Global Tendencies in Open Educational Resources (OER) Different approaches to OER: benefits, trends and challenges from the learner, educator and provider perspectives UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education International OER Workshop, 31 May – 1 June 2011, Moscow, Russia Katarzyna Kozinska, Ph.D. Student Academic Supervisors: Dr Ann Jones, Dr Patrick McAndrew, Prof Eileen Scanlon Centre for Research in Education and Educational Technology (CREET) Institute of Educational Technology (IET) Presentation licensed under, individual images’ licenses on slides

Aim: showcase how variety supports diversity sharing observations from on-going doctoral research supported by examples of different OER initiatives – user and provider perspectives Doctoral research Focus: What motivates and influences learning with different OER among diverse users? Activity: Studying different OER and their users Goal: Learn how different OER support learning among diverse users through establishing what drives, enhances and impedes various learning processes in order to know what to improve and preserve (or not) to help different individuals develop their talents and interests throughout lives

OER world: Initiatives selected showcasing different approaches and visions OpenStudy, US (2007), Study Groups OpenLearn (2006), The Open University, UK (1969), OER & social tools OpenSpires (2009), University of Oxford, UK (oldest colleges 1249/64), Open Content Podcasting METU OCW (2008), Middle East Technical University, Turkey (1956), OpenCourseWare Wolne Lektury (Free Obligatory School Readings) (2007), Modern Poland Foundation, Poland (2001), Web library 3

Different visions…. Aiming to…’reflect the unique nature of the education offered by the collegiate University’ (Mansell et al., 2010:5) ‘Our mission is to make the world one large study group, regardless of school, location, or background.’ International character, innovation; ‘we knew that METU students and faculty were heavily using the MIT OCW courses’ Kursat Cagiltay, Associate Professor METU, ( , Education-Portal.com) MPF 'wants to give thousands of children what is the most valuable: knowledge and abilities letting them understand modern world and take advantage of its opportunities' 4

…common benefits Profile Brand Reputation Impact Income Innovation Learner and Educator Appreciation, Use and Enjoyment CC Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0, by Naomi IbukiNaomi Ibuki Profile Brand Reputation Impact Income Innovation Learner and Educator Appreciation, Use and Enjoyment CC Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0, by Naomi IbukiNaomi Ibuki 5

Examples of use by learners and educators (sources of evidence: interviews with users and experts, documents, Websites) OpenLearnOpenSpires METU OCW Wolne Lektury (Free Obligatory School Readings) OpenStudy Lifelong learners, enthusiasts, Learners with limited time/ housebound Progress to formal OU courses Teachers: classroom use and inspiration, e.g. English state school teacher Aspiring students: admission podcasts (heavily downloaded) METU current students Instructors (Turkey) from other universities Polish secondary school teacher classroom use: task - students using the site to gather resources for revision (of A. Mickiewicz works) Undergraduate students, e.g. Georgia Tech olnet.org 6

What do users value? VARIETY ENJOYMENT‘FREENESS’ QUALITY CONTENT USERS VALUE 7

Variety of OER combined with various purposes and roles of individuals and organisations involved makes it possible to use OER in many different ways and contexts

OER ‘1.0’ – what is there AND how it is used cognitive focus, knowledge transfer, structure, formal learning, e.g. OpenCourseWare, podcasts, digital books, no registrations CC Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0), By Franco FoliniFranco Folini 9

OER ‘2.0’ – what is there AND how it is used Interaction dimension, dialogue, collaboration, observation, problem-solving, e.g. discussion forums, learning clubs, study groups; user accounts ! -> 1.0 can be used ‘as’ 2.0, e.g. Web books incorporated in classroom activities (Wolne Lektury), CC Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC 2.0 By twiga269 ॐ FreeTIBETtwiga269 ॐ FreeTIBET 10

