Evidence - Impact and benefits (staff)

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Impacts & benefits - benefits, and appreciation of benefits by stakeholders, institutions, students

Themes strand

CORE-SET (CORE-SET final report) | ReACTOR (ReACTOR Final report) |  Opening up a future in business (Future in business Final Report) | COMC (COMC Final report) | PARIS (PARIS Final Project Report)  HALS OER (HALS OER Final Project Report) | PublishOER (PublishOER final report) | Great Writers (Great Writers Final Report)|  ALTO UK (ALTO UK Final Report)  | ORBIT (ORBIT Final Report) | DEFT (DEFT Final Report)    | FAVOR (FAVOR Final Report) | SESAME (SESAME Final Report) |

OMAC strand

BLOCKeD (BLOCKeD Final Report) |   Digital Literacy and Creativity (Digital Literacy and Creativity Final Report | Academic Practice in Context (Academic Practice in Context Final report) | Teeside Open Learning Units (Teeside Open Learning Units Final Report)

What is the impact on teaching staff of OER release and use?

• we have been able to increase awareness of open content with academic content producers, introducing them to Creative Commons and the issues with IPR, rights in rights out etc. It is still common practice for academics to copy images and text into presentations and handouts without being fully aware of the copyright status or correctly attributing the source. This practice has led to the loss of one podcast and the need to re-record another. (Great Writers Interim Report)
• Detailed analysis of the responses from teachers and lecturers revealed that 50% would use the site in the classroom and 44% would reuse content as part of teaching materials. (Great Writers Final Report) 
• Great Writers inspire has had a significant impact within the Faculty of English as demonstrated by the commitment of the academic leads, the support of a large group of academic contributors and the extensive involvement of the graduate student community. The site provides a single access point to a range of reusable literature resources which are otherwise not easily available in one location. Through their involvement, academic contributors have disseminated their work to thousands of people; something they would find impossible through traditional publishing channels. (Great Writers Final Report)
• The Academic Leads have proposed that it may be beneficial to the Faculty to take over the site as a basis for developing its online presence and impact-related activities, particularly with respect to dissemination of research, supporting the work of widening access to Oxford’s undergraduate degrees, building relationships with alumni, and improving communications and outreach.  
• OER creation is a very good diagnostic tool to evaluate digital literacy requirements for individuals and institution (ALTO UK Interim Report)
• OER production might be useful for the REF if it can be linked to increasing the impact of research – in which case metrics are important (ALTO UK Interim Report)
• In addition, the academic leads have submitted Great Writers Inspire as a pilot case study for the Faculty’s REF submission. Stressing the contribution that the project makes in making research-based teaching and expertise gathered within the Oxford Faculty of English available to all, the potential beneficiaries are cited as:
• Teachers wishing to create richer learning resources will find a resource bank of reusable materials which can be used to enhance and facilitate learning.
• Students. The collections will inspire students to go on and discover more. Students’ learning experience will be enhanced by having access to material in different formats (audio, video, text, ebooks) and via portable devices. Potential students wishing to gain a flavour of study at University will benefit from the ‘window’ that these resources provide.
• Life-long learners with an interest in classic texts. Themed collections offer new approaches to classic topics which will appeal to the interested self-learner.
• Resource creators. By providing access to thousands of reusable resources within the library section, resource creators will benefit from a rich source of materials when creating new learning and teaching materials (Great Writers Final Report)
• Immediate impact on Doncaster College will be the use of these resources in teaching for both students and also in-house staff training, not only about the subjects relevant to the topics researched and developed in the resources but also on the new technologies that are in the market that can be used in their field of work. Another immediate impact that could benefit Doncaster College is the use of the resources as taster sessions or workshops that aim to encourage new learners onto courses. The project has created and developed resources that are relevant for modules in other courses not just specific to Construction or Engineering, so courses like Plumbing and Electrical Engineering could also benefit from these resources.

The project has been very worthwhile producing some excellent resources. Fantastic!!! (Btec Construction Curriculum Coordinator, Doncaster College) (ReACTOR Final report) 

• In future work related to OER creation in the arts it would be good to extend the use of student work and testimonies to include input from teachers about their teaching intentions as well as more of a dialogue with students to capture the dialectical and iterative process of teaching and learning in these subjects – especially the development of an individual aesthetic by the students. The sketchbook videos produced by Kirklees College (link) provide a nice example of this. (ALTO Final Report)
•  Academic Teachers at the academic partners have been involved in the project and in creating OERs and discussing them through focus groups. At two of the academic partners no one had heard of Jorum, OERs, or Creative Commons licences so awareness has been greatly increased, although there is much more to do (ALTO Final Report)
•  The DeFT project has given me the opportunity to develop skills in ICT.  I have been able to get help and suggestions for embedding my ideas into my practice by asking questions of peers who are doing similar work.  It has been so valuable to be able to be part of a network of like-minded practitioners and for us to learn together.  Access to the project partners (in my case Richard Johnson from the Sheffield Children's Festival) has also enabled me to put ideas into school which we may not have been able to afford to do on our own.  It was the coming together of all stakeholders that allowed the work to be so successful. (DeFT Final Report)
• In the process of becoming ‘open practitioners’, tutors have learnt new technical skills, shared pedagogical ideas and learnt from others, and adopted new approaches to creating materials. Their project work has raised their profiles within their universities and the community and made a lasting impact on their teaching.

