The document discusses the Chinese National Top Level Courses Project, which uses Open Educational Resources (OER) to improve quality in higher education in China. It began in 2003 when Chinese universities decided to adopt the OER model inspired by MIT's OpenCourseWare initiative. The Chinese project involves selecting the best courses from universities nationwide and making them available online as open educational resources through the China Open Resources for Education (CORE) program. The goals are to encourage professors to improve their teaching methods and course materials. Over time the project has expanded, with over 1,800 courses available nationally by 2008 through the Chinese Quality OpenCourseWare program.

1. The Chinese National Top Level Courses Project
– Using Open Educational Resources to Improve
Quality in Higher Education
CC BY cmaccubbin @ flickr
by Stian Håklev, Higher Ed/TPS and CIDE CC BY
CIDE Seminar, 23/3/2010

2. PD Wikimedia Commons

3. Open Educational Resources
Definition:
OER are teaching, learning and research resources that
reside in the public domain or have been released under
an intellectual property license that permits their free use
or re-purposing by others. Open educational resources
include full courses, course materials, modules,
textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other
tools, materials or techniques used to support access to
knowledge.

4. fhsst main
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5. ou learninng space
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6. nptel youtube
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7. IIT Youtube

8. wikieducator
8

9. wikiversity main
9

10. MIT News: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2001/ocwfund.html

11. mit ocw main
11

12. mit ocw course
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13. ocwc members
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14. universia
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15. saudi arab ocw
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16. tec de monter course
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17. paris tech course
17

18. What kind of a “thing” is OCW?

19. OCW as a norm
CC BY allygirl520 @ flickr

20. free software
6

21. http://fusionanomaly.net/informationwantstobefree.html

22. PD English Wikipedia

23. How can we analyze the spread of a norm?

24. How can we analyze the spread of a norm?
Finnemore & Sikkink: the life-cycle of norms
Women’s suffrage, land-mine ban
Realist vs. constructivist view of international system
Norm entrepreneurs
Organizational platform
Forming vocabulary, change in identity and motivation
Tipping point: 1/3 of all participants (states)?
Institutionalization

25. OCW as an policy innovation
CC BY txd @ flickr

26. Universities working together to advance education and
empower people worldwide through opencourseware.
Connecting with Your University’s Goals
—Recruitment
• A 2005 Poll showed that 50% of incoming MIT
students were aware of MIT OCW.
• 35% of those students based their choice of MIT at
least in part on their experience of MIT OCW
• By mid
OCW Consortium Toolkit http://www.ocwconsortium.org/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&gid=33&Itemid=
March 15, 2010 Open Sharing, Global Benefits 25

27. Universities working together to advance education and
empower people worldwide through opencourseware.
Connecting with Your University’s Goals
—Recruitment
• Builds a prior academic relationship with
bright, motivated students, their families,
their teachers and their advisors
• Showcases key departments, faculty and
courses
March 15, 2010 Open Sharing, Global Benefits 26

28. Universities working together to advance education and
empower people worldwide through opencourseware.
Connecting with Your University’s Goals
—Reputation
An OCW site can showcase areas of excellence in
our university, such as name specific programs.
Heightened awareness of these programs not only
will attract talented students and faculty to our
school but also will increase the visibility of our
faculty within their disciplines.
March 15, 2010 Open Sharing, Global Benefits 27

29. Universities working together to advance education and
empower people worldwide through opencourseware.
Connecting with Your University’s Goals
—Retention
An OCW site provides students with the potential for
self-paced review of study materials before, during
and after taking a course. Such review greatly
increases a student’s chances of success in both
that course and subsequent courses which build
upon its teachings.
March 15, 2010 Open Sharing, Global Benefits 28

30. Universities working together to advance education and
empower people worldwide through opencourseware.
Connecting with Your University’s Goals
—Advising
The ability to view OCW materials prior to
enrollment allows students to make more informed
choices about which courses and majors are right
for them.
Likewise, advisors will be able to base their
recommendations on concrete information about
courses, their requirements and their benefits.
March 15, 2010 Open Sharing, Global Benefits 29

31. How can we analyze the spread of a policy innovation?

32. How can we analyze the spread of a policy innovation?
David Phillips: policy attraction
more likely to borrow in time of upheaval, change or great crisis
Mintrom & Vergari: policy networks
investigating policy on school choice in US states - what causes
similarity? closeness of states, or similar attributes? no,
attending the same conferences!
The role of MIT, and MIT’s faculty, international conferences,
organizations (OCW Consortium, CCLearn/CC, UNESCO IIEP)

33. OCW in East Asia

34. 32

35. ou chiaotung
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36. chiatung course
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37. 35

38. ou korea
36

39. 37

40. keio ocw
38

41. Institutionalism

42. Institutionalism
Meyer & Ramirez: convergence
Large quantitative analyses of educational systems
Every aspect of education is becoming more similar,
one model is becoming institutionalized.

