Co-creation of Open Educational Resources: Caring Counts: a self-reflection and planning course

Lindsay Hewitt and Gill Ryan

The Open University

Care Alliance Ireland event

Athlone

15-16 February 2016

This session….

●Open Educational Resources (OER) in context

●Why Reflection?

●From The Reflection Toolkit to Caring Counts

– Innovating pedagogy, process and practice

●What makes reversioning possible?

●Caring Counts: what it is and who it’s for

●How Caring Counts is being used

– The Open Learning Champions pilot

●Opportunities and challenges

●What we’ve learned and what we need to find out

●Discussion

Co-creation of Caring Counts: reversioning The Reflection Toolkit

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New learning in familiar spaces

Open University in Scotland priority

●To work collaboratively across sectors to facilitate transition from

informal to formal learning

●To develop our capabilities in open educational practice to support the

use of online, open educational resources to widen participation in HE.

How?

●Proactive outreach with partners focussing on individuals who would not

normally aspire to higher education and who may experience multiple

challenges to widening access

A ‘Widening Access Framework’ : learner centred and multi-exit

●OU Access modules + OER on OpenLearn

●Use of co-created OER

The Reflection Toolkit, Reflecting on Transitions,

Caring Counts, Caring Counts in the Workplace

● Open Pathways to Higher Education guide to OL (pack / online resource)

● Open Learning Champions model3

Working in partnership

across sectors

New learning in

familiar spaces, with

●trade unions and employers

●university and college outreach

●third sector organisations

●carers organisations

●Diverse settings, common goal

to increase learning opportunities for all

● Importance of reflective practice

● Importance of partners in tracking.

Why Reflection?

●Reflection is

a way of working

on what we know

already and it

generates new

knowledge and

understanding

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The Reflection Toolkit

● A single unit, five sessions (lasting about one hour each)

● A mixture of personal reflection, ideas about how we learn

from reflection, and activities to support that learning

● My Reflection Log

A case study approach

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Re-versioning The Reflection Toolkit

● “Here’s one we made earlier”

●Creative Commons Licence free to access, use and re-use; free to modify

●Editable format

What else helps?

●Trusted organisationscollaboration over content

learner-centred and multi-exit approach

●Experience, and evidence of success

●Flexible widening access framework

●Open Educational Practice

What makes re-versioning possible?

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Reversioning The Reflection Toolkit

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The Reflection

Toolkit

(2012)

Generic self-reflection

and planning resource

Created with

Bridges for new

migrants, refugees

Reflecting on

Transitions

(2013)

Caring Counts

(2014)

Created with and for carers

and organisations

supporting carers

Reversion of CC for

employers, managers and policy

makers

Caring Counts in

the Workplace

(2015)

The co-creation of Caring Counts

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“I think you definitely lose confidence if

you have to give up a career, for

whatever reason. You lose your sense of

identity and worth. Being a available.”

Co-creating with carers

“I think you definitely lose confidence if you have to give up a career, for whatever reason. You lose your sense of identity and worth. Being a carer can be isolating too. Not working has a huge impact financially. As time goes on your self-esteem can erode and you can start to feel that there are no opportunities available.”

“Reflection helps you realise your potential which can get lost in our caring role”.

Lesley

Caring Counts

A self-reflection and planning course for carers

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Who’s it for?

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Carers

• Gain a clearer understanding of who they are

• Recognise the range of skills and qualities developed

from caring and other lived experience

• Start to look forward and make plans that will help to

get to where the hope to be (this might just be to ring-

fence some time to enjoy ‘something for me’)

Support workers and non-carers

• gain a clearer understanding of carers’ lives

• recognise the range of skills and abilities that people

develop in a caring role

Innovative pedagogy

● Translation - no jargon, a course rather than an ‘OER’

● Enthusiastic individuals – champions, front line staff, learners

● Targeting contextual barriers to change – paper and pen or online;

individual or group; free

● Credibility – endorsement from opinion leaders – NHS Education for

Scotland, Scottish Government’s Carer Policy Group, Carers

organisations

● Leadership – Carers centre staff

●Support – technical, emotional, practical

● Integration – reflection approach part of core values – Bridges

programme

Research impact: a cross sector review, 2003

Nutley, S., Walter, I. and Davies, H.

