[Oer-community] Antw: Re: Wrapping up the conversation

Thomas.Pfeffer at uni-klu.ac.at Thomas.Pfeffer at uni-klu.ac.at
Fri Oct 15 02:25:27 MDT 2010


Dear All,
 
I 'd like to expand my argument by taking in the points made by Stephen Downes and Fred Beshears.
 
1) alternative concepts of OER
Instead of hamonising OER approaches, we should foster different successful approaches of OER, e.g.
*) OER as substitute (of textbooks or journals; e.g. Creative Commons Textbooks)
*) OER as reusable resource (focused on automated learning)
*) OER as transparency (accross curriculum, to inform students; e.g. expanded course descriptions or semi-transparent courses; OCW?)
*) OER as learner generated/modified content (as Stephen Downes described it)
 
It is crucial to see that each type of concept differs in the extent of codification, in logistics (e.g. amount of centralised storage/editing/quality control), in the relationship between producer/consumer (cathedral/basaar), in the relationship between instructor/learner, but also with respect to the underlying economic model. 
 
It would be crucial to investigate in these conceptual differences. Maybe we can come up with a robust typology that would allow us to structure further debates and developments.
 
2) alternative economic models of OER
Fred Beshears convincingly highlightened the fact that different "distributional coalitions (aka special interest groups)" are involved in the production and use of OER. In his mail, he especially focused on the fact that (traditional) distributional coalitions may resist innovation. 
 
I think it is also crucial to see that (new) distributional coalitions are necessary to create economically viable models (or business cases) for OER. Depending on the respective logistical concept, the economic models (and their necessities) will differ as well. However, these new models might be disruptive for older ones (as Fred indicated in his mail).
 
Therefore I would suggest to put 'alternative economic models of OER' on the agenda.
 
3) Learning to share
A top priority!
 
best whishes
 
thomas
 
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