43. Mainland China

44. My research approach

45. My research approach
participating in an international conference in Dalian in 2008

46. My research approach
participating in an international conference in Dalian in 2008
participation in many international conferences, and communication
with people in MIT OCW, Hewlett etc

47. My research approach
participating in an international conference in Dalian in 2008
participation in many international conferences, and communication
with people in MIT OCW, Hewlett etc
analysis of Chinese academic papers, and government policies

48. My research approach
participating in an international conference in Dalian in 2008
participation in many international conferences, and communication
with people in MIT OCW, Hewlett etc
analysis of Chinese academic papers, and government policies
two visits - summer 2009 and winter 2009-10

49. My research approach
participating in an international conference in Dalian in 2008
participation in many international conferences, and communication
with people in MIT OCW, Hewlett etc
analysis of Chinese academic papers, and government policies
two visits - summer 2009 and winter 2009-10
formal interviews with professors and academic staff at two
universities

50. My research approach
participating in an international conference in Dalian in 2008
participation in many international conferences, and communication
with people in MIT OCW, Hewlett etc
analysis of Chinese academic papers, and government policies
two visits - summer 2009 and winter 2009-10
formal interviews with professors and academic staff at two
universities
visits two a number of Chinese departments of education,
interaction with graduate students and professors researching
relevant topics

51. My research approach
participating in an international conference in Dalian in 2008
participation in many international conferences, and communication
with people in MIT OCW, Hewlett etc
analysis of Chinese academic papers, and government policies
two visits - summer 2009 and winter 2009-10
formal interviews with professors and academic staff at two
universities
visits two a number of Chinese departments of education,
interaction with graduate students and professors researching
relevant topics
a number of presentations in China, including one for the Top Level
National Courses resource center, testing my tentative findings

52. course 2 p2

55. So what is this thing?
How does it work?

56. Features of the Chinese OER project

57. Features of the Chinese OER project
selective and competitive

58. Features of the Chinese OER project
selective and competitive
three levels (campus, province, national)

59. Features of the Chinese OER project
selective and competitive
three levels (campus, province, national)
teaching teams

60. Features of the Chinese OER project
selective and competitive
three levels (campus, province, national)
teaching teams
both content and method

61. Features of the Chinese OER project
selective and competitive
three levels (campus, province, national)
teaching teams
both content and method
financial support, requirement to make course available online for five
years

62. Features of the Chinese OER project
selective and competitive
three levels (campus, province, national)
teaching teams
both content and method
financial support, requirement to make course available online for five
years
three kinds: undergraduate, vocational, and online courses

63. Purposes

64. Purposes
induce full professors to teach undergraduate courses

65. Purposes
induce full professors to teach undergraduate courses
encourage professors to use more technology in their teaching

66. Purposes
induce full professors to teach undergraduate courses
encourage professors to use more technology in their teaching
encourage formation of teaching teams, rethinking of course material and
teaching methods

67. Purposes
induce full professors to teach undergraduate courses
encourage professors to use more technology in their teaching
encourage formation of teaching teams, rethinking of course material and
teaching methods
courses function as “models” for other professors

68. Purposes
induce full professors to teach undergraduate courses
encourage professors to use more technology in their teaching
encourage formation of teaching teams, rethinking of course material and
teaching methods
courses function as “models” for other professors
(course material used directly by students?)

69. Lanzhou City University School gave certain amount of funding
case study Clear philosophy:
Construction of CQOCW will improve quality of
Have already been evaluating best courses all courses
internally since 2003. Developed system of Not just about putting old courses online, but
indicators of course quality rethink content, teaching methodology, etc.
Issue announcement, meeting of heads of Internal committee to evaluate courses, then
departments invited 20 external experts - used online
material, also sat in on classes
Teaching committee to identify basic and
advanced courses they could apply for In the end, 11 courses were selected for
provincial CQOCW
Brought teachers together with computer
department ( , )

70. Honor JPKC diploma

71. Evolution over time
2003-2007, 2007-2010

72. Quality Project
( )
The OER project is a key part of the Quality
Project, but it’s not the only part:
The program targets 1000 universities with 10
million FT students, and will cost approximately
USD $365 million.
Targets:
Help 3000 professors and administrators to
develop peer training exchanges
Select 1000 national-level teaching teams
Give awards to 500 top national teachers
Develop
500 experimental teaching centers
500 individual talent development and creativity
areas
500 high quality bilingual classes

73. jingpinke main
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74. jingpinke course
53

75. OK, so it’s quite different from the other OCW
courses. But it’s inspired by MIT right?
How did it all begin?

76. [...]
It was in September 2003 at the International OpenCourseWare Forum in
Beijing that a group of attendees including Prof Dick K.P. Yue, Ms Ann
Margulies, Dr Catherine Casserly, Dr Marshall Smith, representatives of 26 IET
member universities, presidents of 67 pilot universities for long-distance
education and administrators from 44 China Radio and TV Universities decided
that they could meet the opportunity and the challenge presented with a
powerful movement, which would promote closer interaction and open sharing
of educational resources between China and the world. This movement was
called China Open Resources for Education (CORE) and it was inspired, initiated
and supported by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the William
and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Chinese Ministry of Education (MOE) and all
the member universities in China and abroad.
http://olnet.org/node/190

