The term open educational resources was first adopted at the 2002 UNESCO Forum
“the open provision of educational resources, enabled by information and communication technologies, for consultation, use and adaptation by a community of users for noncommercial purposes” (UNESCO, 2002, p. 24)
he notion of openness, for its part, has been given legal force and definition through the set of copyright licenses released by Creative Commons, also in 2002
A second general difference separating learning objects from their open educational counterparts is indicated by the absence of any explicit reference to the openness or the open and noncommercial character of the resource.
What is significant in each definition is precisely what is included and excluded: Each definition highlights (either directly or indirectly) modularity as a technological and design attribute for the object and its content, emphasizing the “self-contained,” “building block” or “object-oriented” nature of the technology.
Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching (MERLOT)
this project recently met its original ambitious goal of placing all of MIT’s course content online by 2007
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
the funding for the operations of many of the projects is either provided by a parent institution
by a governmental organization
or by a combination of these types of sources.
he many projects that have fallen inactive or been discontinued
the nature and the enormity of the sustainability challenge online educational resource collections face.
The clear sustainability lesson from both this listing of inactive projects and the earlier listing of active efforts is the importance of ongoing, operational institutional or consortial funding for educational resource collections and the difficulty of realizing alternative funding models. Online educational resource initiatives of this kind, one can conclude, need to be seen as processes or services rather than as products that persist of their own accord.
Only projects that are large-scale, well-funded, and able to benefit from a first-mover advantage (i.e., being one of the first of their kind) seem to have any chance of developing collections whose scope extends to all educational subjects
The issue of sustainability of OER projects, unsurprisingly, was one of the top concerns
awareness raising and promotion;
communities and networking of creators and users; and
capacity development, specifically as it relates to the development and pedagogical application of OERs.
The necessary preconditions for viability – awareness, capacity, community, cultural change – are identical with what would be the results of success.
a vicious circle of “chicken and egg.
the majority of the use of this material not only takes place outside of the USA, it also occurs outside in the context of reuse and adaptation by teachers or instructional designers.
it is educationally valuable without detracting from the educational value of the face-to-face activities on which the collected content is based.
This finding provides clear evidence of multiple areas of significant benefit accruing to MIT the institution from the open courseware project, and it provides a positive illustration of important possibilities for change.
“OCW use is centered on subjects for which MIT is recognized leader
32% of faculty say that putting materials online has improved their teaching
35 percent of freshmen who were aware of OCW prior to deciding to attend MIT indicate the site was a significant or very significant influence on their choice of school” (cited in Wiley, 2006, p. 6).
David Wiley presents a conclusion that may be of the utmost significance for OER: “The time will come when an OpenCourseWare or similar collection of open access educational materials will be as fully expected from every higher education institution as an informational website is now” (2006, p. 6).
Simply put, this is enlightened institutional self-interest.
student recruitment
the potential for improving teaching and for better supporting learning
a kind of viral marketing of the quality of teaching and learning in areas of strategic institutional interest
They need not risk financial and cultural capital on creating yet another collection or repository, but instead can invest it in the quality and accessibility of their course offerings.
Open CourseWare Consortium and its OCW finder
It only asks of its members a contribution of 12 courses to its growing collection of over 10,000 courses
The point, as Wiley explains, is that “this strategy of openness” holds out the promise of “catalyzing further innovations” (2006).
Stated objectives for what Sakai v.3's ePortfolio system should include. Serves as a great touchstone for evaluating any ePortfolio system we might look at.
arguments and evidence are more important than facts and figures
communicating clear goals and expectations
incorporating multiple active learning opportunities
providing frequent, prompt, and constructive feedback
creating teacher support resources
an exploratory study of the practices of exemplary online teachers, Lewis and Abdul-Hamid (2006)
efforts to provide constructive and individualized feedback to students
facilitating student interaction
paying attention to how a course is organized and how teacher presence is enhanced
involvement and learning
most of the literature deals with the “science” of online teaching rather than the “art” of online teaching. In this paper, we attempt to remedy this state of affairs
Faculty Learning Community
The program typically includes a curriculum about enhancing teaching and learning with regularly-scheduled meetings and activities that provide participants with opportunities pertaining to the FLC’s major focus. An important component of an FLC is an emphasis on the scholarship of teaching and learning
eLearning Pedagogy FLC
Its general goal was to increase faculty interest in learning and teaching with instructional technologies
Peers are viewed as important in the learning process by creating an environment where “students can reason together and challenge each other” (p. 53) and grapple with the content together while building a sense of community
participants attended monthly meetings that included teaching and learning activities, development and training opportunities, and community building
participants read the literature on the scholarship of teaching and designed individual projects that allowed the assessment and evaluation of their instructional changes, suitable for presentation or publication in a professional journal
At the start of our FLC, we read Bain’s book, with the goal of discussing it in terms of its implications for teaching online
during these discussions, each FLC member listed out the major and most interesting points from Bain’s book
understanding is more important than remembering
we analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of what the best teachers studied by Bain did in terms of online teaching
creating effective student interactions with faculty, peers, and content
fostering student engagement
s timulating intellectual development
confronting intriguing, beautiful or important problems, authentic tasks that will challenge [students] to grapple with ideas, rethink assumptions and examine mental models of reality
building rapport with students
behaviors such as demonstrating and encouraging trust and potential in students, flexibility, self-directed learning, communicating learning and success intentions to students, and conveying realistic goals and expectations.
Fostering Student Engagement
foster engagement through effective student interactions with faculty, peers, and content
see the potential in every student, demonstrate a strong trust in their students, encourage them to be reflective and candid, and foster intrinsic motivation moving students toward learning goals
The best teachers want students to learn, regularly assess their efforts and make adjustments as needed, and accommodate diversity with sensitivity to student needs and issues
we summarized the major categories of behaviors shown by Bain’s best teachers that are most applicable to online teaching and learning
Class content – through its design, lectures, discussions, and assignments – supports the student learning objectives
Accordingly, the best teachers use meaningful examples, stimulating assignments, and thought provoking questions to motivate students to know more about their discipline
creating a community of learners where the quantity and quality of interactions with peers and faculty foster student engagement
Student-to-faculty interaction is considered paramount in fostering student engagement
student-to-student interaction is equally important as the quality and quantity of exchanges are predictors of success
students should “feel a personal and emotional connection to the subject, their professor, and their peers
In the online environment, lecture need not and should not be the primary teaching strategy because it leads to learner isolation and attrition
The most important role of the teacher is to ensure a high level of interaction and participation
This is achieved by means of greater student-to-faculty contact, participation in class discussions, and a more reflective learning style
it is imperative that students be active, not passive, to create a true learning environment
Great article that defines students' level of comfort in educational learning tasks as a function of A) their comfort with technology, and B) their confidence as learners. Dispels the myth that technology is "native" to younger users, and provides a way forward in educating different students different ways.