This document summarizes a research report on the impact of open educational resources (OER) from a 2011 study conducted by JISC in the UK. The study found benefits of OER for both educators and learners, as well as pedagogical, attitudinal, logistical and strategic factors that enable or impede OER adoption. It identifies a need for further research on OER reuse and optimal ways to foster educator adoption. The OER Research Hub project aims to test hypotheses about the impact of OER on student performance, access, retention and more through various research methods.

1. “Investigación en REA: un recorrido
hasta el presente y la agenda
pendiente”
Marcelo Fabián Maina
eLEARN CENTER, UOC
mmaina@uoc.edu
Loja, September 12, 2013

2. http://openwalls.com/image?id=13213
http://www.clker.com/cliparts/7/9/4/6/1332235920874624291smarties2.jpg
/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aaronescobar/2569091622/in/set-72157602046046491

3. http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CI/CI/pdf/Events/global_oer_logo_manual_en.pdf

4. Learning
materials
Learning
objects
Open Source
Developmental approach
Repositories

5. • LO heritage
• Collections of
resources
• Developments of
(meta) repositories
• Efforts in licensing
(Creative
Commons)

6. Repositories
Developmental approach
OEP
Teaching &
Learning
MOOC
Business
models
Access to
education
Institutional
“change”
Policy at
different levels
Networked and
globalized setting

7. 2007
2008

8. Set up – Take-up – Build on
2006/7
- A 2012 Roadmap towards HE of production, sharing and
usage of Open Digital Educational Content .
- A set of online tutorials
- Awareness raising workshops to foster the take-up of ODEC,
and how to develop infrastructures, legally sound practices,
educational policies, and organizational strategies.
http://www.olcos.org/english/about/index.htm
http://www.oer-quality.org/
-A guide for implementing OEP
- OEP best practice clearing house
- A roadmap for institutional leaders, policy
makers, teachers, and students
2010/11
http://www.oer-europe.net/
2010/12
- A guide for OER assessment
- A set of crediting scenarios
- Tools supporting evaluation and crediting
of OER-based learning

9. Collection of practices
2011
2012
2012
2012
2013

10. Research repository
Administered by the Education Program of the
William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
2001/9

11. JISC programme, UK
Creation
Release
Study
http://www.icde.org/en/resources/reports/reports_2011/OER+impact+study:+Research+report.b7C_wJjKWs.ips

12. OER impact study: Research report
JISC, 2011
1. What benefits can OER offer to educators and
learners in HE in the UK?
2. What are the pedagogic, attitudinal, logistical
and strategic factors conducive to uptake and
sustained practice in the use of OER;
conversely, what are the impediments?
http://www.icde.org/filestore/Resources/Reports/OERImpactStudyResearchReport.pdf

13. OER impact study: Findings-benefits
JISC, 2011
Educators
++
• Integration into students’ learning environments
• Providing opportunities for supplementary learning, skills
development and presenting content in different ways
• Saving teachers effort
• Benchmarking their own practice
• Teach topics that lie outside their current expertise
• Stimulating networking and collaboration among teachers
• Improving possibilities for new collaborations in researching fields
• Lack of precision in teachers’ conceptualization of OER
• Lack of awareness of Creative Commons licensing terms.
http://www.icde.org/en/resources/reports/reports_2011/OER+impact+study:+Research+report.b7C_wJjKWs.ips

14. OER impact study: Enablers & Barriers
JISC, 2011
• Pedagogic:
– Relevance of content –
match with teacher
purpose
– Provenance
– Pedagogic intent
– Granularity
– Media rich
– Contemporaneity
– New pedagogical
models
• Logistical
– Volume of resources
– Technical and
implementation issues
– Discoverability
– Lack of licencing
• Strategic
– Institutional policy
– Driving agents
– Recognition-reward
http://www.icde.org/en/resources/reports/reports_2011/OER+impact+study:+Research+report.b7C_wJjKWs.ips

15. OER impact study: Findings-benefits
JISC, 2011
Learners
• Low level of awareness of OER, and understanding of
copyright issues
• Preference for online over printed materials, and
materials that are up to date;
• Appreciation of the ‘walled garden’ of online resources
provided by their teachers,
• Continuing need for training in searching for and
evaluating online materials (information literacy)
• Reluctance to make their own work publicly available
on the Web, especially when formally assessed.
http://www.icde.org/en/resources/reports/reports_2011/OER+impact+study:+Research+report.b7C_wJjKWs.ips

16. OER impact study: Recommendations
JISC, 2011
• Further research into the reuse, in a global
context, of full courses/modules of OER
• Further research into the optimal ways to
foster teachers’ reuse of OER.
http://www.icde.org/en/resources/reports/reports_2011/OER+impact+study:+Research+report.b7C_wJjKWs.ips

