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From OER to OEP: From OER to OEP: Shifting Practitioner Perspectives & Practices Shifting Practitioner Perspectives & Practices

with Innovative Learning Experience Designwith Innovative Learning Experience Design

ShironicaShironica KarunanayakaKarunanayaka

SomSom NaiduNaidu

J.C.N. J.C.N. RajendraRajendra

H.U.W. H.U.W. RatnayakeRatnayake

-- The Open University of Sri Lanka The Open University of Sri Lanka --

26th ICDE World Conference, Sun City, South Africa

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Introduction

� Open Educational Resources (OER) enable educators gain access to a wide variety of teaching, learning and research materials that can be reused, revised, re-mixed and re-distributed (UNESCO, 2012).

� While ICT can be used to harness the benefits of OER more efficiently, effective use of OER can be best realized through systematic course design and integrating appropriate OER in the learning and teaching transactions(COL,2011).

� The Faculty of Education at the Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL) implemented a professional development course for educators on OER-based e-Learning, adapted from a course on OER-based e-Learning developed by CEMCA in collaboration with WOU, Malaysia.

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Conceptual Framework

Constitutive Elements of OEP (Source: OPAL, 2009; Ehlers, 2011)

4R Framework:

� Reuse

� Revise

� Remix

� Redistribute

(Wiley, 2006)

Focus on OER extends beyond mere ‘access' to engagement in 'innovative open educational practices' (OEP), with different

degrees of openness in the usage and creation of OER.

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Conceptual Framework

� For building greater change

in the capacity of educators,

four core capacities have

been identified - personal

vision-building, inquiry,

mastery, and collaboration.

� Experience, Reflection, and

Support are key common

components supporting this

process (Fullan, 1993).

• This kind of engagement of teachers in OEP comprises

significant change in their thinking and actions. • And those who embrace this process are considered

‘change agents’ and/or ‘innovators’.

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A Learning ‘Engine’ for Effective,

Efficient and Engaging Learning

Engines of Education

(Naidu & Karunanayaka,

2014, p.8)

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OER-eL Online Course05 Modules

� Concept and

Practices of OER

� Search and

Evaluation of OER

Materials

� Licensing and

Copyrights

� Designing

Learning

Experiences for

OER-based e-

Learning

� Integrating OER in

e-Learning

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Engine in

Action –

Matrix of different ways and levels of OER integration horizontally and vertically in the learning experience of the OEReL course

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Research Questions

�What changes in capacity were observed

in educators?

�What factors facilitated the professional

development process?

�What factors hindered the professional

development process?

�What are the impacts of professional

development process on educators?

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Methodology

� Research Design – Case Study

� Participants – 35 academic staff members of OUSL

� 17 males (49%) and 18 females (51%)

� 13 (37%) PhD holders, 12 (35%) Masters Degrees. and 10 (28%) with

postgraduate diploma or a first degree

� Methods of Data Collection –

� Analysis of Data –

� Quantitative & Qualitative

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Results & Discussion

What changes in capacity were observed in

educators?

� Development of new knowledge, thinking, perceptions,

attitudes and skills

� Understanding around key concepts related to OER and their

relationships

� Skills to identify, evaluate, develop, adapt and integrate OER into

teaching and learning

� Skills in OER-based course design

� Confidence in applying their new knowledge and skills

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Understandings around Key Concepts

0

20

40

60

80

100

Pre Mid End

Open Learning Open Access Open Scholarship

Open Licensing OER OEP

Open Badges MOOCs OER-based eLearning

OER-based Course Design

%

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Understanding around

Key Concepts

Pre-Concept Map

Post-Concept Map

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Understanding

around Key Concepts

Pre-Concept Map

Post-Concept Map

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Responses to Modules

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What factors facilitated the

professional development process?

Category Codes Supportive quotes

Institution-

related

Relevance

Usefulness

“…The great motivation here was that it was very much

related to my profession…”

Course-

related

Design

OER

Activities

Rubrics

Guidance

Rewards

“..The design adopted - SBL liked it very much..”

