Open Education Resources (OERs): An ODL future that has already happened (ODP Version)

Open Education Resources (OERs) An ODL future that has already happend? learning for development

Commonwealth of Learning Slide 2

COL is:

an intergovernmental organisation created by Commonwealth Heads of Government

to encourage the development and sharing of open learning/distance education knowledge, resources and technologies.

COL is helping developing nations improve access to quality education and training.

80% Sir John Daniel, 2007 “ For my generation the great innovation was the course team. For the next I suspect that it will be Open Educational Resources.”

The future that has already happened Slide 3 Peter Drucker “ Father of modern management” HBR “ In human affairs — political, social, economic, and business — it is pointless to try to predict the future, let alone attempt to look ahead 75 years. But it is possible — and fruitful — to identify major events that have already happened, irrevocably, and that therefore will have predictable effects in the next decade or two. It is possible, in other words, to identify and prepare for the future that has already happened. ”

Open learning – not just a method 80% Learner autonomy versus Independent study DE Methods Learner freedom Open learning Slide 4 CA Wedemeyer “ Perhaps no tenet of education is more widely held or expressed than that education must be centred in the individual ” Wedemeyer & Childs 1961 Is an educational philosophy of widening learner choices in things like when and where to study, preferences for media used in delivery, widening entry and exit points if study, etc,

OERs and upside-down thinking Open questions Slide 5 Do OERs mean that distance education providers should make their study guides freely available for anyone to use modify and adapt? Can free textbooks play a role in widening access to education?

What about the future of distance education and institutional models for ODL delivery? Slide 6

A historical perspective of ODL 80% Slide 7 ? Agrarian society Industrial society Knowledge society Face-to-face pedagogy Single-mode DE pedagogy A new pedagogy

S-curve analysis & discontinuity 80% Slide 8 A B Strategy innovation

The mega-university S-curve Slide 9

Development costs of DE resources Instructional design, multimedia design, editing etc. Cost categories Academic authoring time 80% 20% Slide 10

Development costs of OERs Authoring and design costs shared among participating institutions Slide 11

What are the most important technological innovations in the history of education? Slide 12

The blackboard 80% The inventor or introducer of the blackboard deserves to be ranked among the best contributors to learning and science, if not among the greatest benefactors of mankind Josiah Bumstead 1841 Slide 13

The motion picture 80% The motion picture is the most revolutionary instrument introduced into education since the printing press Hoban 1940 Slide 14

Television It now seems clear, however, that television offers the greatest opportunity for the advancement of education since the introduction of printing by moveable type Stoddard 1957 Slide 15

Computers The impact of computers on society, and hence on education, has been compared to that of moveable type and the printing press since Gutenberg Caffrey and Mossman 1967 Slide 16

How well are we doing, given all this technological innovation in education? Slide 17

Kids who won't be going to school 80% Slide 18

Productivity and price in higher education 80% 20% Slide 19 Source: Justin Tilton and Jim Farmer, Learning Environment 2015

Can technology make a difference? Slide 20

COL's WikiEducator We're turning the digital divide into digital dividends using free content and open networks . We hope you can help us. Slide 21

Standing on the shoulders of giants Slide 22 “ Imagine a world in which every single person is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge. That's what we're doing. And we need your help ” Jimmy Wales microsoft.com Wikipedia.org

Strategic vision for free content will have a free version of the entire education curriculum available for learners and educators to use, distribute and modify for local needs and priorities. By 2015, the free content movement :

does not replace closed curricula - it is an alternative

there are motivated resource producers who work in both closed and open curriculum projects

quality is equally important for closed and free content

80% Observations Slide 23

What are the core freedoms? Slide 24

Is sharing knowledge something new?

When:

parent intervenes when bringing up their children

teacher teaches in the classroom

researchers consult with their peers

We share knowledge freely When we give knowledge away, we still have it for ourselves to use! Slide 25

Core freedoms Richard Stallman Free Software Foundation Freedom 0 - Use The freedom to run a program, for any purpose Freedom 1 – Help yourself The freedom to study how a program works, and adapt it to your needs. (Access to the source code is a precondition for this.) Freedom 2 – Help your neighbour The freedom to redistribute copies Freedom 3 – Help your community The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public Slide 26

What about copyright and licenses for OERs? Slide 27

Licenses Attribution You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor. No derivative works You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. Noncommercial You may not use this work for commercial purposes. Share alike If you build upon this work, you may only distribute the resulting work under a license identical to this one. Flexible license – from “ all rights reserved ” to “ some rights reserved ”. Slide 29

What is WikiEducator's strategic plan and how is it used? Slide 30

Slide 31 Phases of our strategic plan Establishing foundations (May 2006 - Dec 2007 )‏ Scaling up free content development (Jan 2008 - Dec 2008)‏ Sustainable implementation (Jan 2009 - )‏

Slide 32 How is WikiEducator used? Planning planning of education projects linked with the development of free content. Developing Free content development of free content on Wikieducator Howtos work on building open education resources (OERs) on how to create OERs Funding proposals networking on funding proposals developed as free content

Established on 1 May 2006 – How is WikiEducator doing? Slide 33

Slide 34 Daily users 62 users per day First quarter 179 users per day Second quarter 437 users per day Third quarter 810 users per day Fourth quarter Currently 4 327 users per day

Slide 35 WikiEducator growth Wikeducator's growth trend

Can you give us examples of WikiEducator initiatives? Slide 36

Slide 37 VUSSC Virtual University for Small States of the Commonwealth

OER Network

27 Commonwealth countries

Collaborating online using WikiEducator‏

Building capacity through regional boot camps (Mauritius, Singapore and Trinidad and Tobago)

Conceived in 2000 and approved in 2003 by Commonwealth Education Ministers

Slide 38 CCNC – a real course for real students Commonwealth Computer Navigator's Certificate

International collaboration

Africa (UWC)‏

Asia (IGNOU)‏

Caribbean (UWIDEC)‏

Pacific (OPNZ)‏

North America (PSU)‏

Free computer and software training skills for developing countries

Slide 39 FLOSS4Edu

The FLOSS4Edu project aims to address:

The absence of Free content in African Schools;

The lack of skills and knowledge to use FLOSS technologies; and

to improve access to FLOSS resources given the high cost of bandwidth and shortage of FLOSS distribution channels.

Regional FLOSS4Edu Chapters

East Africa, West Africa‏

India‏

Francophone Chapter?

Pacific chapter planned for August

Slide 40 Learning4Conent & scalability Free training for teachers in return for one OER lesson

A workshop in each of the 53 states of the Commonwealth

+ 4000 trained teachers

+ 4000 OER lessons

Tell me and I'll forget, show me and I may not remember, involve me, and I'll understand – Native American proverb

WikiEducator's invitation We're turning the digital divide into digital dividends using free content and open networks . We hope Southern Africa can help us. Slide 41