OERU Next Steps

OERU Next Steps

by Paul Stacey -
Number of replies: 10
Hi everyone:

Great to review the video highlights and summary of the OERU meeting. I've also enjoyed the follow-on discussion, especially the way a number of you have been exploring the similarities between apples and OER.

I've had some communication with Wayne about how we might help keep the OERU momentum going.

A number of you have been expressing willingness to volunteer 1 hour a day to work on the OERU initiative. What a fantastic idea!

If you'd like to continue to be involved there are lots of things that need doing. If you have a particular role you'd like to volunteer for please let us know. If you have an activity that you're interested in doing that you think will really help let us know. All suggestions welcome.

If you'd like to offer help with things that Wayne is planning on doing here's a short list of possible activities:

1. Expanding on and elaborating the vision.

Wayne provided me with a link to a video from the Saylor Foundation
. This is a thoughtful exploration of how the ideas we've been exploring for an OERU might actually work in practice. I encourage you to have a look and respond with your thoughts and answers to the questions raised.

2. Writing a coherent summary document explaining the overall concept and OERU logic model.

Part of this will involve taking the SCoPE summary document, which served as an input to the OERU meeting in New Zealand, and categorizing/distributing our inputs into the relevant part of the logic model. There are are other inputs too including discussions in New Zealand, presentations, and other materials. Wayne is thinking this could be enabled through a wiki on the wikieducator site.

3. The OERU initiative needs a project plan.

The OERU project plan will take each element of the logic model and define activities (sub-projects) required to move that part of the initiative forward. Activities will need short term objectives, some key performance indicators, and a set of milestones on a timeline. If any of you have a particular interest in the project plan overall or are interested in working on a particular aspect of the logic model Wayne is looking for people/institutions to lead or collaborate on these activities.

4. Follow-on seminars/events.

The OERU is off to a great start. What follow-on seminars or events should be scheduled and planned for to keep the momentum going? What other organizations need to be involved? Who are the key people that need to be at the table contributing to making the OERU a reality? What can we set as the next date/event for the OERU?

Paul
In reply to Paul Stacey

Re: OERU Next Steps

by Wayne Mackintosh -
Hi Paul,

Looking good :-). These suggestions will enable us to move forward with the development of detailed plans for each activity required to build an OER university.

I'd like to suggest that we should also copy each of the bullet points listed in the SCoPE input document over to the relevant "issues, questions and suggestions" sub-heading under each initiative of the logic model in the wiki. We don't want to loose this planning input.

The sub-pages for each initiative are listed on the OER university planning page.

If you are new to wiki editing -- you now have a good excuse to learn ;-). You will find an excellent set of help tutorials and this link will show you how to get started. In WikiEducator you can use the rich text editor or standard wiki syntax.

In reply to Wayne Mackintosh

Re: OERU Next Steps

by Anil Prasad P -
Dear friends,
 
A lot of friends have already listed their names as volunteers to support OERu in this forum as well as in google groups. As a first step towards organizing the volunteer activities, shall we create a page, some thing like,  http://www.wikieducator.org/OER_university/volunteers in WikiEducator? and add their names in a table having columns for details such as
 
Name
Organization
Designation
Interested Area as per logic model**
Interested topic for open student support
Offered volunteer time
Etc…
 
Warm regards,
 
Anil
In reply to Anil Prasad P

Re: OERU Next Steps

by Anil Prasad P -

Dear friends,

As suggested earlier, a webpage with the url http://wikieducator.org/OER_university/volunteers has been created in WikiEducator for volunteer faculties to list their names as well as OERu to seek volunteer service from the community.

Now Volunteer Faculties can list their names in the table on the above webpage. All volunteers are requested to create a user page on WikiEducator with detailed bio and link the user page with your first name.

Those friends who require help to add details on the above webpage/ create user page in WikiEducator may please consult WikiEducator Help page or post queries at SCoPE/WikiEducator/OERu forums. You can also seek live help via email /text/audio/video chat from me and other Wiki Educators in this fourm who are online at the given time.

Suggestions to further develop this Volunteer Faculty Registy initiative for OERu is also most welcome.

