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OER10 Reflections: Day 2 Morning April 7, 2010

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The power of the collective - Alison Littlejohn Caledonian Academy, Glasgow Caledonian University – this presentation looked at learning with respect to networks  – that “connect people, organisations and resources” (Siemems 2006). She referred to Paulsen’s (1993) Law of Cooperative Freedom – where learners are free to negotiate their learning in place, time, pace, content and technology and went on to refer to Anderson (2006) who suggests learners should have the freedom to negotiate their relationships with fellow learners and teachers – facilitated by software tools. With respect to the Capetown declaration Alison illustrated where individuals are contributing to world of knowledge, in particular educators who are creating free open resources, which may lead to new approaches to assessments, accreditation and collaboration. She suggested that the emerging business models for OER involve individuals, groups and networks. With respect to collective knowledge the cycle is consumption, connection, creation and contribution. She referred to a charting tool that maps the interactions with respect to generating collective knowledge – which charts where the learner starts with where they want to be. Charting  provides an opportunity for the individula to interact with personal development and to “make use of people and resources and fine tune plans at each point”.  Alison concluded by presenting some challenges relating to OER, such as self regulation by learners within their groups, networks and collective; persuading individuals to contribute to collective knowledge; presenting new business models to universities and encouraging behaviour change with respect to learners, teachers, support staff.

Demystifying Re-Usable Learning Objects – Beverly Leeds and Debbie Barnes, University of Central Lancashire - Ev0lution Project This presentation provided an overview of the creation of reusable learning objects created by the JISC funded E-Evolve - (employability) and Revolve (re-use existing materials)Projects.  The RLOs for the E-Evolve project were created by academics – using Wimba create and Adobe Presenter. Evolution has unpacked theses RLOs and made them available as learning activities and resources – for different pedagogic representations. The materials have a Creative Commons license.

Never mind the technology – why would we share? Charles Duncan - Charles presentation related to creating an business case for openly sharing resources and in particular resources, drawing on the work of two JISC projects the Community Dimensions of Learning Object Repositories and Improving the Evidence Base in Support of Sharing Learning Materials. Six different approaches were considered with respect to sharing education resources:

Charles said with respect to sharing educational resources institutions needed to consider “who are the producers and who are the consumers” within the context of:

Regarding take up and adoption the key to success is identifying the benefits for teachers.

Designing for innovation around OER – Andy Lane This presentation related to the work of the Open University – the fact that closed educational resources need to be redesigned if they are to be made open. Andy presented the stages of open educational resources development

  1. Legal – creative commons release
  2. Practical – accessing content
  3. Technical – an environment for open access
  4. Pedagogic – designs that work
  5. Economic - a model for sustainable operation
  6. Transformative – change wasy of working and learning

 He stated that OER development involves products, people and processes – “openness provides an invitation to innovate, even if it is only to learn in a different way”. Action research for the OU’s OpenLearn - “has focused key actors in differing contexts” and the impact of OpenLearn content and technologies – learner, educator, researcher. Research has found that heavy learner users are volunteer students and social learners.  Educators have been involved in the learning design research – have modified content, used it as is and have had an impact on the technical changes.  LabSpace has facilitate collaboration.  OpenLearn has also stimulated other projects inside and outside of the University.

Repurpsing with a purpose – a story with a happy ending Lyn Greaves, Thames Valley University Clare Bradley, London Metropolitan University, RLO-CETL Professor Sibel Roller, Thames Valley University - This presentation was a case study of the Project BL4ACE which has worked with RLO-CETL. The project redeveloped an academic skills module, used in accountancy, business and law to develop critical thinkg skills required to study science, which was eventually delivered to premedical year, FDsc/BSc Helth and Exercise Science and Froens Science. The class size ranged between 35-70.  The reusable learning objects included resources on referencing books, websites and journals; reflective writing; internet detective (Intute)  and help with essay writing (AcademicPhraseBank Manchester) - as well as, research in Biosciences (Engage CETL Reading) Helping you plan your career (TVU Resource) The redeveloped module had a positive impact on student achievement – although the project acknowledged some limitations, which were, small student numbers, comparing three cohorts and they are still waiting for some data. However, there has been positive feedback from students, with respect to the module scaffolding, mixture of resources and media and ease of use.

Dimensions of Culturally Sensitive Factors in the Design and Development of Learning ObjectsMei Qi, ,Tom Boyle, London Metropolitan University - The presentation considered the cultural issues with respect to reuse, which may arise in the design and the development of learning objects. A cross-cultural comparative study between UK and China was carried out which identified the following cultural dimensions:

  1. The Knowledge dimension relates to cultural issues that are associated with the content of learning of the learning objects, and the required prior knowledge of learners.
  2. The Pedagogical dimension explores the culturally sensitive factors related to the activities of teaching and learning. Laurillard’s (2002) conversational framework is used as the basis for examining the cultural influences on effectiveness of learning.
  3. The Access dimension focuses on cultural diversity in human computer interface design.
  4. The Technology dimension focuses on the cultural differences in the technical infrastructure and learners’ technological knowledge and skills. These differences influence the use of OERs and learners’ experience of OERs.

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