[Oer-community] A reflection

Susan D'Antoni susandantoni at gmail.com
Wed Nov 14 16:27:14 MST 2012


Dear Mark and Helen,

Yourcomments are exactly why we started this discussion with an exploration
of what use a map of the global OER landscape would be?  The points in my
previous message were of course trying to find threads from the messages
over the past days.

The main problem that was the premise for organizing this discussion was
simple.  How do you know which institutions have OER activities around the
world?  It has become a large number.  But do we need to know where OER
institutional initiatives are?  And if we do, can we find that information
somewhere already?

Best,

Susan



On Wed, Nov 14, 2012 at 6:07 PM, Mark Bullen <mbullen at col.org> wrote:

> Helen:
> I'm glad you asked that question because I have also been struggling to
> understand what the practical outcome of an OER map would be, how it
> would advance the "movement" and how it would help practitioners - the
> teachers who are trying to locate, evaluate and integrate OER into their
> teaching. The benefits that Susan lists all make sense to me but I guess
> I don't fully understand what the map would actually be. Is it, for
> example, intended to be a kind of meta-repository? I share your concern
> about investing a lot of energy in trying to devise technical solutions
> without a clear identification of the problem.
>
> Mark.
>
>
> Mark Bullen, Ph.D.
> Education Specialist - eLearning
> Commonwealth of Learning
> 1055 West Hastings, Suite 1200
> Vancouver, BC, V6E 2E9
> CANADA
> 1 604 775 8261
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: oer-community-bounces at athabascau.ca
> [mailto:oer-community-bounces at athabascau.ca] On Behalf Of Lentell, Helen
> M.
> Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 2012 1:57 PM
> To: oer-community
> Subject: Re: [Oer-community] A reflection
>
> Dear Colleagues
>
> Interesting conversation. But I am reminded of a comment made some years
> ago in the distance learning community, it was this: if technology is
> the answer what is the question? Following on from this:  if mapping
> OERs is the answer what is the educational problem we are trying to
> address?
>
> Best wishes
>
> Helen
>
> Helen Lentell
> University Fellow in Distance Learning
> Centre for Labour Market Studies
> Ken Edwards Building
> University Road
> Leicester LE1 7RH
> UK
>
> helen.lentell at le.ac.uk
> ________________________________________
> From: oer-community-bounces at athabascau.ca
> [oer-community-bounces at athabascau.ca] On Behalf Of Susan D'Antoni
> [susandantoni at gmail.com]
> Sent: 14 November 2012 17:10
> To: oer-community at athabascau.ca
> Subject: [Oer-community] A reflection
>
> Dear Colleagues,
>
> This has been a most energetic start to our discussion of mapping the
> landscape of OER initiatives.  To see this OER community spring into
> action again is such a pleasure after being in contact with many of you
> since 2005.
>
> And like our colleague, Saul Fisher, I too was at the 2002 meeting at
> UNESCO when the Term Open Educational Resources came into being and like
> him "find the progress in OER over the decade "beyond my wildest hopes".
>
> Maps are "powerful representations for creating, representing and
> visualizing open knowledge" (Ale Okada) but no, there has been no
> decision taken anywhere that we will create an OER world map (Sandra
> Schosn concern).
>
> In the discussion so far, there have been a number of points made about
> the potential benefits of a visual map of the OER landscape - such as -
>
> *   serve as a gateway
> *   make more initiatives visible beyond the well-known ones
> *   identify initiatives operating in different languages
> *   help find OER
> *   identify the OER community
> *   foster new collaboration and cooperative efforts
>
> But there have been some concerns expressed - such as -
>
> *   it is a big task so it needs to be a simple map
> *   it needs to be self sustaining
> *   It is tempting to collect too much data
> *   it needs to be carefully structured and organized
> *   we need to define or classify initiatives
>
> The point about sustainability and the need to keep it simple are good
> points to bear in mind.  I had the privilege (because I was not trained
> as a statistician) of working at Statistics Canada, a fine statistical
> agency.  I learned a lot, but one thing that stuck with me was the
> extremely high cost of collecting information and the importance of
> "essential" data, not "nice to have".  It truly is a temptation to want
> more and morre information.  But if we aimed to describe the global OER
> landscape, then the amount of information to begin building an OER world
> map might best be what we consider absolutely essential.  Discipline!
>
> Let's keep the two lists of pros and concerns in mind as we continue
> this train of discussion.  Then let's move on to considering what
> essential information might be for an initial mapping exercise.
>
> Lovely conversation,
>
> Susan
>
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-- 
Susan D'Antoni

Advisor to the President
International OER Initiatives
Athabasca University
Canada
tel 613 232 6496
skype iiepsusan
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