Mainstreaming Open Educational Practice. Recommendations for Policy

Transcription

1 Mainstraming Opn Educational Practic Rcommndations for Policy 1

2 Authors Anthony F. Camillri, Ulf Danil Ehlrs Contributors Grainn Conol Layout Marija Dbono Copyright (C) 2011, OPAL Consortium Th OPAL Consortium This documnt has bn producd as part of th work of th OPAL Initiativ ( Th mmbrs of th consortium includ: Intrnational Council for Opn and Distanc Education ICDE NO Unitd Nations Educational, Scintific and Cultural Organisation UNESCO FR Opn Univrsity OU UK Europan Foundation for Quality in E-Larning EFQUEL BE Aalto Univrsity AALTO FI Univrsidad Católica Portugsa UCP PT Univrsity Duisburg-Essn UDE DE This projct has bn fundd with support from th Europan Commission. This publication rflcts th viws only of th authors, and th Commission cannot b hld rsponsibl for any us which may b mad of th information containd thrin. This work is licnsd undr th Crativ Commons Attribution-Noncommrcial-Shar Alik 2.0 Blgium Licns. To viw a copy of this licns, visit 2

3 CONTENTS 1. Introduction Gtting Down to th Facts Ovrviw of Opn Educational Rsourcs (OER) Dfinition Scal and Scop Bnfits am Limitations Bnfits of Opn Educational Rsourcs Currnt Limitations of OER Moving Towards Opn Educational Practic Rcommndations for Mainstraming Opn Educational Practics... 7 Works Citd

4 1. INTRODUCTION Opn Educational Rsourcs, and opn ducation mor gnrally, is considrd to hav hug potntial to incras participation and ducational opportunitis at larg and to promot widning participation and liflong larning. At th sam tim th past dcad has shown that opnnss in itslf is not nough to unfold ths potntials. A numbr of lmnts nd to b takn into account in ordr to mov from OER to Opn Educational Opportunitis. Ths lmnts and stratgis hav bn th subjct of a two yar projct, th Opn Education Quality Initiativ, OPAL, th findings ar summarisd in this papr. Th intndd audinc of this rport is policy makrs in th fild of ducation, and scinc and tchnology. On th basis of th xprinc of th Opn Educational Quality Initiativ w ar arguing that th focus of OER work to dat has largly bn on accss to and th availability of OER, W argu that t is important to shift th focus mor to th actual opn practic of using, rusing, or crating Opn Educational Opportunitis: Opn Educational Practic. 2. GETTING DOWN TO THE FACTS: OVERVIEW OF OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES (OER) 2.1 Dfinition Th main proprtis of OER ar: fr accss nabld by information and communication tchnologis and a non-commrcial purpos (UNESCO, 2002). OER is intndd to mak high-quality ducational matrial frly availabl worldwid in many languags. (Kllr & Mossink, 2008) McAndrw, t al argu that dspit som trminological diffrncs (Hylén, 2006) opn ducational rsourcs ar largly digital assts (music, imags, words, animations) put togthr into a logical structur by a cours dvlopr who has attachd an opn licns to it. In othr words, th contnt is opnly availabl (it can radily b found or discovrd), is opnly accssibl (it is in a form which othrs can tak it away) and opnly r- usabl (th usr can asily modify it and is allowd undr th licns to do crtain things with it without having to ask th crator s prmission first). 2.2 Scal and Scop Sinc th coinag of th trm Opn Educational Rsourcs in 2002, Opn Educational Rsourcs hav sprad around th glob, and achivd significant conomis of scal. Four fronts hav mrgd in th libralisation of knowldg, namly: Opn Courswar th rlas of th cor taching matrials from classs at any lvl of ducation around th world Opn Publishing th publication of journal matrials, txt-books, and gray matrial without th nd to pay any sort of licnc or accss f 4

