From theory to
practice: can openness
improve the quality of OER
research?
OER15, Cardiff, Wales
Beck Pitt
Bea de los Arcos
Rob Farrow
The Open University (UK)
"Common Good" on Graffiti Wall at
OKFest14, Berlin (CC-BY 4.0 Beck
Pitt)
• Open methodologies
• Open licensing
• Open data
• Open Dissemination
• Open Collaboration
CC-BY 4.0 Bea de los Arcos
• 2-year open research project funded by William & Flora Hewlett Foundation
• Aiming to build the most comprehensive picture of OER impact
• Open collaboration model across different educational sectors
• Global reach but with a USA focus
• Fellowship Scheme
• Researching openness in the open
oerresearchhub.org
#oerrhub @OER_Hub
Our Hypotheses
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
Photo
Cre
dits:
Mo
zfest1
3 B
eck P
itt C
C-B
Y 4
.0
• Open to experimentation with different ways of working
• Improve quality of research and project outputs by collectively focusing on
and progressing outstanding tasks as a group
• Repurpose agile working techniques and share experiences via blogging
Sprints
Researching in the Open: Researcher Pack
Research Instruments available in the open:
• Ethics manual
• Interview and Focus Group Questions
• Survey Questions
• Open Consent Forms
Researching in the Open: Sharing Practices and
Methodologies
“Building Communities” Photo credit: Beck Pitt CC-BYScreenshots of OER Research Hub and ROER4D websites
• Creating synergies and building
relationships
• Improves practice and
methodologies
• Continuous evaluation and
reflection on our practice
Openness facilitates impact and builds networks
Slideshare
and
YouTube
Blog posts on research,
collaborations & findings
Open Access
Journals
OER Impact
Map
Infographics
Research
instruments,
methodology
& reports
Twitter and Facebook
Scoop.It &
Storify
• Four-week course (with badge!)
• Improving quality and sharing experiences: community feedback and review
• 139 participants from around the world
• 3937 page views of course materials during three week sign-up period
• Course openly available for others to use and develop
Mozilla at Mozfest14 CC-BY 4.0 Beck Pitt
Benefits and Challenges of Open
Benefits of Openness:
• Open Collaboration and agile practices enable responsiveness
• Sharing openly continuously improves the quality of research and outputs
• Sharing and collaborating builds and extends networks
• Openness as a habit and virus: the more we practiced openness the more
open the project became
• Community is central to openness
Challenges of Openness:
• Preparation of data and other documents in useable formats can take time
• Flexibility Vs. ensuring data is comparable
• Sampling and control groups
Thanks for Listening!
http://oerresearchhub.org
http://oermap.org
Twitter: @BeckPitt, @celTatis,
@philosopher1978, @OER_Hub
McAndrew, P. Becoming more agile researchers: experiences from researching OER (June 2013,
http://www.slideshare.net/openpad/agile-research-for-open-education-reso) (Accessed 6 June 2014, 12.25)
Perryman, L-A. Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known: nine surveys for OER Research (June
2013, http://oerresearchhub.org/2013/06/19/somewhere-something-incredible-is-waiting-to-be-known-nine-
surveys-for-oer-research/) (Accessed 6 June 2014, 12.23)
SPARC Open Access to Scholarly and Scientific Research Articles Factsheet
http://www.sparc.arl.org/sites/default/files/Open%20Access%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf
(Accessed 3 November 2014, 16:29)
Trotter, H. ROER4D Question Harmonisation Process
(May 2014, http://roer4d.org/892) (Accessed 6 June 2014, 12.26)
All photos CC-BY 4.0 OER Research Hub unless otherwise stated
References/Bibliography
“OER-archery” at CNX2013
Photo credit: Beck Pitt, CC-
BY
Top Related