Li Yuan

Examining the sustainability issues in UKOER projects-

developing a sustainable OER ecosystem in HE

JISC CETIS, Institute Educational Cybernetics, University of Bolton

UK OER programme A multi-million pound Open Educational Resources (OERs) initiative (the UKOER) in the UK HE, FE.

Phase 1: April 2009 – April 2010, 29 pilot projects in three different strands: institutional, subject centre and individual.

Phase 2: August 2010- August 2011, 23 projects in three activity areas: the release of OER; the use of OER; the discovery of OER

OER programme required all funded projects:

“...to embed the practice of open educational resources release beyond the funded life of the project”.

Seven institutions were funded to develop existing

teaching and learning resources into OERs

All funded projects have identified some issues

related to OER sustainability

Different approaches have been proposed to

address the ongoing issue of sustainability

UK OER projects – institutional strand:

The time and effort required to move to sustainable OERs

Building awareness of academics towards OERs

Staff development

Incentives for sector wide sharing

Evidence of effectiveness in the use of OERs

Easy use tools for dissemination and deposit

OERs should be widely recognised as good for UKHE

Issues related to sustainable OERs have been identified by the projects:

Issues related to sustainable OERs have been identified by the projects:

Policy and practice to encourage and offer reward to “open” behaviour

Support and advice on copyright

Recognition of the multiple purposes of OERs and the value of raw learning resources

Policy for potential risk management

Guidance for new OER users and producers

Creating and modifying policies to promote the release and reuse of OERs- Embed OERs into teaching and learning practice- integrate OERs into professional rewards and recognition schemes

Developing guidance and support mechanisms for long term OER release- Centralised model of OER release- Distributed model

Creating communities of practice- Support academics to share practice and content with others

Principles for developing sustainable OERs

Principles for developing sustainable OERs

Developing new business models to make effective use of OERs- OERs as the basis of developing new courses- New partnerships

Removing technological barriers to make OER release and reuse easier- use existing technology and platforms- Develop specific tool for producing and disseminating OERs

Encouraging wider participation and provision of staff training on OERs-Incorporate OERs into LTHE PG curriculum - Staff training

A ecological approach to OERs

Capture the comprehensive views and interactions between stakeholders around OERs

Indicate where changes should happen in order to develop sustainable OER practice

Identify paths, connections and support activities to the establishment of sustainable OER ecosystem

A sustainable ecosystem

requires that the elements of the system are continually engaged in a set of relationships with every other element constituting the environment in which they exist.

OER Foundation, 2009

Developing a Sustainable OER ecosystem

Developing a Sustainable OER ecosystem

Developing a Sustainable OER ecosystem

• Can only be achieved by all of these elements continually engaging with the others within and outside their systems• enable them to realise the tangible benefits of supporting learning in all educational settings.

InstitutionsInstitutions

UKOERs

Subjects centres Subjects centres

Individuals Individuals

UKOER ProgrammeGovernment Funding (HEFCE , JISC, HEA)

UKOER ProgrammeGovernment Funding (HEFCE , JISC, HEA)

Developing a sustainable OER ecosystem

Create,

Use,

reuse,

remix…Strategies and policy,

New business model

Learning support

Accreditation …

Community of practice,

sharing, …

Supporting formal and informal education

Summary

Sustainability is a key issue for those external funded OER projects

Explore different models to address sustainability of OERs

Embed processes into the academic practices to continue releasing OERs

Shift from institution-based to community-based approaches

Develop stainable OER ecosystems to promote open sharing in education

References

JISC (2009), Open educational resources programme, http://www.jisc.ac.uk/oer

L; Beetham, H; Falconer, I and Littlejohn, A (2010) UKOER Pilot Programme Synthesis And Evaluation Report, http://www.caledonianacademy.net/spaces/oer/index.php?n=Main.PilotProgrammeSynthesisAndEvaluationReport

Pegler, G. (2010) How can we achieve sustainability in OER? http://www8.open.ac.uk/score/print/oer-and-sustainability-leeds-manifesto-draft

Contacts:

JISC CETIS Institute for Educational Cybernetics University of BoltonDeane Road, Bolton,  BL3 5ABTel: +44(0)1204 903851Fax: +44(0)1204 399074email: l.yuan@bolton.ac.ukhttp://jisc.cetis.ac.uk/ 

Thank you very much!