Open Educational Resources: New Possibilities for Change and Sustainability

In an attempt to understand the potential of OER for change and sustainability, this paper presents the results of an informal survey of active and inactive collections of online educational resources, emphasizing data related to collection longevity and the project attributes associated with it. Th...

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Autor principal:	Norm Friesen
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Athabasca University Press 2009
Materias:	e-learning open courseware Special aspects of education LC8-6691
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/64a06172183b419b854507de9d8e31ad
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:64a06172183b419b854507de9d8e31ad2021-12-02T18:03:18ZOpen Educational Resources: New Possibilities for Change and Sustainability10.19173/irrodl.v10i5.6641492-3831https://doaj.org/article/64a06172183b419b854507de9d8e31ad2009-11-01T00:00:00Zhttp://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/664https://doaj.org/toc/1492-3831In an attempt to understand the potential of OER for change and sustainability, this paper presents the results of an informal survey of active and inactive collections of online educational resources, emphasizing data related to collection longevity and the project attributes associated with it. Through an analysis of the results of this survey, in combination with other surveys of OER stakeholders and projects, the paper comes to an initial conclusion: Despite differences in priorities and emphasis, OER initiatives are in danger of running aground of the same sustainability challenges that have claimed numerous learning object collection or repository projects in the past. OER projects suffer from the same incompatibilities with existing institutional cultures and priorities that have dogged learning object initiatives, and they face the concomitant challenge of gaining access to the operational funding support that experience shows is necessary for their survival. However, through a review of one of the most successful of OER projects to date, the MIT Open Courseware Initiative, the paper ends by augmenting this significant caveat with a second, more hopeful conclusion: OER projects, unlike learning object initiatives, can accrue tangible benefits to educational institutions, such as student recruitment and marketing. Highlighting these benefits, it is argued, provides an opportunity to link OER initiatives to core institutional priorities. In addition to providing a possible route to financial sustainability, this characteristic of OER may help to foster the significant changes in practice and culture long sought by promoters of both learning objects and OERs.Norm FriesenAthabasca University Pressarticlee-learningopen coursewareSpecial aspects of educationLC8-6691ENInternational Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, Vol 10, Iss 5 (2009)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	e-learning open courseware Special aspects of education LC8-6691
spellingShingle	e-learning open courseware Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Norm Friesen Open Educational Resources: New Possibilities for Change and Sustainability
description	In an attempt to understand the potential of OER for change and sustainability, this paper presents the results of an informal survey of active and inactive collections of online educational resources, emphasizing data related to collection longevity and the project attributes associated with it. Through an analysis of the results of this survey, in combination with other surveys of OER stakeholders and projects, the paper comes to an initial conclusion: Despite differences in priorities and emphasis, OER initiatives are in danger of running aground of the same sustainability challenges that have claimed numerous learning object collection or repository projects in the past. OER projects suffer from the same incompatibilities with existing institutional cultures and priorities that have dogged learning object initiatives, and they face the concomitant challenge of gaining access to the operational funding support that experience shows is necessary for their survival. However, through a review of one of the most successful of OER projects to date, the MIT Open Courseware Initiative, the paper ends by augmenting this significant caveat with a second, more hopeful conclusion: OER projects, unlike learning object initiatives, can accrue tangible benefits to educational institutions, such as student recruitment and marketing. Highlighting these benefits, it is argued, provides an opportunity to link OER initiatives to core institutional priorities. In addition to providing a possible route to financial sustainability, this characteristic of OER may help to foster the significant changes in practice and culture long sought by promoters of both learning objects and OERs.
format	article
author	Norm Friesen
author_facet	Norm Friesen
author_sort	Norm Friesen
title	Open Educational Resources: New Possibilities for Change and Sustainability
title_short	Open Educational Resources: New Possibilities for Change and Sustainability
title_full	Open Educational Resources: New Possibilities for Change and Sustainability
title_fullStr	Open Educational Resources: New Possibilities for Change and Sustainability
title_full_unstemmed	Open Educational Resources: New Possibilities for Change and Sustainability
title_sort	open educational resources: new possibilities for change and sustainability
publisher	Athabasca University Press
publishDate	2009
url	https://doaj.org/article/64a06172183b419b854507de9d8e31ad
work_keys_str_mv	AT normfriesen openeducationalresourcesnewpossibilitiesforchangeandsustainability
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Open Educational Resources: New Possibilities for Change and Sustainability

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