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Catherine Anne Schmidt-Jones University of Illinois Urbana-Champagne, USA There have been numerous calls for research that demonstrates how open education resources (OERs) are actually being used. This case study sought to shed light on the users of a well-visited set of modular music-education materials published at Connexions. Schmidt-Jones, C.A., (2012). An Open Educational Resource Supports a Diversity of Inquiry-Based Learning. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning 13(1) With the modern advances and recent evolution of e-learning it seems that the resources available for online learning and blended learning programs are countless, and growing. At times it seems difficult to keep track of which available resources are actually being used, and of those which are, which ones are most effective? Catherine-Anne Schmidt-Jones, from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champagne has conducted a case study based on a music education educational system comprised of numerous tools and modules, published at Connexions. The respondents included instructors, students, non-student learners and administrators/directors. The respondents varied in gender and age as well as their motivation for learning: self-directed or for other motivational reasons. According to the author, the study was done with the intent of explaining and understanding the way in which open education resources (OERs) are being used in real life situations. Open educational resources are digital resources which can be used and reused by teachers and students, often made available free through open licenses. The author suggests that many critics of open educational tools are demanding some form of quantitative proof and empirical data that these tools can actually improve educational quality. The author forms her case study on 103 music-education modules published at Connexions ( http://cnx.org

Hi Stu, I enjoyed reading your critical review of the article by Schmidt-Jones C. (2012). I found the article itself quite interesting, especially the comparative analysis provided by the author on the distribution of users of the OERs (Open Education Resources) of the OpenCourseWare from the MIT and the online repository and management system for musical educational material of Connexions. In this comparative analysis, the author proved once again that the main function of OERs is for just-in-time, inquiry-based learning. However, as you mentioned Stu, it would be more valuable to show how the OERs are used by individual learners and how the OERs can improve the quality of education. Also, I would be curious to see the online survey applied by the author, to help me better understand the benefits and limitations of the conducted research. The research results showed that the OERs are more frequently used by students and not teachers. However, I think that the OERs can also serve as a great tool for novice teachers to learn from the examples of their colleagues on how to scaffold the learning activities and effectively create online modules of courses. The feedback on the materials posted on the OERs can also help educators to constantly improve their materials as well as to learn from the examples of their colleagues. However, as the role of OER is becoming mainly a learning resource, I think that it is important for educators and administrators to start incorporating the OERs in the design of learner-centered models in education and to use OERs for just-in-time inquiry based learning and to meet the concrete learning outcomes. Thanks again for your thorough critical review of the article Stu!

Hello Again, I came across Connections, the database of OERs mentioned in this study while watching a TED talk by Richard Baraniuk (2006), the founder of Connections. I found both the talk and your review of the article interesting. I think in the end this article is more about the quality of the music modules described in the paper and less on the effectiveness of OER's in general. You mention your disappointment that the article does not support the claim the OERs are effective educational tools. I think any article making such a claim would fail due to the variations in the modules and resources. When it comes down to brass tacks, OERs are like any other resources available to teachers. There are variations in the type and quality, and thus, their usefulness to teachers also varies. What redeems OER is the fact that anyone is free to use them in any way they see fit. Richard Baraniuk focus on this point in his talk. He makes use of Apple's advertising campaign slogan, "create, rip, mix, and burn" to extoll the power of OERs. Anyone can create an OER that can be used by anyone around the world for free. Anyone can rip that OER and mix it to suit their specific needs. Anyone can burn a copy of that resource in different ways, so they can use it in many different times and contexts. The only price is crediting the creators of the resources you use. Baraniuk argues that collections of OERs like Connections empower people from many different cultures and socio-economic status. I see his point, but there is still the problem of quality. I took a look around connections and found some modules to be good while others were not good at all. Honestly, I did not see anything I would call great. This makes me wonder if OERs will ever achieve the same quality level as the copy written resources that cost schools quite a bit of money. OERs may somewhat level the playing field between the haves and the have nots, but not by a great degree. Not yet anyway. Baraniuk, R. (2006).