Good intentions: improving the evidence base in support of sharing learning materials

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Good intentions improving the evidence base in
support of sharing learning materials

• Lou McGill
• Sarah Currier
• Charles Duncan
• Peter Douglas

Open educational repositories share, improve,
reuse Thursday 26th March 2009
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Resource producer

• http//www.flickr.com/photos/royalty-free-images/1
  39142408/

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Primary consumer
http//www.flickr.com/photos/jenny-pics/2432117840
/
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Resource
http//www.flickr.com/photos/markhillary/829573216
/
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Resource Supplier
http//www.flickr.com/photos/saar_cmd/509088837/
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Resource consumer
http//www.flickr.com/photos/ericmmartin/322230691
1/
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Resource sharing
http//www.flickr.com/photos/ryanwick/2283058460/
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Resource exchange
http//www.flickr.com/photos/antonioacuna/39460850
2/
http//www.flickr.com/photos/striatic/131012552/
http//www.flickr.com/photos/laura_a/530116949/
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Repurposed resource
http//www.flickr.com/photos/jeffcarlson/418350700
/
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Context of use/re-purposing
http//www.flickr.com/photos/klara/21294855/
http//www.flickr.com/photos/imipolexg/266653753/
http//www.flickr.com/photos/gilgamesh/6712077/
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Learning materials

• 'sharing' implies intent letting others use
  something of value that you have created or own
  (invested in)
• could share openly or with specific groups
• 'exchange' parties offer/share some resource
  for mutual benefit
• re-use/re-purposing imply sharing but this may
  not always be a conscious intent

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Intent

• Whilst sharing and exchange are processes (either
  conscious or not) it is the intent behind the
  various initiatives, activities and services that
  are important...
• is sharing learning resources really feasible
  why has it been so hard to do?

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The problem

• Millions () spent on creating learning content
  over more than a decade
• Interoperability has advanced enormously over the
  same period
• Barriers related to IPR have been identified and
  largely overcome (for example Creative Commons)
• Yet there is no single compelling business case
  for sharing resources

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Conflicting views?

• there is little tradition or articulated desire
  for sharing learning materials in the sector in
  the ways made possible by these technologies
  TrustDR report, 2007
• 70 of respondents to a 2006 survey re-purposed
  resources created by others CD-LOR Personal
  Resource Management Strategies Review

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Objective

• Improving the evidence base in support of sharing
  learning materials
• June December 2008
• Funded by

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Research Study

• Desk research and interviews
• Symposium on Implementing National Learning
  Resources Repositories
• Collating and analysing business models
• Development of business cases for a variety of
  business models

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Early thoughts

• Sharing is not just about using formal
  repositories
• Learning resources interpreted broadly
• Business terminology not particularly relevant to
  learning teaching practitioners
• We do need to understand the 'business' in terms
  of knowing our market and 'consumers'

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Business models and cases

• Service
• Various infrastructures that exist to support
  sharing
• Business model
• a mechanism to illustrate various aspects of an
  existing service
• Business case
• an articulation of the benefits of such a model

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The paths we take

• Business models that exist now reflect the
  history of our work to encourage sharing of
  learning resources...
• Report offers an account of this history...

http//www.flickr.com/photos/elfike/118283141/
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In-depth Case Studies

• OpenLearn, UK, Open University
• Jorum, UK, National Repository
• NDLR, Ireland, National Repository
• COLEG, Scotland, FE National Repository
• IRISS Learning Exchange, Scotland, Social Work
• IVIMEDS, International, Medicine
• SURF WBL, UK, Cross-institutional
• CELLS, Scotland, Cross-institutional, Life
  Sciences
• EdShare, Southampton, UK, single institution

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Open Sharing Models Studied

• OpenLearn, UK
• JorumOpen, UK
• MIT OCW, US
• NZ OER, New Zealand
• Merlot, International
• OER Commons, International
• Connexions, Rice University US
• Knowledge Hub, Mexico
• BC Campus, Canada

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Historical Models Studied

• SeSDL, National, Scotland, Subject IT Staff
  Development
• HLSI, Regional, England
• IVINURS, International, Subject Nursing
• JORUM, National, UK
• Stòr Cùram, National, Scotland, Subject Social
  Work

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Business model template

• A template was developed to enable the
  articulation of a wide range of existing business
  models for sharing learning resources.
• to identify common elements and key decision
  points
• to highlight key points of connection between
  factors, decision making points, opportunities
  and stresses/restrictions.

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Business model template
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Finance models
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Service models
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Supplier/consumer models
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Issues affecting models
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Business Models

• Subject-based sharing
• Communities of practice shared curriculum
• Open sharing
• No barriers open access open licences
• Institutional sharing
• Informal sharing
• Media-focussed sharing

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Lifecycle

• Early experiments
• Recognition of problems IPR, culture, practice
• Technology interoperability, metadata
• Growing and changing
• Landscape has changed significantly
• Funding sustainability, adaptability
• Maturing
• Strong business cases

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Business cases

• a mechanism to help people decide which business
  model/s to adopt as appropriate
• a process where they would automatically generate
  a context specific business case to support
  funding requests
• encourages an approach which starts with the
  needs (required benefits) not a preferred model
• no one model fits all and often a combination of
  models may be appropriate depending on the
  context
• Helps to prioritise benefits and recognise that
  by making some business model choices certain
  benefits are more difficult to achieve
• to support a dialogue within institutions by
  identifying what benefits the institution and
  wider community already enjoy from existing
  sharing activities.

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Benefit levels

• Benefit for the global community (13)
• Benefit for the national community (13)
• Benefit for the educational institution (15)
• Benefit for individual teachers, tutors and
  learning support staff (8)
• Benefit for individual learners, students (11)

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Impact of business cases

• Significant impact
• Some impact
• Possible with right conditions
• No impact

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Business cases - Global
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Business cases - National
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Business cases - Institutional
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Business cases - Teachers
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Business cases - Learners
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National sharing scenario

• Reflects government ideals of widening
  participation, encouraging effective utilisation
  of publicly funded collections of resources,
  promoting cross institutional collaboration,
  encouraging re-use and re-purposing and
  supporting lifelong learning
• Obviously a national approach would be required
  to facilitate these benefits but combining this
  with an open approach (on a national scale) could
  add many benefits, particularly if this meant
  open to learners as well as those supporting
  learning and teaching. A CoP approach could
  support sustainability, and a subject-based
  approach would also support the development of a
  critical mass in different subject areas. A
  possible model to support this scenario would be
  an open national repository with access by
  students, possibly opened wider than the UK with
  subject based community support mechanisms to
  encourage sharing of practice, deposit of
  materials and re-use/re-purposing.

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Conclusions

• Report referred to in recent JISC OER call
• Develop toolkit for institutions building
  business cases
• Consider intent know your objectives
• Recognise that these may change through the
  lifecycle of any repository
• Adapt, modify, sustain

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Good intentions

• The vision of a world where teachers in HE, FE
  and WBL/CPD would share and re-purpose their
  learning materials, using the Web as a medium,
  with the support of interoperability standards,
  and repository platforms utilising those
  standards has been with us for many years.
• Despite our best efforts and good intentions
  we've not always moved forward as fast as we
  would have liked. And now we find that after all
  that work and, sometimes painful, experience our
  world has changed.
• The evidence suggests that the landscape of
  policy, technology, and learning and teaching
  practice may have changed sufficiently for us to
  realise the vision.

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• Good intentions report and business cases
  available at
• http//ie-repository.jisc.ac.uk/265/