This document provides a retrospective on major developments in open educational resources (OER) over the past 20 years. It discusses key choice points that helped shape the field, including: adopting open source to redistribute power; using open licensing to facilitate collaboration; pursuing sustainability to support long-term creation and use of OER; prioritizing interoperability to improve discovery; promoting open textbooks for awareness; and increasing supply to drive adoption. The document also outlines the CARE framework for OER stewardship and notes some current choice points like navigating intersections with other disciplines and defining commitments to accessibility and inclusion.

1. What We Got Right, and Wrong:
A 20 Year Retrospective
Dr. Lisa Petrides
Twitter @lpetrides
#MIOER
This work is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

2. Founded in 2001
● iPod was introduced
● First Harry Potter movie came out
● Wikipedia
● MIT OpenCourseWare
● The Wayback Machine
● Creative Commons
● ISKME (though not incorporated until 2002)

3. Choice Point #1
How can we get the means of production
into the hands of educators and students
Open source

4. Choice Point #1
How can we get the means of production
into the hands of educators and students
Open source is a mechanism for the
redistribution of power
Open source

5. Choice Point #2
What structure can be used to facilitate
collaboration and sharing
Open licensing

6. Choice Point #2
What structure can be used to facilitate
collaboration and sharing
Open licensing is needed in order to
establish rules of exchange
Open licensing

7. Choice Point #3
How can we support the creation and use
of OER in the long term
Sustainability

8. Choice Point #3
How can we support the creation and use
of OER in the long term
Sustainable business models create a
healthy ecosystem to support the means of
production
Sustainability

9. Choice Point #4
How can we scale the search and
discovery of OER
Interoperability

10. Choice Point #4
How can we scale the search and
discovery of OER
Interoperability improves efficiency and
increases synergistic partnerships
Interoperability

11. Choice Point #5
What can we do to bring more immediate
recognition and awareness to the field?
Open textbooks

12. Choice Point #5
What can we do to bring more immediate
recognition and awareness to the field?
Open textbooks are a well understood
unit of instruction
Open textbooks

13. Choice Point #6
How to increase the adoption of OER
Increase the supply

14. Choice Point #6
How to increase the adoption of OER
Increase the supply of OER and displace
the incumbent
Increase the supply

15. Major Choice Points in OER History
The Path We Took The Question We Were Answering
Open source is a mechanism for the redistribution
of power
How can we get the means of production into the
hands of educators and students
Open licensing is needed in order to establish
rules of exchange
What structure can be used to facilitate
collaboration and sharing
Sustainable business models create a healthy
ecosystem to support the means of production
How can we support the creation and use of OER
in the long term
Interoperability improves efficiency and increases
synergistic partnerships
How can we scale the search and discovery of
OER
Open textbooks are a well understood unit of
instruction
What can we do to bring more immediate
recognition and awareness to the field?
Increase the supply of OER and displace the
incumbent
How to increase the adoption of OER

16. CARE Framework (careframework.org)
1. Contribute: OER stewards actively contribute to
efforts, whether financially or via in-kind
contributions, to advance the awareness,
improvement, and distribution of OER;
2. Attribute: OER stewards practice conspicuous
attribution, ensuring that all who create or remix OER
are properly and clearly credited for their
contributions;
3. Release: OER stewards ensure OER can be released
and used beyond the course and platform in which it
was created or delivered;
4. Empower: OER stewards are inclusive and strive to
meet the diverse needs of all learners, including by
supporting the participation of new and
non-traditional voices in OER creation and adoption.

17. Major Choice Points in OER History
1. Redistributing power in the ecosystem
2. Incorporating structure to establish rules of exchange
3. Sustaining the field for the long term
4. Designing for growth through efficiency and standards
5. Increasing recognition and awareness outside of the field
6. Gaining credibility through supply and quality

18. Some Choice Points Today
1. Navigating the intersection with other disciplines
2. Defining and taking action on our commitment to broader topics,
such as accessibility, culturally responsive teaching, democracy
and civic learning
3. Understanding and reflecting on our identity in the field, in terms of
inclusion and representation
4. Supporting non-linear pathways and models of change
5. Creating policies that remove obstacles

19. Lisa Petrides, Ph.D.
ISKME, CEO and Founder
@lpetrides