researching oer in the open: developments and deliberations in the roer4d project
TRANSCRIPT
Key challenges facing education world-wide
Rising numbers of students in the education sector
Education institutions under political & financial pressure
Expensive, limited in number, often outdated textbooks are not entirely relevant to the context
Employability of graduates
Reduction of educational funding by governments
Key challenges facing education in developing countries
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3APCoE_students_at_AICTE_Regional_Office_in_Mumbai.jpg
Key challenges facing education in South Africa
#Feesmustfall protests in Nov 2015 & Feb 2016 in South Africa• Cost• RelevanceBy Discott (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
OER as a response to some challenges facing education in general – NMC Horizon Report 2015
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s://n
et.e
duca
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ir/lib
rary
/HR2
015.
OER as a response to some challenges facing education in developing countries
http://www.elearning-africa.com/eLA_Newsportal/finding-the-sweet-spot-open-educational-resources-in-the-developing-world/
Open educational resources (OER) are teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use and re-purposing by others (e.g. Creative Commons) (adapted from Smith & Casserly 2006: 8).
Free videosAny learner or teacher
What are OER? Free lecture notes
Open textbooks as a type of OER
http://www.educationdive.com/news/open-textbooks-become-popular-source-of-affordable-content/414274/
Hodgkinson-Williams & Gray (2009:110) & Hodgkinson-Williams (2014)
Copy
Customise (e.g. translate, add local content)
Combine (e.g. select and mix content)Contribute (e.g. share locally & with the
world)
OER: Degrees of openness
http://oer.avu.org/
http://open.uct.ac.za/
http://www.oerafrica.org/
Examples of OER from Africa
Slow uptake of OER in Africa
http://ocw.mit.edu/about/site-statistics/
http://oermap.org/oer-evidence-map/
Most OER research taking place in Global North
ROER4D Funding
International Development Research Centre (IDRC)Open Society Foundations (OSF)UK Department for International Development (DFID)
3 year project (27 Aug 2013 - 27 Aug 2016 with an extension to Feb 2017)
Grant 1 - IDRC CAD 2 million & OSF
Grant 2 - DFID CAD 500,000
3 Regions South America Sub-Saharan Africa Central, South & South-East Asia
18 research projects in 7 clusters
100+ researchers & associates
26 countries
16 time zones
IDRC
OSF DFID
ROER4D Hosting – Network Hub
Wawasan Open University
Penang, Malaysia
Centre for Innovation in Learning & Teaching (CILT)
Centre for Higher Education Development (CHED)
University of Cape TownSouth Africa
In what ways, for whom and under what circumstances, can the adoption of OER impact upon the increasing demand for
accessible, relevant, high-quality, and affordable education in the Global South?
Global South
Research on Open Educational Resources for Development (ROER4D)
ROER4D Research: OER Adoption & Impact
ROER4D
Network hub
OER Desktop overview
(1)Survey of OER adoption by academics & students (1)
Academics’ adoption of OER
(2)
Teacher educators’ adoption of OER
(3)OER adoption in one country (1)
OER impact studies (7+1)
Baseline educational
expenditure (2)
Overview of ROER4D’s 7 Project Clusters
ROER4D’s Project Clusters & Coordination
Knowledge building
Research capacity
Networking
1. Build an empirical knowledge base on the use and impact of OER in education
2. Develop the research capacity of OER researchers
3. Build a network of OER scholars
5. Communicate research to inform education policy and practice
ROER4D Objectives4. Curate & disseminate research openly
Curation & dissemination
Research capacity
Communication
ROER4D Implicit objective: Open researchTo meet our explicit objectives we realised that we needed to undertake our research as “openly” as possible
Open research
Conceptual Framework/
s
Methods
Instrument
questions
Data
Analysis tools
Initial Findings
Proposal & reports
LiteratureReview
ROER4D’s open
research process
OER Asia
NEW Open
project
Open Research – ROER4D sharing to-date
SP4
SP1c
Hub
SP4
SP11
SP=Sub-Project
Open Research – ROER4D proposals & reports
http://roer4d.org/resources
Open Research – ROER4D proposals & reports
Open Research – ROER4D literature reviews
Open Research – ROER4D concepts
Open for comment & copying!
