Keynote 2 pptx

Thursday 12 May 09.00 Cockcroft Theatre

Keynote 2: Sustainable National OER Provision: "All that glisters is not gold"

Bob Strunz, Chief Technical Architect, NDLR, University of Limerick, Ireland

Abstract: The provision of Open Educational Resources (OERs) by individuals, groups and National and International organisations has been a feature of all educational systems since they first came into being. It is natural that teachers share their resources with their fellows. The process of sharing encourages peer-review and reflective practice which are of benefit to both teachers and learners alike. OERs are, to some degree, a formalisation of a process that has existed since the beginning of education. This is not to trivialise the concept of OERs; this formalisation is increasingly necessary. The "sharing-game" has completely changed; it is now possible to share one's materials with the world and this possibility gives rise to many challenges. There is a broad spectrum of costs and benefits associated with the sustainable delivery of OERs to teachers and learners and the positioning of an OER provision service on this spectrum is a non-trivial matter. If the positioning of the service is unsuited to its operational context then it is at risk and the resources that it is entrusted with are also at risk. It is important that the teachers who entrust us with the care of their resources can have faith in the ability of our service to protect and promote their interests as the creators of these materials. National OER services have, in particular, a responsibility to their stakeholders to ensure that their operational models are sustainable and fail-safe. This paper explores some of the topics that relate to the evaluation of the suitability of service models in the light of experience gained developing the operational roadmap for the Irish National Digital Learning Resources service (NDLR). This paper does not advocate the one-size-fits-all approach as there is no single correct answer to the questions that are posed and furthermore the answers, even if they were valid for a particular organisation, would only be valid for a very finite period before they would need to be reviewed and possibly changed in response to new challenges. It is this process of revision and renewal that has proved to be one of the great strengths of the Irish service.

References:

National Digital Learning Resources (NDLR) http://www.ndlr.ie/