Source of evidence

Type of motivation

Reputation building

Efficiency/income generation

Open access to knowledge

Enhancing pedagogy

Technological momentum

JISC OER programme funding call: reasons for OER release (JISC 2009b)

To act as a marketing tool where students can view resources produced by

an institution prior to applying to study there

To encourage the sharing of learning resources between institutions,

between academics and within communities of practice

To enable learning materials and resources can be shared universally -

locally, nationally and globally to support learning

To encourage development and uptake of tools and processes supporting

the release of open resources that will enhance both productivity and

relevance by being customisable and adaptable by both academics and

students

JISC OER programme funding call: anticipated benefits of OER release (JISC 2009b)

An increase in student satisfaction around the quality of learning materials

Enhancement of the global academic reputation of UK Higher Education

Advertising and marketing – increasing applications from international, and non-traditional learners

A significant increase in the open availability and use of free high quality online resources

UK higher education’s contribution to the public good and developing world

Support for new modes of online learning, such as those that involve the use of web 2.0 tools

Making use of the significant investment that has already been made in digital content by providing ways to reuse and repurpose existing resources and to demonstrate how they can be used for teaching and learning

JISC OER projects, anticipated benefits at beginning of programme

(McGill et al 2010)

Institutional reputation building, attracting potential students

Academic/professional reputation

Outreach and public engagement

Partnerships with content providers

Opportunity to test out course materials before enrolling – and compare with other similar courses

Skills development (e.g. numeracy) through generic OERs reused across different subject areas

Increase availability of quality peer reviewed material to enhance the curriculum

Enhancing learner choice

Share-and-share-alike approaches to OER release

Improve efficiency of content development

Improve access to repurposable content

Commitment to the open education agenda

Other public interest agenda (e.g. with content such as public health, climate change)

Support for learner-centred, self-directed, peer-to-peer and social/informal learning approaches

Student/user feedback and open peer review

Enhances access for e.g. work-based, international and lifelong learners

Freedom of access (e.g. at work/home/on placement) and enhanced opportunities for learning

Enhanced quality and flexibility of resources

Respond to changing modes of learning e.g. peer-to-peer, learner-directed, informal

Applying knowledge in a wider context than courses would otherwise allow (e.g. international dimension)

Collaborative approaches to teaching/

Increase collaborative approaches to learning

Build curriculum partnerships with industry

Upskilling staff in OER development and use

Professional/peer-to-peer learning about OER release

JISC OER projects, benefits (outcome) reported by evaluation and synthesis team (McGill et al 2010)

Personal reputation

Institutional motivation

Exchange

Share and share alike

Sustaining minority subjects

Increasing capacity

Cost reduction

Increasing efficiency and sustainability

Altruism (gift)

Internationalisation (imperialist)

Academic commons

Peer critique

Internationalisation (interaction)

Enhancing pedagogy through reflection

Process of preparing for release

Hewlett Foundation (Atkins et al, 2007)

To expand people’s

freedoms through the removal of “unfreedoms”(including inadequate education and access to knowledge)

To equalize the distribution of high quality

knowledge and educational opportunities

The world’s knowledge is viewed as a ‘public

good’

OECD (2007)

It is good for the institution’s public relations to have an OER

project as a showcase for attracting new students.

A further motivation, mentioned by some major distance teaching institutions, is the

risk of doing nothing in a rapidly changing environment.

Personal non-monetary gain, such as publicity, reputation within

the open community or “egoboo” as it is sometimes called.

Improve publicity to gain the ‘first-mover’ advantage

Distribution of free content.

New licensing

schemes that facilitate sharing and reuse

Increased willingness to share

Promoting lifelong learning

Improve quality

Reduce cost of content development

Implement cost recovery models as

universities experience increased competition

Speed up development of new learning

resources

Stimulate innovation

Maintain records of resources and their usage

Expand access to learning for everyone but most of all for

Non-traditional groups of students and thus widen participation in

higher education.

They can bridge the gap between non-formal, informal and

formal learning

The altruistic argument that sharing knowledge is in line with

academic traditions and a good thing to do.

Enable free sharing and

reuse of resources

The altruistic motivation of sharing,

supported by traditional academic values

The technological and economic drivers include improved, less

costly and more user-friendly information technology

infrastructure (such as broadband), hardware and software.

.

OER Africa project

Improve quality of resources

Increase efficietcy of content development

Connect like-minded educators – teachers, academics, and trainers

Develop capacity as active participants rather than passive consumers

Capetown Open Declaration(http://www.capetowndeclaration.org/read-the-declaration)

Promote

open access as an international norm

Develop a pool of open,

educational resources

Ensure everyone can access and contribute to the sum of all human knowledge

Downes (2007)

Reduced cost of publishing and ownership

Promoting intellectual freedom