Presentation to Alt-C 2011 as part of a symposium on OERs entitled Open Country. My views only - not those of other presenters.

1. Gadabout
One who walks about
from place to place
without proper business
Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/
upnorthmemories/4256082501/in/
photostream/
Definition source: Legends of America
words and phrases of the Old West
http://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-slang-
g.html

2. Townspeople
I've found there is quite a lot of teaching materials freely
available out there, which is great. But we just don't do it
here, it’s never been done.
Even what we were doing [with OER], that’s not happening
any more. The University just doesn’t see it as a priority.
Ideally we'd like to produce packages that other people could
use. But sometimes it's challenge enough to get it to work in
our own systems.
There is still a perception in some parts ... that income will be
generated from the development of e-learning content.

3. Townspeople
Actually being able to adopt and adapt what has been used
elsewhere ... can be fraught with difficulty because of
subject matter experts not agreeing with each other.
The University is geared up for full-time learners, not people
who want something slightly different.
We have our tried and tested ways of attracting applicants and
[that department] is not interested in OERs produced by
staff
some students have objected to the use of external content by
‘lazy lecturers’
academic practice and the academic infrastructure – writing
programme handbooks and specifications, all the stuff that's
part of the day job – that closes off possibilities.

4. Townspeople
• We are happy to share with people like us, if we can build a
relationship
• ‘sharing begins at home’ - it has to work for our people first
• We’re trying to hang on to the people we need to survive
• We don’t have the time, effort or expertise (to develop big
OER or participate in communities of sharing little OER)
• Student expectations: often more attached than staff to ‘the
way things should be done’
• OER benefit models only work in some parts of town
• Open means something special here - open content is only
one sign of what is happening

5. Pioneers
It’s about us as a community sharing stuff – what’s the point in reinventing the
wheel 7 times? It’s very unlikely any of us have created anything from
scratch anyway.
'I think internationalisation too – that exchange of information and knowledge
across cultures is easier [with OERs].'
The insight that [OER] gives you into different cultural ways of working is
interesting in terms of staff development. Different pedagogic and national
cultures are visible. And you can use that to help students ... to look at
something different.
I've found it eye opening to see how broad the OER movement has become
around the world, and just the scope of uptake of OER materials. It's an
incredible area that's just being explored at the moment.
Just recently this month they got in touch and wanted to share resources. If we
can deal with them, we can deal with Scottish, then UK, then world
freebies! Global benevolence!

6. Pioneers
So OER allow us to continue that shift [in the balance of power], because
learners sitting wherever... can access a range of resources suited to
their own workplace. It's about democratising education.
In 5-10 years time things will automatically be open. Books aren’t the way
forward. Getting out a book is a bizarre thing for students to do.
We need to be open to the possibility students might learn something we
didn't expect.
I was involved last year in some legacy projects, writing open learning
resources for local authorities in areas where they were all going to be
disbanded... so it was about capturing their expertise.
I'm really excited to find ways that it's going to be used in organisations
beyond the University

7. Pioneers
• Beyond exchange to open release (the economy of the gift,
more appropriate in an age of knowledge abundance)
• A responsibility to learners and learning anywhere
• Open release is a political and/or value-laden act e.g.
democracy, public scholarship, inter-culturalism, saving
minority/threatened knowledge
• Digital technologies/media as inherently radicalising of
knowledge e.g. around publishing models, accessibility
• Recognising knowledge as incomplete, in process and in
circulation

8. Questions
How do we open the town gates a little?
What are the pathways between towns/through
open country?
How can the natives and the settlers learn from
one another?
How do we balance law and order (standards/
interoperability) with local freedoms and
customs?
How do we live a good life in this world and the
world to come?

9. Opening the town gates (a little)
Easily usable tools
It’s got to be as easy as ‘right click, save’
(we need) tools that support download and management of resources
e.g. Zotero, and the integration of JorumOpen with library catalogues.
Building local know-how and confidence
Now, instead of getting in the consultants or sending people off on
training, we exchange and share.
The information and digital literacy skills required by students to access
and utilise OERs need to be addressed
Cascading know-how through workshops, mentoring
Enhanced quality (accessibility, re-usability) of educational content (??)
Low hanging fruit
Some types of content readily reused/released
Some situations make open release the easier option
Making closed systems more open
If someone wants access we find a way of giving it to them
VLE permissions, remote access, links to open repositories/open web

10. Pathways through open country
Sharing expertise across town boundaries
The success of the C-SAP project partly derives from a project team
model constituted by locals who possess institutional knowledge and
outsiders who bring experiences from the wider disciplinary context.
Shared standards, frameworks and tools
Some people really see themselves as part of a community of
academics who are building and sharing, and some people don't. We're
not going to crack the people who don't want to share and play, but for
the people who have that ethos we need to meet their needs.
Looking beyond academia
The aim is to involve employers in producing [OER]. To expand from the
academic base to not only learners out there but teachers out there in
workplaces.
"we [are] public institutions, housing public thinkers & dedicated to the
education of society for the needs of society" (Malcolm Read, Alt-C11)
.

11. Pathways through open country

12. Implications (maybe)
Benefits of OER may have little to do with the openness of the license (cf
David Wiley)
Big OER - it takes time and specialist expertise to develop for independent
online learners
Little OER - mainly for other teachers and highly self-directed learners i.e.
more of a CoP approach - but then requires community features (and
these too require time for participation and support)
"we public institutions, housing public thinkers & dedicated to the education
of society for the needs of society" (Malcolm Read) - we need people
who are thinking about open scholarship big scale...but support for
people who are doing it on a small scale
Open content does not equal open learning (let alone open education) - C-
SAP, ADM, LfW examples