5 Opn Artfacts ths ar individual rsourcs which may b usd for larning, which ar not ncssarily part of a largr whol. Thy might includ imag libraris, data-sts, tc. Opn Support th supporting matrials and tools for larning including mthodological guids for th assuranc of th quality of ducation and ducational practics, softwar tools tc. Whil no dfinitiv ovrviws ar availabl, som indicators can b found as following: Th Opn Educational Quality Initiativ mappd narly 400 diffrnt OER Initiativs (dfind as projcts which promot, supply or support OER) in ovr 120 countris. At th nd of 2011, th Opn Courswar Consortium, hostd 6500 diffrnt cours moduls (which usually includ lctur nots, vidos and/or xrciss) from 65 diffrnt sourcs Th rgistry of Opn Accss Rpositoris at th Univrsity of Southampton, rcords ovr 2700 sparat opn accss rpositoris globally as at th nd of Th tn largst rpositoris on this list host in xcss of 15 million rcords btwn thm Sourcforg a global rpository of opn-sourc softwar, lists ovr 1300 diffrnt softwar applications undr th hading of Education 3. BENEFITS AND LIMITATIONS 3.1 Bnfits of Opn Educational Rsourcs A numbr of th argumnts for OER stm from moral and/or thical considrations, and ar oftn rootd in rights argumnts. Thus, th OER movmnt has bn succssful in promoting th ida that knowldg is a public good, xpanding th aspirations of organisations and individuals to publish OER. Various studis hav documntd additional bnfits of th adoption of Opn Educational Rsourc principls. Thus, it has bn argud that OER incrass th innovation impact of work by stimulating cooprativ work (Larsn & Vincnt-Lancrin, 2005). A rviw of studis on opn publishing found consistnt incrass in th numbr of downloads from opn accss journals as compard to subscription-modl journals. It also listd 10 diffrnt studis which claim that fr or opn accss to scintific publications lads to a significant incras in articl citations. (Davis & Waltrs, 2011) Importantly, th data collctd in th sam rviw sms to indicat that opn accss of data maks a largr impact in non-scholarly contxts. In addition, th incrasing scop of Opn Educational Rsourcs, incrass opportunitis for accss to ducation, and potntially widns participation. (Lan, 2008) (Atkins, Brown, & Hammond, 2007) Rcognition of th importanc of invstmnt and ffort into promotion of th us and uptak of OER is vidnt is th prominnc givn to OER dvlopmnts in a rcnt major rport on Cybrlarning, commissiond by th UK National Scinc Foundation (NSF, 2008). On of th fiv highr-lvl rcommndations in th conclusion to th rport is to adopt programs and policis to promot Opn Educational Rsourcs. 5

6 3.2 Currnt Limitations of OER From th currnt rsarch into th fild of OER w can dduc that up to now a main focus has bn on building accss to OER, building infrastructur, tools and rpositoris. On a policy lvl this can b viwd through public funding schms (analysd by Stacy 2010) and on a privat lvl through privat foundation funding (ibid.) Basd on this approach alon, th potntial of OER to transform ducational practic has not yt bing ralisd. In particular, th formost rason for not using OER, as idntifid by tachrs in a major study was that thy did not support xisting taching approachs (Harly, 2008). An OPAL projct study confirmd rsult, finding that th main barrir to adoption of Opn Educational Rsourcs was in fact th lack of ability to intgrat thm into courss. (Carniro, Nozs, Policarpo, Crol, & Corria, 2011) 4. MOVING TOWARDS OPEN EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE W conclud that OER is currntly in an intrmdiat phas which w would lik to call phas 1, which, whil succding in libralising accss to information, is still lagging bhind on ralising th potntial of such libralisation for continual ducational and socital transformation. Phas two is about using OER in a way that larning xprincs improv and ducational scnarios ar innovatd. Th nw trm Opn Educational Practics (OEP) has bn stablishd by numrous stakholdrs in rsarch and policy for this concpt. In short, opn ducational practics ar usag of rsourcs in th fram of opn larning architcturs. It is th nxt phas in OER dvlopmnt which will s a shift from a focus on rsourcs to a focus on opn ducational practics bing a combination of opn rsourcs us and opn larning architcturs to transform larning into 21st cntury larning nvironmnts in which univrsitis, adult larnrs and citizns ar providd with opportunitis to shap thir liflong larning pathways in an autonomous and slf-guidd way. Phas 2 is charactrizd by th following aspcts: OER is th mans and not an nd, in ordr to transform ducational practics in schools and HEIs Gos byond accss into opn larning architcturs Th focus is on combining formal and informal larning larning, larning is prdominantly sn as construction + sharing OEP allows for quality improvmnt in ducation through xtrnal validation, as all rsourcs and also practics ar shard and possibility for fdback is opnd. Focus is on a chang of ducational culturs mor than on mr rsourc availability OER as valu proposition for institutions OEP ar mor and mor dfind nowadays as practics which support th (r)us and production of OER through institutional policis, promot innovativ pdagogical modls, and rspct and mpowr larnrs as co-producrs on thir liflong larning path. OEP addrss th whol OER govrnanc community: policy makrs, managrs/ administrators of organisations, ducational profssionals and larnrs (Ehlrs, 2011). 6

