OER1143 Oral Presentation ppt

Wednesday 11 May 14.00 Cockcroft Theatre

Transformational processes: unraveling OERs through strategic interventions

Vicki McGarvey & Anna Armstrong, Centre for Academic Development and Quality, Nottingham Trent University

Conference Theme: OER strategy and sustainability

Abstract: The recent Horizon Report (The New Media Consortium and Educause Learning Initiative, 2010 p. 13) states that open content "is rapidly driving change in both the materials we use and the process of education". In these economically challenging times higher education institutions are beginning to consider processes that can help to develop more efficient learning and teaching practices, in particular encouraging the use of OERs to cut the cost of content development (OECD, 2007), whilst still enhancing the learner experience. In addition, projects such as, Leeds Metropolitan University's Unicycle Project (Thompson 2010), have helped the educational community to identify the transformational (Sclater, 2009) potential of using OERs.    
In 2010 Nottingham Trent University (NTU) revised its 'Copyright and Educational Resources Policy" to allow staff to attach a Creative Commons license to their educational resources. The University's "Learning and Teaching Enhancement Strategy 2010-14", also, acknowledges how students can benefit from the integration of open content within the curriculum.   Within a theoretical transformational context (Sclater, 2009) this presentation will examine NTU’s strategic motivations for encouraging staff to use, reuse and create OERs within their own practice. This will include a detailed overview of the policy changes together with the institutional interventions (Conole et al., 2007) implemented to persuade staff to engage with this strategic approach. The institutional interventions will be illustrated by training and support initiatives to encourage staff use of OERs within learning and teaching that have been facilitated centrally by support services and within Schools by Learning and Teaching Coordinators. The session will conclude with a reflection on the success of these institutional interventions with respect to supporting the University's strategic approach to encouraging staff use and development of OERs.  

Keywords: oers; learning and teaching strategy; efficacy; transformational teaching practices; e-learning; online learning 

References:

Conole, G., White, S. and Oliver, M. (2007) The impact of E-Learning on Organisational Roles and Structures, Connole, G. and Oliver, M. (eds.) Contemporary perspectives in e-learning research. Abingdon: Routledge: 69-81 

OECD (2007) Giving knowledge for free the emergence of open educational resources Available at: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/35/7/38654317.pdf last accessed 25th November 2010

Sclater, Niall (2009). The organisational impact of open educational resources. In: Ehlers, Ulf-Daniel and Schneckenberg, Dirk eds. Changing Cultures in Higher Education: Moving Ahead to Future Learning. Berlin / London: Springer. Available at: http://oro.open.ac.uk/18765/2/BC228F30.pdf last accessed 29th November 2010

Thomson, S. (2010) A staff guide to open educational resources. Leeds Metropolitan University. Available at: http://open.jorum.ac.uk/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/5819/OEResourceGuide_HiRes.pdf last accessed 25th November 2010

The New Media Consortium and Educause Learning Initiative (2010) Horizon Report Available at: http://wp.nmc.org/horizon2010/ last accessed 29th November 2010