Open Educational Open Educational Resources and Libraries: a Resources and Libraries: a proposalproposal

R. John RobertsonPresentationPlease note some details have been removed from this versionDec 2009

OverviewOverviewFlashforwardOpen EducationResources and LibrariesProposal

Glossary: OER- Open Educational Resource

Flashforward...Flashforward...My project would examine:How libraries are currently engaging

with learning materialsThe perspectives current key thinkers

and OER initiatives have about the role of libraries

Create resources (articles, guides, case studies, and podcasts) to equip librarians engage with OERs

Open EducationOpen Education

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Open Education: Open Education: Cape Town declarationCape Town declaration

“We are on the cusp of a global revolution in teaching and learning. Educators worldwide are developing a vast pool of educational resources on the Internet, open and free for all to use. These educators are creating a world where each and every person on earth can access and contribute to the sum of all human knowledge. They are also planting the seeds of a new pedagogy where educators and learners create, shape and evolve knowledge together, deepening their skills and understanding as they go...” http://www.capetowndeclaration.org/read-the-declaration

Open Education: Open Education: a rough guidea rough guideThe Open Education movement is

characterised by a commitment to create, share and use/remix educational resources.

Although there are no set choices of platform, standard, format, or type of material, lightweight and informal approaches currently dominate.

Other features: use of clear licensing and some avoidance of resources with restricted license.

Beginning to move towards the educational mainstream?

Open Education: Open Education: towards a transition point towards a transition point First initiatives: MIT, OCWC, Open

MichiganUKOER – 29 pilot projectsNew funding: e.g. US community

colleges and open textbook initiatives iTunesU ~’free’ (not necessarily open)

but visibility and taster opportunities appeal to institutions

Press coverageOpen Education becoming more

mainstream but...

Open Education: an Open Education: an opportunity for libraries?opportunity for libraries?Open Education faces challenges and

barriers moving from passionate individuals, and small initiatives to wider groups, and institutions

Libraries could be play an important rolePerhaps it’s like the Open Access

movement 10 years ago considering how to move beyond arXiv and physicists

But the role of libraries is still in its infancy

Resources and LibrariesResources and Libraries

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Resources and Libraries: an Resources and Libraries: an example example

“I've always gravitated to the 'fast, cheap, and out of control‘ mantra when it comes to technology choices. And I personally have a very high threshold of tolerance when it comes to approaches that are messy and rough around the edges. Then again, lately I spend a lot of time dealing with issues like effective long-term archiving of resources that seemed ethereal at the time (users didn't always see them that way), and challenges of provisioning some of these experimental projects into the longer term. I find myself hoping that a librarian might come to my rescue.”

Brain Lamb (Emerging Technologies Discoordinator, OLT UBC) Nov 24, 2009 Comment in discussion forum.

Innovating E-learning conference 2009: Thriving not just surviving.

Resources and Libraries: Resources and Libraries: ACRL meetingACRL meeting

Librarians can help by contributing their own OERs to the commons; screening for, indexing, and archiving quality OERs; using OERs in their own teaching; and participating in discussions leading toward responsible intellectual property policies and useful standards.

Belliston (C. Jeffrey Belliston Open Educational Resources: Creating the instruction commons C&RL News, May

2009 Vol. 70, No. 5 http://tinyurl.com/yhoezak )

Resources and Libraries: Resources and Libraries: suggested connectionssuggested connectionsLibraries and librarians can help:Create and use OERsIdentify and index quality OERs [...]Preserve OERsHelp with IPR

Doing these things would be good and useful but, is that it? ...

Resources and Libraries:Resources and Libraries:going further?going further?How aboutInterest in ‘openess’Help describe?Help discover?Help manage?Help disseminate?Impact on: information literacy, study

skillsSupporting their use for learning and

teaching in collaboration with other relevant services

Resources and Libraries: Resources and Libraries: CollaborationCollaborationEngaging fully with OERs is not

something libraries can do in isolation and in some ways it is very different proposition than Open Access is.

To begin engaging I suggest libraries need to examine what they are doing, what they could do, and how that potential meets the needs of their users

Beginning to engage with those questions is the basis of my proposal...

a proposala proposal

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a proposal: some a proposal: some questionsquestions

What opportunities and issues emerge for librarians and libraries from the OER movement?

What role do libraries currently have in OER initiatives or the wider management of learning materials produced by institutions?

Are library skills perceived as relevant to the management of teaching and learning materials (within libraries, within institutions, or by the OER movement)?

What can the libraries or librarians offer the institution in this area?

A proposal: structureA proposal: structureReview literature (formal and informal)Engage librariansUnderstand educators’ needsDistill current best practice, Equip libraries and librariansApply through cases studiesPublish throughout

A proposal: outputsA proposal: outputsBlog writing as the research progress;

practice open communication; invite participation

Paper presenting literature reviewPaper summarising surveys to provide a

baseline study and current consensusInterviews published (possibly as a series of

podcasts). Paper synthesising and analysing interviewsCase study of these questions at given

institutionsOnline guide summarising issues that have

emerged and readiness questions to help libraries engage with this topic.

Questions?Questions?

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