Open Research – ROER4D instruments
Copies of the instruments and a description of the context in which these instruments were used is available for downloading from UCT’s Data First portal.
https://www.datafirst.uct.ac.za/
Open Research – ROER4D research data
Copies of both quantitative and qualitative research data are available for downloading from UCT’s Data First portal if you login to the site.
https://www.datafirst.uct.ac.za/
Open Research – ROER4D initial findings
http://roer4d.org/category/blogarchive
Initial findings published in Blogs and
on SlideShare
http://www.slideshare.net/ROER4D/
Open Research – ROER4D dissemination plan
Using an Open Textbook platform as an Open Research platform
Different layers of detail of reports:• Executive summaries• Multi-media summary (5 min video, presentation, digital story,
etc.)• Individual project reports linked to open data (where available &
suitable)• Individual portfolio reports linked to open strategy documents
Remixing of content (e.g. all the regional South American reports together)
ROER4D Archiving – Open & closed resources
ROER4D Knowledge building in “the open”
Benefits of being “open”
Sharing resources and/or references that might otherwise have been missed – especially those in languages other than English (Mutuality)
Interrogating Google spreadsheet of references like a set of data (Enquiry, Utility)
Crowd-sourcing references in ROER4D Bibliography
Surfacing contradictions in the literature where authors publish about OER in “closed” journals, and highlighting the extent to which access to information is for those who can pay and the disadvantage this is for those in the Global South (Scrutiny, Critique)
Sharing draft versions of literature reviews, our research reports provides early alerts to new resources and suggestions for improvement (Adaptability)
Challenges to being “open”
Not everyone is comfortable creating or adding to collaborative documents and “working in the open” (Anxiety, Suspicion)
Need to be mindful of sharing resources that are openly licensed and not inadvertently sharing copyrighted materials (Liability)
Need to be careful not to unintentionally “expose” individual researchers and/or sub-projects in the process of sharing draft versions of literature reviews, research reports and presentations (Vulnerability)
Need to be cognizant of limitations of various software and cloud-based services, as well as our own lack of knowledge and skills regarding them (Unfamiliarity)
ROER4D Research capacity building in “the open”Benefits of being “open”
Making explicit and linkable the other surveys that we consulted (Transparency)
Making the underpinning hypotheses of our questions clear so that they could be interrogated during collaborative webinars (Accountability)
Developing a better understanding of potential language and/or cultural interpretations (Cultural sensitivity)
Creating deeper network bonds through this shared process (Community)
Challenges to being “open”
May unwittingly expose participants’ lack of research knowledge and hinder, rather than help, the capacity building process (Vulnerability)
Can take much longer because of the intentions to collaborate and deliberate ideas (Inefficiency)
May result in uneven capacity development if participation is voluntary (Asymmetry)
ROER4D Building a network of OER scholars in “the open”Benefits of being “open”
Finding ways to learn from and/or support other individuals or project teams to further the gathering and analysis of OER adoption and impact (Reciprocity)
Optimizing synergies with the other OER research projects (Serendipity)
Leveraging the intention of OER scholars to participate in a shared enterprise (Collaboration)
Challenges to being “open”
Understanding that not all researchers, especially those who are new to international research, are comfortable with engaging directly with those who they consider leaders in the field (Timidity, Hierarchy)
Ensuring that South-South networks remain as important, if not more than, South-North networks, even if they are less well-established historically (Septentrionalism)
ROER4D Curating & disseminating research in “the open”Benefits of being “open”
Open licensing removes need for single place of deposit – multiple platforms can be used to reach the broadest audience (Dissemination)
Curation on third-party platforms with sophisticated metadata functionality (Discoverability)
Open formats allow for access by audiences without proprietary software (Accessibility, Adaptability)
