OERs and sharing learning/teaching ideas

The JISC-funded Good Intentions report concluded that informal reuse of learning and teaching materials by other teachers is fairly common. As confirmed by the UK OER pilot phase and in much greater detail by the University of Oxford TALL team in their OER Impact Study, teachers make extensive use of online content, particularly when they are called on to teach an unfamiliar aspect of their subject. However, they generally do not think of this as 'sharing' or feel part of a community of subject teachers as a result. Openly licensed and explicitly educational content (i.e. OERs) may not be clearly distinguished from other types of material.

Increased awareness of OERs does lead to new practices, for example restricting searches to openly licensed content, looking for content via subject and institutional repositories first, or re-working content to get around third party copyright restrictions. However, not all these changes are regarded as positive. Some academics found that learning more about licensing and IPR actually made them more anxious about reuse.

At present, then, we see learning and teaching materials being most commonly distributed on a produce/release → reuse/consume model rather than a model of sharing and even co-construction. Projects based around subject disciplines where a collaborative ethos already existed were able to build engagement between teaching staff with facilities to comment, favourite, review and rate each other's resources. This was not always an easy process:

A concern was also raised that making materials openly available might open oneself up to negative judgement from colleagues because of the perception of putting oneself forward as a self-appointed expert without adequate peer review. These views illustrate how the topic of licensing touches on sensitive issues of professional identity' (C-SAP Cascade project expert group in final report)  

Establishing collaborative communities took time and commitment, and getting community processes recognised and embedded at institutional level was sometimes challenging.

[in our subject area] academics have developed their teaching materials as an individual effort whilst viewing research as a team and community endeavour. Peer review of teaching is also associated in many institutions with capability assessment and HR processes... [And] in our own institution, for example, the repository has traditionally been for research outputs. OER development, release and re-use challenges these distinctions. CPD4HE

For enhanced sharing of learning and teaching ideas within institutions, two approaches were recommended by projects. First, OERs should be explicitly introduced to staff through workshops, training courses, and PGCert courses for new teaching staff. Second, institutional processes such as curriculum approval, VLE course approval, and staff appraisal should include consideration of OERs being developed and used.

In our institution a current initiative to take account of e-learning in quality management and enhancement processes offers an opportunity to address OER production and use. The course approval processes ask questions about resources and library support; a specific question about OER use and sources would mean that new courses must consider OERs. OER considerations could also be incorporated into VLE course approval processes (design for openness, for instance), and into events, CPD workshops and training courses. (CPD4HE project)

There is evidence that engagement with OER release has stimulated critical reflection and reconsideration of existing practices, particularly focussing on how learning resources might be used in different contexts. Instead of developing resources for one specific cohort or programme, staff had to consider how materials would be used by learners studying in very different settings. New kinds of conversation about the learning experience took place as a result.

When we are thinking about what works best as an OER, we are invariably asking questions about our discipline and how we think about teaching and learning. (C-SAP CASCADE project) 

By engaging with OER creation and sharing... we effectively open a door into this hitherto secret garden of art and design educational practice.  (ALTO project)

Go to the next page in the Open Practices briefing paper: OERs and Open Technologies