“I’ve learnt a lot…thank you very much for the project because for me it was great…now I’m so motivated to learn more.”- tutor comment (FAVOR Final Report)

• Tutors developed new skills in digital literacy (understanding issues around open practice) and in the use of different technologies to create learning material. They also benefitted from discussing their work with each other and sharing ideas on pedagogical practice and learning design. (FAVOR Final Report)
• Project coordinators gained a greater understanding of the challenges faced by part-time, hourly paid staff in engaging with small projects and activities outside of their normal teaching hours. They also gained understanding in how open practice could be of benefit to such tutors. (FAVOR Final Report)
• Internal promotional work at each partner institution has helped to raise awareness of the work of hourly paid language tutors. The public online profile that each tutor has created is raising awareness of their work beyond their institutions. Attendees at project presentations have indicated that the project is “inspiring” and will seek ways of replicating it in their own contexts. (FAVOR Final Report)
• The tutors reported feeling more integrated into their institutions and valued for the work that they do. They were gratified by opportunities to meet with other colleagues and share their work. (FAVOR Final Report)
• A large number of tutors had the opportunity to attend subject conferences and to present their work on the project. This enriched their knowledge and initiated a new and welcome dimension to their professional lives. (FAVOR Final Report)
• Most tutors acknowledged that they were not familiar with open educational resources, open practice or even elearning prior to working on the project (see external evaluator’s report). They testify to learning a huge amount through participation in the project and they report that they will continue to use their new knowledge in their teaching. (FAVOR Final Report)
• Many tutors reported learning new technical skills by looking at others’ resources: e.g. “Thanks to your slides I discovered how to do transitions!” or “It was something new to see powerpoint with sounds!” (focus group)

“I enjoyed taking pictures of students [for my materials]…and uploading them. I didn’t know how to do that, but I learnt. I then tried to send the powerpoint to the students but it was too big…the files were too big. So…I asked them to go to the LanguageBox and they could find it, and they were very happy.” – comment made at meeting, 20th September, 2012
“I’ve learnt a lot. I say thank you very much for the project because for me it was great…now I’m so motivated to learn more.” – comment made at meeting, 20th September, 2012 (FAVOR Final Report)
In addition, the project management team delivered training in the LOC, learning object authoring tool to all of the tutors. Creating online learning materials was a new activity for many tutors, but they nonetheless went on to create suites of learning objects for the project, e.g. http://languagebox.ac.uk/3043/ or http://languagebox.ac.uk/3049/ (FAVOR Final Report)