7 5. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MAINSTREAMING OPEN EDUCATIONAL PRACTICES OER and opn ducation ar challnging traditional structurs of traditional HE institutions as wll as larning and training in all othr ducational sctors. Rcognition of prior larning achivmnt, as wll as comptncs and xprincs attaind during practic phass, and all forms of assssmnt of non-classroom or sating basd larning forms hav to b radically nw dvlopd. Rvnu and financ schms for highr ducation, also for thos forms which ar today stat financd, will chang in th futur in that rgard, that crtification and assssmnt might dvlop into th major sourc of incom whras th traditional lctur basd modl and a modl whr crdits ar basd on attndanc might fall bhind. Basd on th xprincs of th OPAL projct, which includd involvmnt of hundrds of institutions in survys, wbinars, confrncs and othr consultation activitis, w mak th following rcommndations for mainstraming OEP, which includs improving accss, us and r-us of OER. Enabling Lgislation to Facilitat OEP: This falls into thr catgoris: Incntivising OEP through Lgislation Challng: individual authors, spcially thos in highly commoditisd ducation systm, hav littl incntiv to produc OER or us OEP Rcommndation: in rsarch, lgislat Opn Accss mandats for publicly fundd rsarch. In taching, lgislation on cost-fficincy of taching rsourcs in publiclyfundd ducation would stimulat dmand for opn-txtbooks, and stimulat partnrships for thir cration. Rducing Lgislativ Burdns through Harmonisation Challng: thr ar currntly a bvy of diffrnt copyright jurisdictions within th EU, and opn licncs hav diffrnt lgislativ status in diffrnt jurisdictions. Rcommndation: Harmonis Opn Accss licnss across th EU, through agrmnts on standards, and work on an EU-lvl Crativ Commons licnc. Rthinking Intllctual Proprty Law for th 21 st Cntury Challng: th digital rvolution has changd th way w crat, us and rus knowldg. Howvr, most of th Intllctual Proprty lgislation which has bn dsignd to addrss th it has focusd on th protction of rights holdrs, particularly in th crativ industris. th link btwn rsarch, taching and innovation has bn largly ignord from an IP point of viw. Outdatd IP practics ar stifling innovation, and limiting th growth potntial of th knowldg conomy. Rcommndation: Launch a major consultation xrcis with stakholdrs in ducation, rsarch training, as to possibl rforms to IP law to nhanc innovation 7

8 Empowring Larnrs to tak up OEP: Liflong larnrs ar a major bnficiary of Opn Educational Practic. As alrady discussd, a host of difficultis is laving uptak of OEP far blow potntial: Addrssing Fragmntation in Larning Rsourcs Challng: Dspit th larg numbr of rsourcs availabl, thy ar distributd using a multitud of standards, in indpndnt rpositoris, and thy ar of vastly diffring quality. Rcommndation: Support th cration of larning xchangs spcialisd dirctoris linking to only high-quality 1 rpositoris, and using commonly agrd standards for classification and sharing Promoting th provision of Opn Educational Assssmnt Challng: Unlss taking plac as part of an xisting cours in a formal ducational institution, larning using OER gos unrcognisd. Whil rcognition of prior larning gos som-way to addrss this, it is ovrly complx, xpnsiv and too unvnly implmntd to addrss th issu Rcommndation: Shar bst practic, and suggstiv rgulatory framworks to allow for th unbundling of cours dsign, provision and crtification, so as to allow OER assssmnt to happn on a crdit-quivalnc basis by indpndnt providrs. Strngthning th Evidnc-Bas of OEP: Whil studis clarly show th bnfits of adopting Opn Educational Practics in th broad sns, spcific lmnts of practic hav yt to b mainstramd, and significant doubts still rmain as to what works : Hlping institutions nurtur OEP Challng: th currnt lvl of knowldg on institutional support stratgis is insufficint to fostr OEP. Rcommndation: commission rsarch, and support bst-practic xchang in th ara. Addrssing Sustainability Concrns Challng: Dspit widsprad publication of OER, moving this from a nich activity in to mainstramd OEP rquirs proof of financial, organisational (in trms of govrnanc) and tchnical (in trms of archiving, accss tc) sustainability. Rcommndation: st up a pool of xprts working spcifically on this ara. Organis pr-larning vnts to shar practic. Commission fasibility analysis of various modls. Making th Socital Bnfit Explicit Challng: Svral studis hint that on of th main bnfits of OER and OEP is th braking down of th ivory-towr and th incrasd impact of scholarly activity on th widr socity. Howvr, ths hav not yt bn quantifid, lading to difficultis in stimating th appropriat lvl of public support for OEP from a scintific standpoint. Rcommndation: Propos a st of indicators to masur impact of opn accss on widr socity, and st up monitoring systm to addrss thm. 1 As dfind by appropriat standards 8

