1. Project on Open Content for Knowledge Exposition and Teaching
(POCKET)
The Project on Open Content for Knowledge Exposition and Teaching
(POCKET) was based in the UK and was designed to influence what had
already been invested in OpenLearn (www.open.ac.uk/openlearn) and extend
Open Content activity to other universities in the UK. Effectively POCKET was
established to:
• Investigate the issues that inhibit users from the download, upload and
re-purposing of OERs in the OpenLearn LabSpace,
• Adopt and improve upon the systems developed in OpenLearn,
• Create substantial additional amounts of new quality assured Open
Content learning resources at higher education level and
• Extend the POCKET methods and findings to other new partner
institutions.
The POCKET website at the university of Derby is at: http://www.derby.ac.uk/
pocket though the POCKET OER were uploaded to the OpenLearn LabSpace
(see below). The Institute of Educational Technology at the Open University
undertook the evaluation of the POCKET project.
POCKET was led by the University of Derby and partnered by The Open
University and the Universities of Bolton and Exeter. POCKET was funded by
the United Kingdom Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) in the UK
and was a forerunner to the present UK OER JISC funded pilot projects.
The Universities of Derby, Bolton and Exeter successfully uploaded in excess
of 250 study hours of material or thirty-eight OER units to the OpenLearn
Labspace (http://labspace.open.ac.uk/tag/index.php?id=7791).
The following aspects of the project are discussed by Wilson and McAndrew
(2009):
• Barriers to transformation,
• Improvements to processes and procedures,
• Differing and then converging approaches to transformation of original
content into OER,
• Uploaded units
Tina Wilson and Patrick McAndrew, (2009). Successfully exchanging methods
and processes between institutions to create Open Educational Resources.
International Technology, Education and Development Conference. Valencia
(Spain) 8-11 March 2009.