• Tutors testified to the fact that preparing their work for open practice, looking at others’ work and reflecting on their own had improved their own work, e.g. “I will be using resources with students. It has opened my horizons and now I can see how I can improve (in technology). I’m so motivated. I want to go to workshops and use powerpoint – get new skills. I didn’t know I’d enjoy preparing materials so much.” (focus group)
  “I know that now, I am more confident in creating my own resources, so I know…I can go and do it faster and more efficiently” – focus group (FAVOR Final Report)
• Publishing work for a wide audience liberated tutors’ from institutional and curricula constraints, and they reported that this led to more creative thinking: “Taking part in FAVOR was an opportunity to be creative rather the following the prescribed curriculum dictated by the institution” (see external evaluator’s report) (FAVOR Final Report)
• Enhanced feelings of community (FAVOR Final Report)
• We anticipated that the project would enable us to enhance teaching and learning standards on the Weekly Classes programme through providing access to new resources and learning opportunities, and there is no doubt this has been achieved by the project. (SESAME Final Report)
• In addition to improved access to online resources for our weekly class students, our tutors have reported that their participation in the project has had a positive impact on their teaching:
  “It helped make you think about your teaching in a dynamic and engaged way.” (Tutor participating in pilot)
  “I felt the standard of my hand-outs improved due to them being publicly accessed!”, “I was also aware that *anyone* can read my stuff, so took probably more care writing/producing it.,” (Tutor participating in pilot)
  “I think carefully now about the kind of sources I use, use more source-based teaching generally, better attribute it, and am more conscious about the variety of approaches to teaching generally.” (Tutor commenting in final tutor survey)
  “A general re-orientation of the way in which I approach teaching, to make far greater - and hopefully more creative - use of the internet in teaching.” (Tutor commenting in final tutor survey) (SESAME Final Report)
• For both ‘Finding good quality learning resources on the internet’ and ‘Knowing which online material I have the right to use in my teaching‘, 92% of tutors rated their knowledge as sufficient or better, and for ‘Understanding how I can use online resources’ 84% rated their knowledge as sufficient or better. While the numbers were lower for skills such as producing podcasts and videos this was a result of less initial interest in these areas, something that may be changing now the project is complete, as these were identified as the areas in which most tutors would like additional training. (SESAME Final Report)
• The Sesame project aimed to equip part-time tutors with new knowledge and skills to create and use OER, and through this to increase their engagement with open practices. This has certainly been the case with a significant number of the part-time tutors attending training and/or information events, and evidence that this has resulted in changing practice for many. (SESAME Final Report)
• On an individual level, of the tutors who took part in our pilots and responded to our survey all but one indicated they wanted to continue to release OER, and would continue to use the OER of others in their teaching. In addition, 73% reported that they found new online resources they would not have otherwise known about – something that increased to 86% when we asked the same question in the final tutor survey, which also included those tutors who had developed subject collections. (SESAME Final Report)
• In several cases tutors have enquired about expanding use of the Sesame infrastructure for other programmes they teach within the Department, and this is something we intend to explore in the future. Training materials developed as part of the project are now available through existing information portals for tutors as well as being available through the Sesame site itself as OER, and the project team is planning to continue its role in supporting the existing cycle of development opportunities for part-time tutors in the future. (SESAME Final Report)
• Within the Faculty, we are observing (amongst individuals and groups of subject specialists e.g. science colleagues) some improved efficiency in the gathering and presenting of OER teaching materials, including OER availability and relevance to particular courses, such as the PGCE.  Again, it is a little early to give empirical evidence but it is fair to state that many more colleagues are now much more aware of OER. (ORBIT Final report)
• The ongoing dialogue with teachers, in both local and other schools further afield, has generated much interest with the individuals and is slowly percolating within the schools too. An example of this effect is the new relationship that has been established with Havering 6th Form College in Essex. Through a contact with the Faculty-based GeoGebra project, we have been able to engage two A level maths specialists to create resources for the ORBIT project.  (ORBIT Final report)
• The ORBIT resources are an enduring and developing set of resources. They will be available for use by teachers, trainees, and teacher educators – both for ITE and continuing professional development (CPD).  (ORBIT Final report)We expect all Cambridge PGCE students to be aware of the coursebook and use it. The book will be assessed by staff teaching on the PGCE, and, for the academic year 2012-13, will include additional reading for students. Feedback will be incorporated into the coursebook, and we anticipate the book to move into a more central place within some of the PGCE courses in the academic year 2013-14. We will experiment with students remixing their own version of the coursebook, to suit their particular interests and learning objectives. (ORBIT Final report)
• Both of these outputs further awareness of OER and OA materials, and highlight the means through which they may be created, presented, and disseminated to a wider audience. In particular, the ability to create PDFs from MediaWiki (or WikiBooks) may further develop the use of MediaWiki in OER creation. This capability was highlighted at the EduWiki conference (see http://www.philwane.com/wikibook.html) with much follow-up interest focusing on this capability. We are hoping to work with interested stakeholders to further develop the PediaPress software to tackle some technical issues. (ORBIT Final report)
• It was anticipated that HALS would continue to build capacity and expertise, and continue our institutional transformation by embedding open practices into the heart of learning and teaching activities at De Montfort University. (HALS OER Final Project Report)
• We have enhanced the understanding of SEO and digital marketing practices which are useful within the academic sector for information dissemination and promotion, not just OER. (HALS OER Final Project Report) 
• All new staff receive OER training through the PGCert programme, and existing staff can access training via the Academic Professional Development Unit. (HALS OER Final Project Report)
• Our authors found the task of designing a module as an OER to be challenging and time-consuming. They struggled initially with finding appropriate materials but all ended the process as converts to Xpert and other search engines for Creative Commons licensed content. They all saw their modules as serving a dual purpose – as complete units of learning for non-Nottingham students, but also as additional sources of learning for Nottingham students and staff. While it was additional work to use third party OERs, they liked the fact that the finished product was copyright safe and reusable in other contexts. They were supportive of Nottingham’s U-Now initiative although speculated about the impact increased use of OERs might have on traditional teaching and learning in universities. All could see what further work would be needed to mainstream their modules – and were supportive of this. (PARiS Final Report)
• The academic lead for PARiS is also the academic lead for the sustainability challenge and is now a strong advocate for the adoption of OER practices across the institution. (PARiS Final Report)