9 Culturing Innovation through Ntworks: Opn Education is a major nablr of collaborativ innovation, which in turn fds back to and improvs opn ducation (known as th pr-production phnomnon). Such a cycl can b largly slf-sustaining, givn th rmoval of a fw constraints: Supporting Truly Opn Collaboration Challng: Many of th supporting initiativs for ntworking ar limitd to particular typs of institution, hav gographic boundaris, or othr similar 'ligibility' limitations. OEP in particular is th focus of multi-stakholdr global innovation, and nds to b addrssd as such. Rcommndation: futur support initiativs for OER/OEP should incrasingly fgocus thir attntion on partnrships with a wid rang, typology and divrsity of institutions to various othr forms of ntworks of innovation, and nabling communitis of practic shapd around collaborativ OEP Building a Coalition of Stakholdrs around Principls of Opnnss Challng: thr is no Europan lad-organisation, trad-body or industry grouping that is rsponsibl for th opnnss agnda. This lads to infficint stakholdr consultation and slow impact on th policy procss Rcommndation: Crat an EU-lvl stakholdr forum or xprt-group on opn ducation, taskd with mapping th fild and rporting back to th Commission with rcommndations on vidnc-basd policy actions. Improving Trust in OEP: OEP is still in its infancy, and thrfor suffrs from issus arising from a lack of trust in opn ducation: Intgrat OEP into Institutional Quality Procdurs Challng: Traditional acadmic (and scintific) quality assuranc procdurs rly on a formal hirarchical systm of pr-rviw and xtrnal assssmnt. Collaborativ co-cration upnds this quality modl Rcommndation: Dvlop spcific quality schms, for Opn Educational Practic, particularly by moving concpts from rcnt EU projcts such as CONCEDE, OPAL, OERTst tc. from pilot into oprational phass Crat Opn Acadmic/Scintific Trust Infrastructurs Challng: Acadmic prformanc is tid to rsarch activity, as masurd by citation counts and impact factor studis. Ths ar managd by a closd ntwork of acadmic publishrs, with an inhrnt intrst in opposing opnnss. Rcommndation: Support pilot projcts to crat a Europan citation and acadmic pr-rviw systm basd on an opn citation databas, and community prrviw. Onc bst approach is dtrmind, launch EU-run acadmic impact srvic which ncompasss all acadmic knowldg (opn and closd) 9

10 WORKS CITED Atkins, D. E., Brown, J., & Hammond, A. (2007). A Rviw of th Opn Educational Rsourcs (OER) Movmnt: Achivmnts, Challngs, and Nw Opportunitis. Carniro, R., Nozs, J., Policarpo, V., Crol, J., & Corria, T. (2011). OPAL Quantitativ Onlin Survy. Opn Educational Quality Initiativ. Davis, P. M., & Waltrs, W. H. (July 2011). Th impact of fra ccss to sicntific litratur: a rviw of rcnt rsarch. Journal of th Midcal Library Association, 99(3), Ehlrs, U. (March 2011). From Opn Educational Rsourcs to Opn Educational Practics. Larning Paprs(23). Harly, D. (2008). Why Undrstanding th Us and Usrs of Opn Education Mattrs. V T. Iiyoshi, & M. Vijay Kumar, Opniong up Education: Th collctiv advancmnt of ducation through opn tchnology, opn contnt, and opn knowldg (str ). Th Carngi Foundation for th Advancmnt of Taching. Hylén, J. (2006). Opn Educational Rsourcs: Opportunitis and Challngs. Paris: OECD - Cntr for Educational Rsarch and Innovation. Kllr, P., & Mossink, W. (2008). Rus of matrial in th contxt of ducation and rsarch. Lan, A. (2008). Widning Participation in Education through Opn Educational Rsourcs. V T. Iiyhoshi, & M. Vijay Kumar, Opning up Education: Th Collctiv Advancmnt of Education through Opn Tchnology, Opn Contnt and Opn Knowldg (str ). Th Carngi Foundation for th Advancmnt of Taching. Larsn, K., & Vincnt-Lancrin, S. (2005). Th impact of ICT on Trtiary Education: Advancs and promiss. Washington. McAndrw, P., Santos, A., Lan, A., Godwin, S., Okada, A., Wilson, T., in drugi. (2008). OpnLarn Rsarch Rport Milton Knys: Th Opn Univrsity. UNESCO. (2002). Forum on th Impact of Opn Courswar for Highr Education in Dvloping Countris. 10