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Open Educational Resources and Practices

The who, what, when, where, and

why of open…

“Open Educational Resources and Practices” by eCampusOntario is

shared under a CC BY 4.0 International license

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Let’s�Get Started

Introductions

Access these slides

Open Educational Resources (OER)

Open Education Practices (OEP)

Introductions would apply to all participants in the room for the presentation, or just the presenter if a large audience.

Letting participants know where they can access your slides is part of openness, Slideshare.com is one option, your Google Docs link if you’ve posted them on Google Docs might also work.

Open Educational Resources (OER) definition “Open Educational Resources (OERs) are any type of educational materials that are in the public domain or introduced with an open license. The nature of these open materials means that anyone can legally and freely copy, use, adapt and re-share them. OERs range from textbooks to curricula, syllabi, lecture notes, assignments, tests, projects, audio, video, and animation” (UNESCO, n.d.).

UNESCO. (n.d.). What are open educational resources (OERs)? Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/access-to-knowledge/open-educational-resources/what-are-open-educational-resources-oers/

Open Education Practices (OEP) definition “…practices which support the (re)use and production of OER through institutional policies, promote innovative pedagogical models, and respect and empower learners as co-producers on their lifelong learning path” (Ehlers, 2011).

Ehlers, U. D. (2011). Extending the territory: From open educational resources to open educational practices. Journal of Open, Flexible, and Distance Learning, 15(2), 1-10.

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Who Benefits?

Learners

Educators

Instructional Designers

Multimedia Developers

Administrators

Learners – The cost of student-purchased textbooks is a common conversation related to use of open educational resources. However, when using open textbooks cost is not the only benefit for learners. Examples: learners will have materials on day one of their course (equitable access), learners can find open resources for their own learning and share them with peers and educators, learners can use open access journals, and OER for research projects, lower cost of resources means that learners may take more courses per term, and may be able to complete their degrees sooner (Fischer, Hilton III, Robinson, and Wiley, 2015).

Educators – Use of open educational resources improves educator reputation with learners (instructors are perceived as more caring when they save learners money), educators can build core courses on OER and add more features to them over time, OER can be adapted and modified to suit local contexts and diverse needs, educators do not have to worry about fair dealing use rules and accidental copyright violations with OER, learners can use and remix course content for projects and assessments adhering to academic integrity. OER expands the types of resources the library can use and share with learners and educators.

Instructional Designers – All of the above re: educators, open source materials provide flexible opportunities for pedagogic exploration (interactivity, project-based, and problem-based learning models, etc.). Many (not all) digital open resources are already designed with inclusive design principles (accessibility compliance).

Multimedia developers – OER are predominantly digital files available in multiple file formats. This makes them easier to use and more flexible than stock music, images, video footage. Reduced concern about copyright [IP] violations (it’s still critical to evaluate open licenses for restrictions). OER can be used in course content, videos, presentations, interactive assessments, etc., can be adapted and remixed wherever needed.

Administrators – Use of OER, even building entire degrees where there are no textbook costs (OER degrees, [Z Cred, Z Degree]) may represent value for learners considering study at your institution. The flexibility of OER may represent academic freedom for more of your instructors. Lowering the overall cost of post-secondary education for learners is a great advantage (access, inclusion). Digital OER are generally AODA compliant right away (reduced workload for Disability Accessibility Office staff).

Fischer, L., Hilton III, J., Robinson, T. J., & Wiley, D. (2015). A multi-institutional study of the impact of open textbook adoption on the learning outcomes of postsecondary students. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 27, 159 - 172.

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Open Educational Resources (OER)

Free of cost

Retain

Reuse

Revise

Remix

Redistribute

Open is not just about “free” access to materials…it’s free plus permissions.

Retain – the right to make, own, and control copies of the content
Reuse – the right to use the content in a wide range of ways (e.g., in a class, in a study group, on a website, in a video)
Revise – the right to adapt, adjust, modify, or alter the content itself (e.g., translate the content into another language)
Remix – the right to combine the original or revised content with other open content to create something new (e.g., incorporate the content into a mashup)
Redistribute – the right to share copies of the original content, your revisions, or your remixes with others (e.g., give a copy of the content to a friend) (Wiley, 2014)

Wiley, D. (March 4, 2014, March 4). The access compromise and the 5th R [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://opencontent.org/blog/archives/3221

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Open Educational Practices (OEP)

Learners

Educators

Instructional Designers

Administrators

“OEP are defined as practices which support the (re)use and production of OER through institutional policies, promote innovative pedagogical models, and respect and empower learners as co-producers on their lifelong learning path. They address the whole OER governance community: policy makers, managers/administrators of organisations, educational professionals, and learners” (Ehlers, 2011).

Learners – A core element of OEP is the idea of learners as co-creators. Rather than designing complete courses with one-way content download, courses are designed to teach discernment and curation where learners find, adapt, and share OER with each other as part of their learning process.

Educators – Changes the teaching and learning process from an authority-driven model, that relies on the work of one individual, to a learner-agency model, where learners are doing much of the heavy lifting related to their own interests and motivations[; they take more responsibility for their own learning]. Also empowers educators to curate diverse resources and partner with learners to research and explore critical thinking about the quality of information in a digital age.

Instructional Designers – Use of OER OEP creates [more] opportunities to [collaborate to] design content, activities, and assessments, including project- and problem-based learning types that are more learner-driven where learners are empowered and trusted to curate and share resources.

Administrators – OEP speaks to the core of many mission and vision statements related to critical thinking, leadership, and problem solving. Putting learners at the centre of content curation helps ensure they have 21^st century skills for lifelong learning.

Use of OEP

builds on OER and moves on to the development of concepts of how OER can be used, reused, shared, and adapted
goes beyond access into open learning architectures, and seeks ways to use OER to transform learning
focuses on learning by constructing knowledge assets, sharing them with others, and receiving feedback and reviews
follows the notion of improving quality through external validation because sharing resources is in the foreground
is about changing the traditional educational paradigm of many unknowledgeable students and a few knowledgeable teachers to a paradigm in which knowledge is co-created and facilitated through mutual interaction and reflection
strives to understand that OER has to contribute to institutions‘ value chain.

Ehlers, U. D. (2011). Extending the territory: From open educational resources to open educational practices. Journal of Open, Flexible, and Distance Learning, 15(2), 1-10.

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Creative Commons Licensing

Attribution

No-Derivative Works

Share Alike

Non-Commercial

CC0 – public domain

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Icons

CC0

CC-BY

CC-BY-SA

CC-BY-NC

CC-BY-ND

CC-BY-NC-SA

CC-BY-NC-ND

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Attribution T.A.S.L.

Title

Artist

Source (Link)

License (link)

“Open Educational Resources and Practices” by eCampusOntario is

shared under a CC BY 4.0 International license

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Where to find OER

OER Commons

Saylor Courseware

eCO Open Textbook Library

Mason OER Meta Finder

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Determining Quality�C.R.A.A.P. Test

C = Currency

R = Relevancy

A = Authority

A = Accuracy

P = Purpose

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Examples

Textbook - Open Textbook Library

Video - U New Hampshire

Assessment – Open Course Library Biology

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Explore

Curate

Share

Call to Action