17. • ... need for proof: “value and impact remain to
be answered or supported with appropriate
evidence” (McAndrew & Farrow, 2013)
https://www.medev.ac.uk/oer13/67/view/

18. OER Research HUB: Hypotheses
“… identify critical issues and learn from the practical
experience derived from working to solve them”.
2 key hypotheses:
a. Use of OER leads to IMPROVEMENT in student
performance and satisfaction.
b. The open aspect of OER creates different usage and
ADOPTION patterns than other online resources.
http://www.open.ac.uk/about/open-educational-resources/oer-projects/oer-research-hub

19. OER Research HUB: Hypotheses
A set of testable hypotheses:
c. Open education models lead to more equitable
ACCESS to education, serving a broader base of
learners.
d. Use of OER is an effective method for improving
RETENTION for at-risk students.
e. Use of OER leads to critical REFLECTION by
educators, with evidence of improvement in their
practice
f. OER adoption at an institutional level leads to
financial BENEFITS for students and/or institutions.
http://www.open.ac.uk/about/open-educational-resources/oer-projects/oer-research-hub

20. OER Research HUB: Hypotheses
A set of testable hypotheses:
g.
Informal learners use a variety of INDICATORS when
selecting OER.
h. Informal learners adopt a variety of techniques to
compensate for the lack of formal SUPPORT in open
courses.
i. Open education acts as a bridge to formal education, and is
COMPLEMENTARY, not competitive, with it.
j. Participation in OER pilots and programs leads to POLICY
change at institutional level.
k. Informal means of ASSESSMENT are motivators to learning
with OER.
http://www.open.ac.uk/about/open-educational-resources/oer-projects/oer-research-hub

21. OER Research HUB: Methods
• Surveys of attitudes and
behaviours of students
and educators towards
OER
• Structured interviews
with students, teachers,
OER creators,
policymakers and other
stakeholders
• Stakeholder Focus groups
• Analysis of student
performance
• Descriptions of pilot
activities and their
impact
• Case studies of OER
policy implementation,
• Critical incidence analysis
• Classroom observations
• Reflective journals
• Learning analytics
• Desk research
http://www.open.ac.uk/about/open-educational-resources/oer-projects/oer-research-hub

22. • ... need for proof “value and impact remain to
be answered or supported with appropriate
evidence” (McAndrew & Farrow, 2013)
• Near future scenarios (forecasting OER,
foreseeing Open Education) – prospective
studies “visionary papers and imaginative
scenarios on how Open Education in 2030 in
Europe might look”
http://blogs.ec.europa.eu/openeducation2030/open-education-2030/

23. Teachers
• Teacher-learner interaction
• Teacher training and
collaboration
• Pedagogical methodologies
and practices
• Quality and innovation
• Content and scope of
“teaching”
• Teacher engagement and
motivation
•…
Learners
• Enrolment and support
schemes
• Peer learning and interaction
• Learner-teacher roles
• Learning practices and
outcome
• Linking formal and informal
learning
• Learner engagement and
motivation
•…
http://blogs.ec.europa.eu/openeducation2030/open-education-2030/

24. What we have and know
• Availabitily of enourmous amount of OER
• Acces to “advance search” repositories (and
meta-repositories)
• Ways of creating and adpating OER
• Pros & Cons of using OER
• Enablers and barries to adoption of OEP

25. What we need to prove
We have cumulated a lot of experience, but we
haven’t scientifically proved yet that OER/OEP:
- Democratises education
- Provides real opportunities to “at risk” groups
- Fosters actual pedagogical change and
innovation
- Is sustainable
- Is productively disruptive

26. Research suggested approach
• Practice based – theory and practice driven
• DBR approach / Action research
– Design T&L experience + Design research
– Monitor and collect data
– Analyse
– Report
• Provide “explanatory” knowledge + applied
orientation (guidelines, rules of thumb)

27. Research focus
LO OS  OER 
OCW  MOOC
   OE
<>

28.    OE
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Teaching practice
Learning
Education institutions
Policy
Sustainability
Access
Democracy
Internationalization of education

29. OportUnidad assumptions
• OportUnidad
– Use of OER leads to critical reflection by educators, with
evidence of improvement in their practice (5)
– OER adoption at an institutional level leads to financial benefits
for students and/or institutions (6)
– Embracing OEP straighten inter-institutional collaboration on a
globalized educational scenario.
• OportUnidad trained faculty
– Open education models lead to more equitable access to
education, serving a broader base of learners than traditional
education (3)
– Use of OER is an effective method for improving retention for
at-risk students (4)
– Use of OER empowers the student ….
http://oportunidadproject.eu/es/

30. OK, now “prove it”

31. fresh,
May 9
2013

32. Gracias
Obrigado
Thank you