Open Content Literacy: developing a framework to support newbie content makers and sharers Lindsey Martin and Alison Mackenzie Edge Hill University, UK

“ Open educational resources are educational materials and resources offered freely and openly for anyone to use and under some licenses to re-mix, improve and redistribute. ” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, &oldid= (accessed March 12, 2010).

Overview Context: ReProduce Programme and ReFORM Project Programme and Project outcomes: post-project reflections A Framework emerges Testing perceptions of openness and sharing Open Content Literacy Next steps

Context Edge Hill University North West of England, 23,000 students SOLSTICE CETL Centre of Excellence for Teaching & Learning: supported online learning JISC RePRODUCE Programme 2 funded projects to test assumptions around reusing and reurposing digital content. Required largely online modules built from 50% content external to module/university ReFORM Project Dyslexia & Specific Learning Difficulties in Higher Education: Support Issues. 10 week, 15 credit, level 6 module

The RePRODUCE Programme Intended outcomes To stimulate and inform change in the sector through enhanced capacity, knowledge and skills around use of ICT to support learning & teaching High quality external learning content used more often To facilitate transfer of learning content between institutions, repositories and external web 2.0 storage Case studies documenting the cultural issues regarding the sharing of content

The ReFORM Project Aims All module content made available to the higher/further education sector via the Jorum content repository Develop an understanding of potential for reuse of learning objects at practitioner level and an improved understanding of training and support needs Learn what constitutes effective practice in creation, design & use of learning objects Develop improved understanding of workflows underpinning the design, development & reuse of learning objects Obtain improved understanding at senior management level of strategic implications of potential for reuse

RePRODUCE Programme Lessons Repurposing process Timescales were longer than anticipated due to time needed to locate, clear and adapt relevant material Copyright & licensing Projects consistently found these the most difficult and time-consuming aspects Organisational issues Team effort was most effective. Most projects struggled to locate local support (25% received no institutional support whatever) Cultural Issues Main barrier to sharing is perceived complexity of actual practice Technical Range of technical issues experienced. Re- purposing/re-editing were essential aspects

ReFORM Easier to create content from new Reuse time-consuming unless object is designed with reuse in mind. Skills gaps Locating/evaluating material, Intellectual Property Rights of found and own content No single person could do everything Team approach essential, blurring of roles, acceptance of ‘messy’ and iterative process. Input often needed by more than 1 person. Good or good enough? Module subject matter required content be repurposed as dyslexic friendly rather than reuse ‘as is’ or linking to dynamic content Infrastructure No mechanism for sharing/storing objects within University infrastructure.

Out of ReFORM TEL PD Framework We found that suitable professional development resources to support reuse were dispersed and not easy to find A TEL PD Framework was produced by viewing the 6 areas of activity described in the UK Professional Standards Framework for Teaching and Supporting Learning in Higher Education through its core knowledge ‘lens’ of the use of appropriate learning technologies. Emerging Open Content Literacy A framework to support engagement with open content, the acquisition of new skills and strategies and to manage the ‘messiness’ and iterative nature of digital content creation

Drivers for a Framework Double ethical standard Cyber Report, est 7 million British citizens downloaded unauthorised content on a regular basis. Attitudes and behaviours to property in online/physical world very different – a victimless crime? Consumers expect high standards from others but not from themselves Messiness and perceived barriers How do you ‘sell’ something that is perceived as complex, time-consuming and messy? e-learning expansion at EHU Rapid growth requires a sustainable, more efficient model Skills issue Many colleagues lack skills to identify, acquire and adapt existing digital content. It is argued that Novices and Beginners need guidelines

Testing perceptions: a snapshot of awareness Reed, P. (2010) SOLSTICE Fellowship survey to gauge awareness and participation in OER. (unpublished report)

Open Content Literacy Framework Purpose Audience Form

Next steps Seeking feedback and suggestions to inform next iteration: Testing and evaluation Current SOLSTICE Fellowship OER project around creation of open content for a mentoring module Critical Friends SOLSTICE CETL Critical Friend JORUM Peer Review OER10 SOLSTICE pre-conference workshop 2 June

Contact Alison Mackenzie Lindsey Martin