OER Resources

is there evidence of their learning effectiveness? A. That's part of what makes the OLI [Open Learning Initiative, based at Carnegie Mellon University] so unique, is that built into the environment itself, that accomplishes the teaching, is the mechanism for assessment. ... They have given a control group and a variable group the same final, and found that the students using OLI aren't hurt in the slightest by not having had the same level of in-person instruction—that the system did just as well, if not better, at teaching them this material. ... Beyond those two studies, there really hasn't been a systematic appraisal of learning outcomes based on openly available material writ large. No one disputes that these open-courseware initiatives have done much good. But it's impossible, with the currently available data, to determine how much good.

(2)  Intellectual property.  In the documentary I mention above and in just about all of the other work in my class, we discuss IP issues--and then claim fair use for the materials we borrow from within the class.  We talk about Creative Commons and other forms of share-alike licensing.   But then we often disregard those rules in the creation of the class student-produced materials.  By that I mean, there are images and audio that are attributed, of course, to those who created them but nonetheless used in the production intended for our class and for pedagogical purposes only that would require fees and legal agreements were they distributed beyond the walled off class project.   We are at such a strange moment in the history of intellectual property, with everything changing and no one quite knowing what they want or why since the business model of so much online property remains in flux.  I want my students to understand the IP issues--but I don't want their intellect and imagination fettered by it.