

Market and measure the benefits to students

Market and measure the benefits to developers

Evaluation must be built-in

Effectiveness must be measurable and proven

Transition smoothly

Decrease and share costs

Increase benefits

Start small

Utilize existing resources

Follow a well-considered plan

Embrace participation

Create sustainable success

Respond to changing environments

What can individuals do?

Take advantage of faculty development opportunities

Start small by identifying usable content already available in an OER project

Develop collaborative relationships within and external to the institution

Communicate with students, administration, colleagues

Learn, explore

What can institutions do?

Identify partners, revenue streams

Provide legal support (licensing)

Build technical infrastructure, tools

Provide staff development opportunities

Manage quality

Measure impact to institution

Promote, market

Learn more

Center for Open Sustainable Learning: http://cosl.usu.edu/

Creative Commons: http://creativecommons.org/

UNESCO: http://www.unesco.org/iiep/eng/focus/opensrc/opensrc_1.htm

Open CourseWare Consortium: http://www.ocwconsortium.org/index.html

Connexions: http://cnx.org

Sakai: http://www.sakaiproject.org/

Merlot: http://www.merlot.org/merlot/index.htm

Clearinghouses: http://library.hccs.edu/OER/?Clearinghouses