Warm regards

Anil

http://www.wikieducator.org/User:Anil_Prasad http://www.apletters.blogspot.com

In reply to Anil Prasad P

Re: OERU Next Steps

by Maria Droujkova -
I just added Paul's summary, and my name. Thank you, Anil!
In reply to Maria Droujkova

Volunteers and opportunities

by Valerie Taylor -
This is great! People are signing up to volunteer. Now we need to get some organization and project work going so volunteers can help out. I have added to the volunteers page and a sub-page to collect ideas and provide a place to take the OERu volunteering a step further.

As a volunteer, what would you like to be doing? What structure, training and organization do your need to be able to participate? Can you help define any of these to help others work productively?

These are just some preliminary questions to expand the conversation.
In reply to Valerie Taylor

Re: Volunteers and opportunities

by Anil Prasad P -
Thank you Valerie, the ideas on the subpage will definitely help the initiative to progress further.
Warm regards
Anil


In reply to Anil Prasad P

Re: Volunteers and opportunities

by Paul Stacey -
Thank you all for taking the initiative to establish the OERU volunteers group!

Today is the last day of the OER University SCoPE seminar. I expect we'll have other follow-on OERU seminars in the future but for now activity here winds up and we'll move follow-on work to the volunteers area in wikieducator.

Its been wonderful helping develop the OERU idea with you all. Will be fascinating to see it evolve from here.

Paul
In reply to Paul Stacey

Re: OERU Next Steps

by Deleted user -

Hi Paul, Wayne and Everyone,

Thanks a lot for the incredible work done so far.

Trying to answer the questions asked in the video from the Rwandan context, here are my initial thoughts:

Partnering with professional organizations:

I wonder how OERu is going to be of universal benefit since in some countries professional associations are rare to find. If the lack of professional associations in some countries is not considered in this logical model, there is risk of not responding to needs of learners in those societies as well or even exclude them from this initiative. I would suggest finding volunteers in as many canners of the world as possible and I personally commit myself to this volunteering initiative. The concern I want to raise here is that important decision might be taken in professional association/conferences in which many parts of the world are not represented. If this happens to be the case, the impact of OERu on the non represented setting will be doubtful.

Partnering with accredited institutions:

I am not quite sure I understand well what is meant by the word “accreditation” as this might be used differently depending on settings. American universities for example, seem to be accredited by consortia of higher education institutions such as “Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA)”. This is what I found as information about accreditation on one American university. I did the same search for the National University of Rwanda and the response was, “no match found about Accreditation”. Does it mean that this university is not accredited or is it the issue of differences in which higher learning institutions and education in various societies operate? I know though that higher learning institutions in Rwanda need to have the authorization from Rwanda’s Ministry of Education to operate and I hope this is considered as accreditation as well. Otherwise, those institutions will be left behind the door of the OERU movement because I am not aware of any associations such as “Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA)” the country. I look forward to seeing how the issue of economic and digital divide is address to bridge all those differences.

Cheating issue

I think providing limited time for a test would avoid cheating. If the questions are short answers questions and require the same answer for all learners, it will be necessary for all learners to take the test at the same time. There might be also possibility of alternating the number of questions for different respondents. For instance, question number one for student A appears as question number 6 for students B, etc… Proctoring (invigilation) would be organized by participating institutions.

Alternatively, the assessment can be done in the form of a project. I have to admit that the concern of students who might pay others to take test in their places is justified, but I would doubt whether they would also pay them to study the materials. If the person who shows up for the test is different from the one who studied the materials, this will work at the real learner’s disadvantage. Before entering the testing rooms, learners’ IDs need to be verified. I think many institutions operate online and I don’t think cheating in those institutions is higher than in face-to-face institutions.

Yes, I definitely want to volunteer on point number three (a project plan).

Bernard

In reply to Deleted user

Re: OERU Next Steps

by Paul Stacey -
Bernard:

Thanks for these responses to the saylor.org video. Its great to hear the Rawandan perspective.

Your comments highlight some of the many challenges involved in creating an OERU. At the most basic level one challenge is describing it in terms that have a common meaning globally so that a mutual understanding is achieved. Another challenge is implementing the OERU in a way that works with established practices and organizations in all countries around the world.

I expect the OERU will be need to be conceptualized in a universal way first. The OERU logic model is an example of something that needs to make sense globally. Once a universal model for the OERU has been created bridges can be established that implement the OERU in a way localized and in line with practices and organizations at a country level.

Thanks for adding your name to the list of volunteers at:
http://wikieducator.org/OER_university/volunteers

Paul