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What’s in the course?

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XXX

Exploring different ways to deliver

Jo’s woven timeline

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● JJoJoJJo

OpenLearn www.open.edu/openlearn

Open Learning Champions

One size doesn’t fit all….

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Open Learning Champions model

Using Open Pathways

to enhance the support and

services already offered:

●Signposting

●Navigation

●Facilitating groups

●Peer Support

Open Pathways to Higher Education

Resource pack and on OpenLearn

www.open.edu/scotland/openpathways

● Guide for Learners

● Pathways

● Learning Log

+

● Guide for Open Learning Champions

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Open Learning Champions Pilot

The learner experience

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●Positive outcomes reported by all learners

● Intended to continue learning journeys and/or progress to employment

● Caring Counts: stories of real carers’ lives chimed with learners’ own

● Reflection helped learners realise value of caring role and skills gained

● Challenges of online learning: IT skills/experience, rural internet

connectivity

● Guilt about making time for learning, away from their caring role

“It was just the right time when this course was offered and I thought it

was perfect, it will make me reflect on what I've been doing, when it

comes to an interview, it will help me in that process of collecting my

ideas and thoughts of what I've been doing for the past thirteen years

instead of being paid.” (learner, Dumfries)

Open Learning Champions Pilot

What we’ve learned

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● Blended approach of self-directed learning (on/offline) with regular group

meetings is effective

● Peer support and facilitation increased motivation and completion rates

● Flexibility of OERs an advantage for carers / learners not able to commit to

fixed study times

● Open Pathways a useful tool to continue learning journeys

● Open Learning Champions will continue to promote open learning resources

● Facilitation requires staff capacity, may be unsustainable without funding

● Even with support, carers may find it a challenge to prioritise learning

● Pilots had to develop work-arounds to address challenge of rural connectivity

“Anything that encourages people and gives them opportunities and gives

them an insight into what’s out there I think is really important. We are limited

in what we can do. Online courses like this I feel are a real benefit to carers

and other people as well” (Fiona, OLC)

OU in The Republic of Ireland

www.open.ac.uk/republic-of-ireland

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Routes to Learningwww.open.ac.uk/republic-of-

ireland/study/free-online-learning/routes-

learning

OpenLearn Learner Guide

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• http://www.open.edu/openlearnworks/learnerguideSPN

Cascading Caring Counts

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• Add to training programmes

• Incorporate into existing self-development

courses

• Residential course for young adult carers

• Signpost to it online for self-completion

• Tool for providing one-to-one support

• Link to carers support plan

• Target to particular group - eg returning to

work; career development; taking up study

How do you envisage using this course?

To find out more…

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Contact:

Lindsay.hewitt@open.ac.uk or Gill.Ryan@open.ac.uk for any queries on this presentation.

To find out more about The Open University in the Republic of Ireland visit www.open.ac.uk/republicofireland/

For more information about OpenLearn Works and re-versioning OER email openlearnworks@open.ac.uk

Explore the following material mentioned in this presentation

The Reflection Toolkit www.open.edu/openlearnworks/course/view.php?id=843

Reflecting on Transitions www.open.edu/openlearnworks/course/view.php?id=844%3F

Caring Counts www.open.edu/openlearnworks/caringcounts1

Caring Counts in the Workplace www.open.edu/openlearnworks.caringcounts2

Open Pathways to Higher Education www.open.edu/scotland/openpathways (Scottish resource)

Routes to Learning www.open.ac.uk/republic-of-ireland/study/free-online-learning/routes-learning

OpenLearn Learner Guide www.open.edu/openlearnworks/learnerguideSPN