77. CORE's objective is to introduce high-quality courseware from top-ranked
universities around the world employing innovative technologies,
methodologies and content for teaching and learning. Its mission focuses on
providing a framework for Chinese-speaking universities to participate in the
shared, global network of courseware with leading universities for all over the
world and to assist in making the use of open educational resources more
global and mainstream.
In 2008, the total number of Chinese Quality OpenCourseWare (CQOCW) made
available online exceed 1,800 at the national level, 5,000 at the provincial level
and 10,000 at the university level. The CQOCW includes course notes, syllabus,
assignments, lectures in audio or video format among others. The courses are
translated into Mandarin with the help of expert translators for use by Chinese
universitie
http://olnet.org/node/190

78. 2004 would witness further adoption of the OCW concept, primarily in Japan,
France and China, with some early adopter institutions emerging in the United
States. [...]
In 2004 collaboration between the Chinese Ministry of Education and MIT's
translation partner CORE would lead to the launch of the China Quality
OpenCourseWare project, an effort to openly publish the best courses from
across the Chinese higher education system. By mid-2005, materials from more
than 500 Chinese courses were available through the CORE site. This collection
of courseware has now grown to over 1600 total courses, some of which are
now being translated into English by the CORE team.
Carson, S. (2009). The unwalled garden: growth of the OpenCourseWare Consortium, 2001-2008. Open Learning: The Journal of Open and Distance Learning, 24(1):

79. There are active OER initiatives at colleges and universities around the world:
Over 150 universities in China participate in the China Open Resources for
Education initiative, with over 450 courses online. http://www.core.org.cn/cn/
jpkc/index_en.html
[...]
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/19/26/36224377.pdf

80. 59

81. core main
60

82. mit zh couse
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83. 62

84. T
e
x
t
http://www.core.org.cn/en/conferences/beijing_2003.htm

85. http://
www.jpkcnet.com/
new/zhengce/
Announces_detail.as
p?Announces_ID=13

86. http://
www.jpkcnet.com/
new/zhengce/
Announces_detail.as
p?Announces_ID=13

87. So, it wasn’t MIT... Then how did they get the idea?

88. http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/onlinestuff/snot/~/media/818B16FC66D44386927D789A9280BA5D.ashx?db=master

89. Not quite like lightning from a blue sky

90. Not quite like lightning from a blue sky
course teams, course evaluations go way back, from the Soviet Union?

91. Not quite like lightning from a blue sky
course teams, course evaluations go way back, from the Soviet Union?
985 - evaluate the best universities (peer-review)

92. Not quite like lightning from a blue sky
course teams, course evaluations go way back, from the Soviet Union?
985 - evaluate the best universities (peer-review)
and the key disciplines

93. Not quite like lightning from a blue sky
course teams, course evaluations go way back, from the Soviet Union?
985 - evaluate the best universities (peer-review)
and the key disciplines
evaluating best courses: natural next step

94. Not quite like lightning from a blue sky
course teams, course evaluations go way back, from the Soviet Union?
985 - evaluate the best universities (peer-review)
and the key disciplines
evaluating best courses: natural next step
push for increase in use of computers in higher ed already from early
1990’s

95. Not quite like lightning from a blue sky
course teams, course evaluations go way back, from the Soviet Union?
985 - evaluate the best universities (peer-review)
and the key disciplines
evaluating best courses: natural next step
push for increase in use of computers in higher ed already from early
1990’s
(evidence from interviews)

96. http://news.tsinghua.edu.cn/new/news.php?id=12868

97. To conclude

98. To conclude
something that has a very different purpose, organizational model, than
MIT OCW

99. To conclude
something that has a very different purpose, organizational model, than
MIT OCW
but happens at around the same time

100. To conclude
something that has a very different purpose, organizational model, than
MIT OCW
but happens at around the same time
the output looks quite similar

101. To conclude
something that has a very different purpose, organizational model, than
MIT OCW
but happens at around the same time
the output looks quite similar
no official information in English

102. To conclude
something that has a very different purpose, organizational model, than
MIT OCW
but happens at around the same time
the output looks quite similar
no official information in English
but a Chinese organization working with MIT, and the misunderstanding
that it’s the same thing

103. 70

104. 71

105. Lending and borrowing

106. Lending and borrowing
Steiner-Khamsi: the discourse of borrowing

107. Lending and borrowing
Steiner-Khamsi: the discourse of borrowing
Jürgen Schriewer: Ausland als Argument

108. Lending and borrowing
Steiner-Khamsi: the discourse of borrowing
Jürgen Schriewer: Ausland als Argument
In the Chinese example?

109. What does the future hold?

110. What does the future hold?
New cycle in 2011?

111. What does the future hold?
New cycle in 2011?
Education Plan 2010-2020: less focus on distance ed for

112. What does the future hold?
New cycle in 2011?
Education Plan 2010-2020: less focus on distance ed for
degrees, more focus on life-long learning and continuing ed.

113. What does the future hold?
New cycle in 2011?
Education Plan 2010-2020: less focus on distance ed for
degrees, more focus on life-long learning and continuing ed.
Encouraging reuse of the resources

114. Thank you!
shaklev@gmail.com
http://reganmian.net/blog
CC BY