[Oer-community] Introduction to the discussion

[Kimberly Wescott]

 Rory, 

I'm putting the finishing touches on a dissertation proposal which I hope will become a model for Human Rights education globally.  Naturally, the idea of OER appeals - particularly with regard to providing content for teachers who wish to add HR to their curricula.  Naturally, we hope that the cream will rise to the top, that educators will select that content which most readily addresses their needs, provides information that is current and addresses issues in a sensitive, meaningful way.  And yet it is a discipline that is vulnerable to political influence and the agendas of those more interested in social control than learning.

It seems to me that as educators sift through what we all hope will become a vast network of OER, that it might be helpful, even necessary, to provide some  sense of where, from whom, and why that OER is.

Thanks, Rory, for talking through this with me...with us. 

Kimberly


 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: rory <rory at athabascau.ca>
To: oer-community at athabascau.ca
Sent: Wed, Oct 6, 2010 8:15 pm
Subject: Re: [Oer-community] Introduction to the discussion


            Kimberly,
    Why is it so important that we have peer review for OERs? We have    had proprietary learning content used for centuries with no peer    review. Not all of it is "true" nor was it all worth sharing. Who    decides what is worthy for proprietary content?
    Answer: usually the teacher or the department; 
    How?  Ans: Usually by what is available. Or by the idiosnycracy of    the instructor. Or, by a myriad of other methods.
    Criteria? Ans: Usually none other than what is available and it    seems like the same as what the instructor learned by. Or other    reasons, few of them based on pedagogical considerations.
    
    So, the answer for OERs may very well continue the same except that    there is a growing movement for better pedagogy especially with    using online OERs so there seems to be an improvement.  I think that    improvement will continue, but we will still have poor quality    content, but with the availability and access of more and more    content, we will have more opportunity to choose and not be    dependent on  one or two choices of availability, but a whole range,    as will the students. If they don't like the teacher's choice they    can find other materials on the same or a similar subject online.
    
    Interesting!
    All the best.
    Rory
    
    
    On 10-10-06 6:52 PM, Kimberly Wescott wrote:    
          
 
          
          
 A Utopia              worth striving for!.  I struggled a bit with "all"              though.  I've actually been troubled for some time with              the idea of peer review for OER.  Not all that is created              is accurate or "true" (for want of a better word).  Nor is              all that is created worth sharing - Aye, there's the rub.               Who decides what is worthy?  How?  By what              criteria?  I know I may be leaping ahead a bit here.  But,              this issue is deserving of much debate I think. 
              
              Kimberly
              Houston, TX
                      
          
 
          
        
    
    
    
-- 
Rory McGreal
Associate VP Research
Athabasca University


  
 
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