The future of learning.

OPENING UP AN OPEN UNIVERSITYSandra Law, PhDLearning Designer, Centre for Learning Design and Development (CLDD)

Cindy Ives, PhDActing Associate Vice President Academic (Learning Resources)Director, CLDD

October 24, 2013

Agenda

• Features of an open university• AU survey on OER• AU case

– Degrees of openness• Benefits of Open Education• Potential challenges• What’s next?

Features of an open university• Open registration• OER• Open source software• Creative Commons • Fair dealing• Free or less expensive• Other?• •

OER survey at AU (2012)• Use of OER• Creation of OER• All course development staff• Baseline data on perspectives,

awareness• Published in IRRODL (October 2013)

Survey results - demographicsRole Count %

Full Time Faculty Member

53 34

Tutor 22 14

Member of Course Development Team

11 7

Other 11 7

Production Staff Member

4 2

Administrator 4 2

Survey results - types of OER usedType of OER Combined % Count

Scholarly Journal Access

72 65

Video 68 62

Images 65 59

Textbooks 65 59

Audio 62 56

Factors to increase OER use & creation

Openness & onlinedness

AU online vs. open educationOnline Distance Open Online Distance

Course materials Not always free

Online exam system No assessments

Online assignment submission No assignments

Enrolled students only Wide exposure through OCW sites or LORs

Bachelors, Master & Doctoral No credentialing

Degrees, diplomas & certificates No accredited certificate for OCW

Interaction with faculty No interaction with faculty

AU Case

Open university administration• Open admissions• Open registration• Continuous enrollment• Challenge for credit• PLAR• Less restrictive

Open source software

• Moodle• GeoGebra• elgg (The Landing)• Mahara• Alfresco• Etc.

Open access

• AU Press• Open courseware (ocw.athabascau.ca)• Open access policy for researchers• Digital content repository (

auspace.athabascau.ca)• OERu

AU case for OER

• Low learner persistence in distance online learning

• To enhance motivation, engagement– Learning activities approach– Opportunity for growth in information

literacy– Practical way to enrich learner

experience• Philosophical commitment to all things

open• UNESCO/COL Chair in OER

OER used and created at AU

• In-house development of courses and individual learning enhancements– Learning tree

• Adapting existing OER– MIT OCW– OER Commons– Saylor Foundation– Public Health Image Library (PHIL)

Benefits of open education• Lower cost (Bliss, Hilton, Wiley & Thanos, 2013a;

Tait, 2013)• Knowledge sharing (Olcott, 2012)• More learner-centred (Conole & Ehlers, 2010;

Livingston & Condie, 2006)• Increased availability of resources (Bliss

Robinson, Hilton & Wiley, 2013b)• Ease of use (Petrides et al., 2011)• Social inclusion (Nikoi & Armellini, 2012; Tait,

2013)• Greater learner engagement (Bliss et al., 2013b)• Increased participation (Murphy, 2013)

Potential challenges

• Lack of skills and time needed to adapt open educational materials (Andrade et al. 2011; Bliss et al., 2013b; Murphy, 2013)

• Problems with technology (Bliss et al., 2013b)• Quality & suitability of OERs (Brent, Gibbs & Gruszczynska,

2012; Andrade et al., 2011)• Accessibility of resources (Hockings, Brett & Terentjevs, 2012)• Lack of awareness of OERs (Bossu et al., 2012a, 2012b, Rolfe,

2012)• Language issues (Richter & McPherson, 2012)• Conflict between open education philosophy and traditional

university (Brent et al., 2012; Friesen, 2009)• Lack of sustained investment in infrastructure & human

resources (D’Antoni, 2008; European Commission, 2013; Wiley, 2006)

• Other?

What’s next at AU?

• • • •

References

• Andrade, A., Ehlers, U.D., Caine, A. Carneiro, R., Conole, G., Kairamo, A.K., … Holmberb, C. (2011). Beyond OER: Shifting focus to open educational practices. Open educational quality initiative. Retrieved from http://duepublico.uni-duisburg-essen.de/servlets/DerivateServlet/Derivate-25907/OPALReport2011-Beyond-OER.pdf

• Bliss, T., Hilton, J., Wiley, D., and Thanos, K. (2013). College student and faculty perceptions of the cost and quality of open textbooks. First Monday, 18(1).

• Bliss, T.J., Robinson, T.J., Hilton, J. & Wiley, D.A. (2013). An OER COUP: College teacher and student perceptions of open educational resources.

Journal of Interactive Media in Education, Spring, 1-15.• Brent, I., Gibbs, G.R. & Gruszczynska, A.K. (2012). Obstacles to creating and

finding Open Educational Resources: The case of research methods in the social sciences, Journal of Interactive Media in Education, 2012 Special Issue, 1-17.

• Bossu, C., Bull, D., & Brown, M. (2012). Opening up down under: the role of open educational resources in promoting social inclusion in Australia. Distance Education, 33, 151–164.

References

• Bossu, C., Brown, M., & Bull, D. (2012). Do Open Educational Resources represent additional challenges or advantages to the current climate of change in the Australian higher education sector? In M. Brown, M. Hartnett & T. Stewart (Eds.), Future challenges, sustainable futures. In Proceedings ASCILITE Wellington 2012 (pp. 124–132). Wellington.

• Conole, G. & Ehlers, U. (2010 ). Open educational practices: Unleashing the power of OER. Paper presented to UNESCO Workshop on OER (Namibia) in May.

• D’Antoni, S. (2008). Open educational resources the best way forward, Deliberations of an International Community of Interest, UNESCO Report. http://learn.creativecommons.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/oer-way-forward-final-version.pdf

• European Commission (2013). Opening up education: Innovative teaching and learning for all through new technologies and open educational resources. Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee of the Regions. (SWD(2013) 341 final). Brussels, Belgium.

References

• Hilton, J. & Wiley, D.A. (2011). Open access textbooks and financial sustainability: A case study on Flat World Knowledge. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 12(5), 18-26.

• Hockings, C., Brett, P. & Terentjevs, M. (2012). Making a difference – inclusive learning and teaching in higher education through open educational resources, Distance Education, 33(2), 237-252.

• Livingston, K. & Condie, R. (2006). The impact of an online learning program on teaching and learning strategies. Theory into Practice, 45(2), 150–158.

• McKerlich, R., Ives, C., McGreal, R. (2013). Measuring use and creation of open educational resources in higher education. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 14(4), 90-103.

• Murphy, A. (2013). Open educational practices in higher education: institutional adoption and challenges. Distance Education, 34(2), 201-217.

• Nikoi, S. & Armellini, A. (2012). The OER mix in higher education: purpose, process, product, and policy. Distance Education, 33(2), 165-184.

References

• Olcott, D. (2012). OER perspectives: Emerging issues for universities. Distance Education, 33(2), 283-290.

• Petrides, L., Jimes, C., Middleton-Detzner, C., Walling, J. & Weiss, S. (2011). Open textbook adoption and use: implications for teachers and learners. Open Learning, 26(1), 39-49.

• Richter, T. & McPherson, M. (2012). Open educational resources: Education for the world? Distance Education, 33(2), 201-209.

• Rolfe, V. (2012). Open educational resources: Staff attitudes and awareness. Research in Learning Technology, 20, 1–13.

• Tait, A. (2013). Distance and e-learning, social justice and development: The relevance of capability approaches to the mission of open universities. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 14(4), 1-18.

• Wiley, D. (2006). On the sustainability of open educational resource initiatives in higher education. Retrieved from www.oecd.org/edu/oer