OER Research Interviews

Discussions from two HEA research project interviews

HEA Research Projects

• Academic Practice team requested support• Time and Opportunity to conduct research

– Keep up to date– Represent with some authenticity– Promote practices– Engage HEA with community interest, and vice versa

• Gather various leading practitioners to reveal issues together.

• Drive HEA towards an ‘Open’ strategy ?– No ‘business opportunity’ perceived

Further restructure in 2015

Academic Practice team reduced

Left HEA September 2015

4

Subject Centre - sharing practices

Search Engine replaced for all HEA

Avalanche or Flood?

Steady state or fluid?– Don’t re-position, learn to float/ swim/ submerge!

6

Recent adventures with OER for DL

Dave Lewis (Leeds) – Bioscience EducationKay Hack (Ulster) – Employability in BiosciencesBob Newmann (Newman) – Health PsychologyJane Guiller (GCU) – CyberpsychologyKate Borthwick (Southampton) – XML project for LanguagesJamie Wood (Lincoln) – Making Digital HistoryAbbie Thomasson (Myerscough) – Teacher TrainingSarah Atkinson (Brighton) – Digital Practice and Pedagogy

(MA)

XERTE OER Project participants

Rapid ‘Solution’

• Gather representatives of roles• Fund meetings

– Two: Edinburgh and Bristol (UWE)– HEA involved in the ‘mix’– HEA Output into community– Inform OER strategy– Meetings part of the goal

• Capture audio and transcribe (~100 pages)• Analyse for patterns with Social Science methods /

Software (Nvivo, NacTem)

Keyword Hypothesis

Performance OER improve student performance/satisfaction

Openness People use OER differently from other online materials

Access OER widen participation in education

Retention OER can help at-risk learners to finish their studies

Reflection OER use leads educators to reflect on their practice

Finance OER adoption brings financial benefits for students/institutions

Indicators Informal learners use a variety of indicators when selecting OER

Support Informal learners develop their own forms of study support

Transition OER support informal learners in moving to formal study

Policy OER use encourages institutions to change their policies

Assessment Informal assessments motivate learners using OER

OE

R R

esearch Hub 2015

NVIVO Coding

Intelligent Word Cloud

Word Cloud using NacTem Termine + Wordle custom

Word Trees

Context Queries

JORUM

Meet #1 Edinburgh• Policies for practices

– Getting Institutional Alignment• Teaching practices

– Greater opportunities, TEF– Productivity gains

• Reward and recognition, Careers– UKPSF, Institution awards

• Business models– Dark arts– Funding objectives understood? No JISC/HEA expectations

• Expenditure

Awards• Martins ‘Battle for Open’ – what are the ‘Battle honours’? • Leading OE forward as part of your SFHEA rather than retrospective

recognition works better for developing institution• Maximise practice in your role e.g. Open Press (library)• Institution awards bring out practitioners (three for price of one etc.)

– Spotlight practitioners– Progress award levels the field– Enhancement-led Institution Award (QA driven)? Would raise awareness at

senior levels– Institution rewards department as “beacon of openness” so colleagues

work together (vs individual awards)– Influence Award – improve staff recognition

Dark Arts (identifying barriers)• How to “mess up” OpenNess

– Not reading the restrictive digital contract (that actually closed the resource)

– Managerialism and metrics– Lack of evaluation– Organisational boundaries muddied – where do I get

funding/recognition?– Buried under other ‘impact’ metrics - KPIs– Buried under MOOCs– Buried under VLE habits– Lack of HEA Academic exemplars– Competition not collaboration

General Tactics

• In UKPSF (K, Values etc)• In PGCERT (with using resources)• Sharing Policies e.g. Leeds Ed+Gla informally• Calculate £ saving (as USA with textbooks) but

be aware of difference in models (better for colleges)

JORUM to ‘Retire’!

Meeting 1 - Edinburgh

Meeting 2 - Bristol

Meet #2 Bristol (UWE)• Policies• Assumptions• History and pre-histories• Standards and frameworks (Digitally capable organisation)• Infrastructure• Research and Impact• Pedagogy• KPIs• Roles

Barriers and Challenges• WikiPedia – a modern miracle

– Needs to tackle misconceptions with quality examples and academic exercises– Illustrates policies from outset– Doesn’t hide dirty laundry (not image obsessed like HE can be!)– Free time contributions from Academic are reducing

• Acronym soup!! JORUM, JISC, UKOER• Is OER a ‘discipline’ too hard to define?• Has to be frictionless• Jorum – undermined by competitors e.g. HEA, local repositories,

federated search engines e.g. SOLVONAUTS• Google – good enough, quick enough? ‘In there somewhere’ factor

– LRMI Markup – will it catch on?• Link ‘evaporation’ – we are learning how fluid resources are.• SEO is not academically driven – swamped with KHAN etc

Open Policies

• Funder mandates– Requirements for Openness– DEFRA, TAACCT, Research Councils, Welcome

trust, EPSRC, DCS (Jisc)– Open Research data sources mandated

• Funding strategies– c/OER/MOOC/* gets new money!

Communities

• OER conference community is strong and sustainable

• New communities spring up or ‘lurking’ – Open is everywhere

• Development of a “new cultural practice” through emergent Open subject communities

Open Profiles

• Academics and other roles keeping their options ‘open’• Highlighting Open connections

– Using existing data and practices• Funding • Orchid, LinkedIn, ResearchGate and profiles to get jobs

(better than a PhD)• Discipline contributions are OK – not anti or pro

institution• Student progression is the key impact – individual and

team metrics

Career/Culture issues

“So actually when we’re pushing forward open practices and open education values we’re actually pushing traditional academic ethos against the more sort of corporate ethos.”“I wonder if there is a kind of a cultural thing as M said that in research you kind of want to be seen to be standing on the shoulders of giants whereas in teaching it feels slightly dirty to be using someone else’s stuff.”HE VS FE – FE culture shares to cope !

Assumptions & expectations

• RLO Dream – lots, easy to find and fit

• Democratic access to knowledge

• Senior academics NOT obsessed by numbers

• Students can be primary producers

• Classroom exhausts – take them afterwards

• Diversity of motivations exists: belief is strong

• Numbers are vital• Students are here to

be consumers

Ways forward• Friendly policies to all roles• Not an aim, but a highlighted clear OPEN benefit

– Similar tactic to Accessibility• Personal Profiles of Open works encouraged• PG Cert - highlight Open Practices

– CC licences for self, discipline and institution• Academic role has too much influence – weighted

towards robust historic practice not innovation• Trust – Paradata value. Profile building.

Sustainable resources as DOIs

Ways forward• Mandate Deposit 5-10% from funded projects• Student-led production to discipline community• Separate recognition unlikely – only institutional

objectives matter. OER is a tactic within Digital Practice and Scholarship

• Get on with it in your role as a productivity and digital practice benefit. Share through internal means building social practice.

• Policies matter – write a better one to get what you want for your role

XERTE tactic• Free software for existing servers

– Apereo backed https://www.apereo.org/content/projects-communities

• Changes the model of production– Builds demand for LT skills, improves employability– Production for community (discipline) output requires thinking

differently for a wider audience– More course content for next year– Teaching students to be open producers requires academic

investment in the principle - through to assessment (EE– Significant disruptor

• CC licence included• Accessible practitioners – HE very poor at teaching this to

students

XERTE.ORG.UK