Read the article at http://goo.gl/THMylq
The characteristics that define OER potentially add value above or different from those achieved by a similar non-OER pieces. OER could be widely disruptive, but institutional barriers will need to be overcome. There are nine areas of Research that can help OER become more widely adopted.
- Policy
- Positive and negative factors in the political environment
- Characteristics of current educational policies that constrain or enable the use of OER
- Access/use
- What added value does OER have?
- What distinguishes OER from other products?
- The local conditions that make it possible to easily and fruitfully exercise the 4Rs.
- Effectiveness
- “As the educational landscape changes, the nature and content that we expect of student learning might change as well” – also as the job market changes, as society shifts.
- Do OER that are adapted to fit local needs improve achievement and attainment?
- Innovation
- OER are less bound, and therefore might be more “genuinely innovative”
- Innovation is by definition unexpected – we should be open to it, especially since we don’t know what could come of it.
- Beyond Formal Education
- It would be interesting to organize OER by outcomes rather than sectors (e.g. water scarcity, global warming). This is similar to the learning outcome idea we had.
- Sustainability
- It isn’t necessary for any particular OER to be sustained forever.
- Development and Improvement
- “Studies to understand and improve the process of creating, altering, and using OER”
- Implementation
- What is the process for introducing OER into classrooms, schools, districts and countries and how can that process be improved.
- Infrastructure
Discussion Questions
Additional Resources