Co-existence of OER 1.0 and 2.0, What is there AND how it is used, Trend towards OER 2.0 BUT to enhance NOT replace 1.0, mixed use, e.g. MIT OCW enhanced by OpenStudy groups

Researching OER is challenging Various OER –> various evidence -> non-homogenous, different methods and data, e.g. semi-structured interviews, virtual output, analytics, indirect observation/ observation with elements of ethnography Access to participants: no registrations – how do you reach users? Analytics data: statistics only, no insight into motivations Time factor: negotiating access even if registrations available

Barriers, concerns, challenges Attendance of current students Public domain Licenses (OER), copyright (academics, units) Sustainability Research, measuring impact

Each OER is unique and helps users… ‘Learn and Live’ (The OU motto), e.g. OpenLearn and OU formal course learner after a stroke, enthusiasts with work & home duties, limited time Improve their teaching, e.g. Wolne Lektury, METU OCW Discuss problems with other learners, e.g. OpenStudy, which is believed to make them ‘feel more engaged and more motivated’ (Preetha Ram, OpenStudy Co-founder, in interview 2011) Revise, gather resources, pursue ‘stationary’ or ‘on-the-move’ learning; ‘15% of accesses to Oxford podcasts come directly from mobile devices’ (Geng, F., Marshall, C., Wilson, R., 2011) Pursue dreams, goals, e.g. OpenSpires Oxford admission podcasts Image (top right) source: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licensehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_UniversityCreative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License Image (photo) by Dunja Aksentijevic, All Rights reserved 14

Meaning of Diversity Cultures, languages, skills, ‘Globalization is best seen as a multidimensional and multidirectional process involving accelerated and increased flows of virtually everything – capital, commodities, information, ideas, beliefs, people – along constantly evolving axes’ (UNESCO World Report: Investing in Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Dialogue (Executive summary 2009:6) By kynbit, CC Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)kynbit Needs, abilities, ages, religions, nationalities olnet.org15

Conclusions: Trend towards openness and diversity WHILE preserving quality and unique character Win-to-win of OER provision: (similar) benefits > barriers Variety supports diversity: demand across needs, interests and abilities OER 2.0 move to participation: enriches rather than replaces content, ‘the collective’ as an extension/ enhancement of the individual, not its replacement OER can be fun: inspiration, encouragement, enjoyment of learning Research into OER use is challenging – but necessary Institution/Government engagement matters: importance of quality, trust and credibility as OER is not just ‘free’ material So…’Learn and Live’! (The OU Motto)

Questions? / Вопро́сы? s and OER Dr Patrick McAndrew (OLnet Director): Dr Ann Jones (OLnet Evaluation): Prof Eileen Scanlon (OLnet Evaluation): Katarzyna (Kasia) Kozinska (OLnet member): References & links Geng, F., Marshall, C., Wilson, R., (2011) Listening for Impact: Final Report. A JISC funded study by Oxford University Computing Services into the impact of podcasting at the University of Oxford. The Learning Technologies Group, OUCS. Mansell, L., Wilson, R., Highton, M., Robinson, P. (2010) JISC Final Report. OpenSpires: Open Content at Oxford University. Available from: McAndrew, P., Santos, A., Lane, A., Godwin, S., Okada, A., Wilson, T., Connolly, T., Ferreira, G., Buckingham Shum, S., Bretts, J. and Webb, R. (2009) OpenLearn Research Report Milton Keynes, England: The Open University. UNESCO World Report: Investing in Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Dialogue (Executive summary) Interview with Kursat Cagiltay by Megan Driscoll portal.com/articles/Open_Education_Around_17the_World_Education- Portalcom_Speaks_with_the_Middle_East_Technical_University.htmlhttp://education- portal.com/articles/Open_Education_Around_17the_World_Education- Portalcom_Speaks_with_the_Middle_East_Technical_University.html Quotes from interviews conducted by K.Kozinska with Melissa Highton (OpenSpires) and Preetha Ram (OpenStudy) olnet.org