Final Summary and Thanks!

Final Summary and Thanks!

by Scott Leslie -
Number of replies: 8
So we've reached the end of the scheduled 3 weeks - I hope all of you have enjoyed it and found it as helpful as I know I have.

The Introductory post helped us get to know at least 25 others who participated (I know there were many more who participated by reading, just as important) - an amazing group of professionals from at least 4 continents that I could count.

Week 1 found us exploring ways to find OERs, introduing the use of social networks, specific search tools like the OCW meta-search and flickrCC search, as well as a number of special OER collections. I know part of my own practice is to always expand the methods and sources I have for combing and filtering the mass of resources out there, and hopefully you also found some useful techniques in this thread.

Week 1 also found spirited discussions on the nature of "Openness" and who is taking leadership in OER. In the former, what emerged for me was a multi-facted understanding of openness, that it needs to be understood on many levels (all of which are important). The leadership discussion interestingly morphed into a discussion of "Open Textbooks" which I think could easily turn into an entire seminar in itself!

The main focus of week 2, 'creating OERs' found what was for me a valueable discussion on the value propositions of OER; this for me is very important, as too often the value propositions are described solely in turns of who wil use OER, but as the discussion showed, there are many reasons why OER can be valuable to instructors and institutions themselves.

Finally, in week 3 we dug in a bit to ways in which OER could be made less content-centric. I personally think this is a rich vein for Open Education to explore, as I think it not only can improve the experience for those accessing the OER, but for those initially learning with them as well.

I hope you got something useful from the three weeks - either a new insight into the importance of openness; more energy to help bring to fruition one of the many fantastic imagined futures for OER, or just a new tool or site you hadn't seen before. In any case, it's been great, and I look forward to speaking and working with you in the ongoing conversations and projects that are happening ALL the time online, in blogs and wikis and other forums everywhere.

Cheers, Scott Leslie

In reply to Scott Leslie

Re: Final Summary and Thanks!

by Gina Bennett -
Great participation, great moderation -- great discussion!

Thanks Scott & thank you EVERYBODY.

Gina
In reply to Scott Leslie

Re: Final Summary and Thanks!

by Barbara Dieu -
I echo Gina's words. Thank you all. I have learnt a lot and the different topics + perspectives in the discussion have given me a lot of ideas.
Warm regards from Brazil,
Bee
In reply to Scott Leslie

Re: Final Summary and Thanks!

by Nicola Avery -

Yes, a massive thanks to Scott, Sylvia and everyone, this has been so helpful, so much to continue thinking about and investigating,

Nicola

In reply to Scott Leslie

Re: Final Summary and Thanks!

by Sylvia Riessner -
Thanks Scott for a thought-provoking and educational discussion around OERs! I learned lots and I'm walking away with some new ideas. Thanks to everyone for their thoughtful responses.

Cheers
Sylvia
In reply to Scott Leslie

Re: Final Summary and Thanks!

by Jo Ann Hammond-Meiers -
Dear Scott,
This was a very informative e-conference. All the posts contributed to the helpful discussion about OER's and their importance, legalities, and future.
I learned a lot and although I could not contribute much to this topic, I have appreciated the breadth and depth of this "course" -- which was inspirational.

Thanks everyone, and especially you Scott for providing attentive care and super posts. Jo Ann
In reply to Scott Leslie

Re: Final Summary and Thanks!

by Gerry Paille -
Yes, thanks for all your efforts Scott and Sylvie - well done and a very interesting learning experience for me. I have been pointing others to the discussions as well.

Cheers

Gerry
In reply to Scott Leslie

Re: Final Summary and Thanks!

by Alice Macpherson -
Colleagues, near and distant,

I am always so impressed and humbled by the quality of thought from everyone. I have said little, but I have learned a lot from this. You have an impact and my vocabulary on the topic has changed in the last three weeks. Special thanks to Scott and Sylvia for all of their work.

Each year I put together a list of Holidays and Celebrations that folks tell me are important to them. It is not a religious calendar, nor is it all encompassing. Still, you might find it of interest as a small OER. Feel free to share and build on it!
http://kwantlen.ca/academicgrowth/resources/2009CelebrationCalendar.pdf

Gung Hay Fat Choy - Lantern Festival on February 9
All the best for the Year of the Ox

Alice Macpherson
PD & PLA Coordinator
The Centre for Academic Growth
Kwantlen Polytechnic University

In reply to Scott Leslie

Re: Final Summary and Thanks!

by Sylvia Currie -
Thanks so much Scott for taking the time to facilitate this important discussion. We really appreciate the way you organized the discussion topics each week and at the same time left it wide open to encourage new directions and tangents.

And thanks so much to everybody who participated! As Scott says, we had participants from several countries and many who chose to read along. We don't always know about the peripheral group but sometimes we find out about your presence other ways, like blog posts, or this time a few smiling faces popped up in the poll.

Over the 3 weeks we generated quite a list of resources! If you're bookmarking them for yourself in Delicious be sure to add the tag 'scope1222'. Also, the seminar wiki could prove to be a valuable summary of our time together. It's useful for the archives to have an overview of our seminars, even if they're not too elaborate. I've added a few headings (and promises smile) to build the wiki and I encourage you to join me.

Our next scheduled seminar is Developing a National Framework of Teaching Expectations March 2 - 22, 2009 with Gary Hunt and Vivian Neal. Hope to see you all there!

Sylvia Currie
SCoPE Coordinator