[Oer-community] New discussion: Mapping OER initiatives globally

Tue Oct 23 16:08:02 MDT 2012

Dear Colleagues,

I would like to invite you to take part in one more online conversation.
 As a group, you are former members of the UNESCO IIEP OER Community that
interacted from 2005-2009, and new members who have joined us since then.

*The objective of this conversation is to consider together whether the
global OER community could design and build a world map of OER
institutional initiatives.  *

Over the past decade, there have been more and more initiatives in more and
more countries.  It has become difficult to have a sense of the global OER
landscape.  As we seek to communicate with stakeholders, as we seek to
connect with potential partners and as we seek to learn from the experience
of others, we might find useful a picture of the OER world – a global map
of institutional and perhaps national initiatives as a starting point.  Over
time, an “OER World Map” could be enhanced as the community wished and
found feasible.

Maps can be effective in communicating a message visually.   There are
already several global maps that have been created for specific OER groups,
such as, the Open CourseWare Consortium and the Open University OLnet
project in the United Kingdom.

As many of you will remember, the former IIEP OER community showed enormous
energy in its interaction.  And importantly, the community showed a
capacity to self-organize.  A number of groups came together to translate
the report of the group’s consensus on priorities to advance the OER
movement.  If mapping the OER world were seen to be useful, perhaps the
worldwide OER community could self-organize to build and maintain an OER
world map together.

Our conversation is scheduled to take place online over a three-week period
*from 12 – 30 November*.   At the conclusion of the discussion a draft
report will be sent to everyone for review and comment.

In addition to this international discussion in English, some groups have
already decided to hold similar interactions in their own languages for
their own communities or networks.  Their input will be shared with the
international group, and incorporated into the final report of our
collective deliberation and conclusions.  We hope others may also wish to
organize separate discussions.

A document is attached with the outline of the discussion The content of
the document is also below in plain text.  Please do share the information
with your colleagues and networks.

I will be back in contact with further details before we begin.  I am very
much looking forward to being back together again.

My best,

Susan
-- 
Susan D'Antoni

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

_____________________________________________________

Athabasca University UNESCO/COL Chair in OER
Open Universiteit UNESCO Chair in OER

___________________________________________

A world map of Open Educational Resources initiatives:

Can the global OER community design and build it together?

First, an International discussion

12 – 30 November 2012

* Next, local discussions – organized locally

An international online conversation – The objective is to explore whether the
OER community worldwide could work together to design and build an OER
world map – starting with institutional initiatives and basic information.

A definition – Open Educational Resources are teaching, learning, and
research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released
under an intellectual property license that permits their free use and
re-purposing by others. They may be full courses or course materials,
modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools,
materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge (William and
Flora Hewlett Foundation).

Now a decade of development – a global movement with more and more OER
initiatives, in more and more countries.  The vision of increasing access
to the world’s knowledge through making resources open and accessible is
beginning to be realized.

But we still have a problem – we do not have a comprehensive overview of
OER projects in the world – how do I know what is going on in my own country
? And how do I find contacts in other countries, or contacts working in my
own language?

An OER world map – A map would give us the big picture of the global OER
movement.  It would help us communicate the story of OER.  Furthermore, it
could be enhanced with information such as OER initiatives by language, and
with links to other maps. And it would help us connect.

Community collaboration – Working together the OER community could design
and build the map, and then regularly update it. With time, energy and
collaboration, the map could become a door to the OER world, helping us
communicate with stakeholders and connect with each other.

Outline of the international discussion

Week 1: What could an OER world map look like?

12- 16 November

 Why map the OER landscape

Essential information and visual presentation

Week 2: Could a world map be built collaboratively?

19-23 November

Organizational approach for collaboration

Ensuring the quality of the information

Week 3: Reflection and next steps

26-30 November

Design of an “OER World Map”

Organization

Resources available/needed

Next steps

Join the international conversation

Send an email to oer-community-request at athabascau.ca and type subscribe in
the subject line

Share this announcement with your colleagues and networks

* Plan a parallel or follow up discussion in your own language and network

Contact

Susan D’Antoni at oermapp <oermapping at gmail.com>ing at gmail.com
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