“..The focus of the modules…learning resources,

..assessments…helped me understand the concepts…”

“…I have been able to improve, due to the constructive

feedback given by the facilitators..”

“..It was a rewarding experience achieving a badge..”

Peer-related Discussion

Forums

“..Group discussion was an interesting forum to interact

and get ideas...knowledge exchanged…”

“..Peer Group Learning was a great strength..”

Personal Motivation

Satisfaction

“..From the beginning I was excited with this course as I am

a firm believer that the knowledge should be shared...”

“…Satisfaction got after completing the assignments…

good feedback...commendable comments ..good marks..

motivate me to continue…”

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What factors hindered the

professional development process?

Category Codes Supportive quotes

Institution-

related

Time

constraints

“..Managing everything at office…and finding time for

the OER course was a big challenge, so had to burn

midnight oil quite a lot…”

Course-

related

Heavy

workload

Finding

OER

“..Having assignments to submit each and every week is

challenging and time consuming, and sometimes

frustrating too…”

“…It is not easy to find OER for all the topics and very

time consuming..”

Peer-related Discussion

Forums

“…The biggest failure in my learning exercise…is that I

could not post any comments for my colleagues… I too

did not get much feedback…..”

Personal Frustrations

Concerns

“…To answer this assignment you need to read and

understand well which I could not, due to the heavy

workload…I felt bad with my delay…”

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What are the impacts of the professional

development process on educators?

Aspects Quotes to Support

Learning

Scenario

- Relevance;

Goal-based;

Application

“…Overall, this was a thought provoking exercise…

I learned a lot…I felt so happy about it and will be

using this experiences in future activities...as now I

am very much competent with a diverse

knowledge on OER…”.

Learning and

Assessment Tasks

– Relevance;

Depth; Peer-

support

“…The discussion forum…. It is really an

exhilarating experience. Here I found different

persons looking at things from different

viewpoints and bringing out the richness in the

lesson material…”

Learning

Resources

- Relevance;

Variety; Adoption

of 4Rs;

“… I finally located suitable material which

permitted me to remix and revise…which I

consider a great success. I managed to locate OER

material in a variety of formats… it enhanced the

e-learning experience…”

�Changes in

Perspectives

�Changes in

Practices

�Satisfaction

�Motivation

�Self-

Confidence

� Becoming a

Learning

Community

�Becoming

Reflective

Practitioners

Impacts

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Impacts…

� “…I can confidently say that the course has widened

and deepened my knowledge on the use of OER for

teaching and learning. It has also changed my

mindset about the use of OER … I thought

incorporating OER into teaching/learning to be an

easy exercise. However, after going through this

course I realize that…loads of thinking, planning and

hard work is required to develop OER assisted

courses…”

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Impacts…

� “…The past few months following the OER online

course has been both invigorating and challenging.

…In addition to learning about OERs, I also increased

my knowledge and skills in various pedagogical

features...I firmly believe that participation in this

course has had a significant impact not only in

enhancing my knowledge and skills in OERs and

related concepts but also in helping me develop as a

person itself…”

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Conclusions

� This innovative practice has significantly impacted the adoption of OER

by educators and their capacity to engage in OER-based e-Learning.

� In addition to the enhancement of conceptual knowledge and skills

related to searching, identifying, evaluating and integrating OER,

participants also developed their competencies in designing,

developing and implementation of an OER-based e-Learning course.

� Despite challenges faced with time constraints, technical issues and

finding and selecting relevant and high quality OER and their effective

integration, the participants’ motivation to find solutions was

commendable.

� As an empowered and motivated group of academics in OER-based e-

Learning, they would be able to actively and constructively contribute

towards future challenging endeavors which should ultimately have a

significant impact on OUSL taking the leadership in Sri Lanka, in this

novel arena.

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Acknowledgements

•Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia

(CEMCA) – For providing the course & financial support

•The Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL) – For support in

implementation

•Colleagues at Wawasan Open University (WOU), Malaysia,

who were involved in the original course development

•Participant academic staff members of the OUSL – For their

valuable contributions