Open data curation allows for comparison (Comparability)
Researchers & other users of documents help check our system and the content (Functionality, Quality)
Challenges to being “open”
Deciding when to be open and when not (Readiness)
Knowledge about emergent open systems and practices (Insecurity)
Efforts must be made to ensure cohesion across platforms (Cost)
Must rework documents to fit different software systems (Cost)
Data needs to be effectively and comprehensively de-identified (Complexity)
ROER4D Communicating research in “the open”Benefits of being “open”
Early and frequent communication with stakeholders and funders (Credibility, Visibility)
Sharing processes and lessons learned within network and outside (Transparency)
Find and engage with new audiences (Receptiveness, Dialogue, Interdiscliplinarity)
Testing and tailoring communications to audiences (Creativity, Adaptability, Agility)
Challenges to being “open”
Deciding when to be open and when not (Readiness)
Supporting “failure” and experimentation (Vulnerability)
Dealing with discomfort in sharing across cultural and geographical contexts (Power differentials, Culture & Norms)
Meeting expectations and managing workload (Capacity, Productivity)
Danger of accentuating the positive and unbalanced communication (Integrity, Objectivity)
ROER4D Open Magna Carta
Make open …… if it adds
value… if it is ethical… if it is legal… by default
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magna_Carta#mediaviewer/File:Magna_Carta_(1297_version_with_seal,_owned_by_David_M_Rubenstein).png
On public display in the West Rotunda Gallery of the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C
Thank you!Questions?Comments?
Additional slides for explanations
In what ways, for whom and under what circumstances, can the adoption of OER impact
upon the increasing demand for accessible, relevant, high-quality, and affordable
education in the Global South?
40
CHALLENGES FOR WHOM OR AT WHAT LEVEL: Global to student
INFLUENCING FACTORS: Contextual - structural, cultural, agential
OER PRACTICES: OER creation, location, reuse (or non-use), revision, remixing, redistribution, legal retention of original and copies
IMPACT INDICATORS: accessible, affordable & high-quality materials (relevant, current), learner performance, teacher practice
ROER4D Main research question & themes
INFLUENCING FACTORS
(See Archer) Structural:
Infrastructure Policy Repositories ...
Cultural Compliance
culture Management
styles ...
Agential Will / volition Awareness
41
OER & OER PRACTICES(Innovation) (See Wiley,
Beetham, Hodgkinson-Williams)
OER as the object/product
OER as a practice/process
Creation Location Copy/Reuse Customisation/
Revision Combination/
Remixing Copy Keeping legal
copy/Retaining Redistribution
IMPACT INDICATORS
(of aspect of educational problems/ development imperatives) (See Mulder)
Learning materials
Cost Quality:
relevance, currency
Learner Performanc
e Satisfaction
Teacher Practices Perceptions
ROER4D Relationships being investigated
ReferencesArcher, M. (2003) Structure, Agency and the Internal Conversation, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Hodgkinson-Williams, C. & Gray, E. (2009). Degrees of openness: The emergence of open educational resources at the University of Cape Town. International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology, 5(5), 101-116. Available online: https://open.uct.ac.za/handle/11427/8860 [Last Accessed 23 January 2015].
Hodgkinson-Williams, C. A. (2014). Degrees of Ease: Adoption of OER, OpenTextbooks and MOOCs in the Global South. Keynote address at the OER Asia Symposium 2014. Available online: https://open.uct.ac.za/handle/11427/1188 [Last accessed 3 March 2015]
Smith M. & Casserly C. (2006) The Promise of Open Educational Resources. Available online: http://learn.creativecommons.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/changearticle.pdf [Last accessed 4 March 2014]
Wiley, D. (2014). The Access Compromise and the 5th R. Retrieved from: http://opencontent.org/blog/archives/3221
Links
Website: www.roer4d.org
Contact Principal Invesigator: [email protected]
Follow us: http://twitter.com/roer4D
Presentations: www.slideshare.com/roer4D
Acknowledgments & Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Written by Cheryl Hodgkinson-Williams, Henry Trotter, Tess Cartmill, Sukaina Walji,
Sarah Goodier, Thomas King & Michelle Willmers
Contact:
Graphics by Rondine [email protected], Cheryl
Hodgkinson-Williams & Henry Trotter [email protected]