3. 45 minute presentation by:
Dr Viv Rolfe BSc PhD
National Teacher Fellow 2012
&
Philip Tubman
ALT Learning Technologist of the Year 2012
http://www.lancs.ac.uk/celt/celtweb/learning-technologist-of-the-year-2012
5. • De Montfort University
• Education establishment
since 1870
• 25,000 students
• Arts, Science, Business and
Law, Technology
• The Queen visited in March
2012!
6. Concept
• For open education to flourish, users of OER need to
be able to discover them, to be able to use and adapt
them, and to share their derivations (Yergler 2010 ).
• ALMS analysis (Hilton III, Wiley et al 2010)
• Access to editing tools
• Level of expertise
• Meaningfully editable
• Source files
7. OER Lifecycle
Discovery
Publication Improvement
Nathan Yergler 2010
8. Reality?
Use (unchanged)
Discovery
Publication Improvement
9.
10. Technical Blockade
Where to search?
Repositories? Use (unchanged)
Google?
Discovery
Publication Improvement
11. Technical Blockade
Where to search?
Repositories? Use (unchanged)
Google? Multiple file formats
Technology barriers
Discovery Staff training
Publication Improvement
12. Technical Blockade
Where to search?
Repositories? Use (unchanged)
Google? Multiple file formats
Technology barriers
Discovery Staff training
Publication Improvement
Multiple file formats
Technology barriers
Staff training
13. Technical Blockade
Where to search?
Repositories? Use (unchanged)
Google? Multiple file formats
Technology barriers
Discovery Staff training
Publication Improvement
How / where to share? Multiple file formats
Technology barriers
Staff training
14. Discovery
• University of Nottingham RLO database – a web
search is the most popular route of discovery . OER
portals were rarely used e.g. Jorum (Windle 2012).
• Repositories are fragile – (150 UK universities?).
Review of repositories over last 10 years, 11 were
discontinued and only 2 were over 5 years old
(Friesen 2009).
15. Our Approach
2009 VAL
Lab skills
UKOER Funding Phase 1
Static HTML site
2010 SCOOTER
Blood disorders
UKOER Phase 2
SEO website
2011 HALS
Medical sciences, forensic
sciences, nursing, midwifery
UKOER Phase 3
SEO website
17. Promoting Discovery
• SEO (search engine optimisation) - means of
improving a website’s visibility in Google
(mainly) rankings.
• Drive organic traffic via targeted keywords
and back links (URL on other sites).
• Social networking strategy – Facebook,
Twitter, Posterous, Pinterest, YouTube.
• Penguin and Panda updates place importance
on authority, profiles, Google +.
• ££££££££££££££$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
18. Two Examples
SCOOTER UKOER2 HALS UKOER3
Wordpress Direct Blog Wordpress Direct Blog
Static OER HTML pages OER Blog articles with RSS feed
Basic SEO Enhanced SEO (eZine submissions,
press releases)
Posterous (Facebook/Twitter/Blogs) Posterous
(Facebook/Twitter/Blogs)
Google Analytics for basic tracking Enhanced monitoring of site
of site performance performance
£ Pragmatic and time realistic ££ Enhanced SEO campaign
19. Reach and Impact of our OER?
• Rapid global distribution.
• Visitor volume via website, YouTube, Facebook and
Twitter.
• Non-targeted audience.
• No technical barrier to discovery – everyone knows
how to search.
20. Technical Blockade
Where to search?
Repositories? Use (unchanged)
Google? Multiple file formats
Technology barriers
Discovery Staff training
Publication Improvement
Multiple file formats
Technology barriers
Staff training
21. Improvement? PROBLEM!
• Many resources ARE NOT OPEN!
– Unusable technical formats (SCORM
packaged, QuestionMarkPerception
quizzes).
– Lack of instructions for use / unpackaging.
– Articulate Presenter files interoperable on
iPad.
23. And…
• Republished at the click of a button – altho’
transcribing takes time.
• OER reusable and in different formats for
distribution (other file sharing sites) and is
ACCESSIBLE and INTEROPERABLE.
24. Technical Blockade
Where to search?
Repositories?
Google?
Discovery
Publication Improvement
How / where to share? Multiple file formats
Technology barriers
Staff training
26. “I feel proud of the fact that I study at
DMU” (DMU student) “The future for learning” (DMU student)
“I shall be delighted to hand over all pictorial resources relating to
sickle cell disease so that it can be accessed” (Retired Nurse Counsellor)
“Thanks, I always wanted to know how a
“ Improve my quality of teaching resources
microscope worked” (Trash collector, US)
in terms of (C), in tune with what students
want to look at, clearer learning objectives”
(Academic staff)
“Raised my appreciation of the problems
that students experience – about delivering
stuff” (Academic Staff)
27. Summary
• Remove technical hurdles – make OER discoverable,
reusable (accessible, and interoperable) and easy to
share.
• Continue evaluating:
– Which file formats work?
– Where do people most find OER?
– Are OER being repurposed and shared?
28. References
• Downes S (2006). Models for Sustainable Open Educational Resources.
Interdisciplinary Journal of Knowledge and Learning Objects (3), 29-44.
• Friesen, N. (2009) ‘Open educational resources: new possibilities for change and
sustainability’, International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning,
vol. 10, no. 5, pp. 1–14.
• HALS (Health and Life Science Open Educational Resources). Available July 2012:
http://www.biologycourses.co.uk
• Hilton III, J, Wiley D, Stein J and Johnson A. (2010) The four 'R's of openness and
ALMS analysis: Frameworks for open educational resources. Open Learning 25(1),
37–44.
• Hylén J (2006). Open educational resources: Opportunities and challenges. Open
Education Conference Proceedings. Available:
http://www.knowledgeall.com/files/Additional_Readings-Consolidated.pdf
29. References
• Rolfe V and Griffin SJ (2011). A Guide to SEO
http://www.sicklecellanaemia.org/teaching-
resources/resources/scooter80/SCOOTER80a_SEO_Guidelines.pdf
• Windle R 2012. Understanding and Supporting the Reuse of OER with Health
Sciences. SCORE Fellowship Report. http://ebookbrowse.com/richard-windle-
score-fellowship-final-report-web-version-pdf-d381773057
•
• Yergler NR 2010. Search and Discovery : OER's Open Loop. Available July 2012:
http://openaccess.uoc.edu/webapps/o2/handle/10609/4852