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Discussion Input: How can learners and teachers be activated to search for OER?

mdeimann — 2007-09-18T08:28:21-00:00

Dear all,

we would like to invite you to a new discussion. This time we will be focussing on the following question:

"How can learners and teachers be activated to search for OER?"

If you have some experiences on this topic please go ahead an share them with us!

Re: Discussion Input: How can learners and teachers be activated to search for OER?

schneider — 2007-09-18T10:55:13-00:00

Dear Markus,

one suggestion concerning your discussion input is to provide a setting - i.e. a learning-/teaching arrangement - that makes it possible for learners and teachers to actively explore and experience the benefits of OER.

To me it seems to be of vital importance that learners and teachers expect and know OER to offer substantial benefits for their learning and teaching. The way to create and foster this expectation and knowledge is working practically with OER.

Why not include exercises into curriculums at school and university? As for the students in my class, I try to include practical exercises covering research on the internet that students have to do on their own before the product/result is discussed in class.

Once again: Do not (only) point out the benefits of OER to learners, offer the opportunity to experience them.

Matthias

Re: Discussion Input: How can learners and teachers be activated to search for OER?

susan — 2007-10-11T18:50:09-00:00

Hi all,

How can learners and teachers be activated to search for OER? is the question of this forum.

I would like to maintain, that learners and teachers are two completely different kinds of human beings.

Learners, if they are self directed and motivated and are able to use the Internet need no "motivation": They just need the information that, where and how they can get OER materials fitting to their needs. The most convincing feature of OER is, that they will find it fast and for free!

Teachers have normally no need for free & online resources, if they have the possibility to use school-books (which means: no extra work, well known, not really worse learning materials embedded in a good structure and curriculum). Teachers should be enforced or should be honoured extra for using OER - by school directors, policies, new employers.

That's my opinion!

bg
Susan

Re: Discussion Input: Adequate settings for use of OER

vhornung — 2007-10-12T09:57:11-00:00

I would like to join the argument of Matthias that an educational institution should offer the possibility for adequate setting of using OER. This includes f.e. at the lowest level access to the Internet in face-to-face classes and then teachers can start using f.e. a web-quest search for a specific theme - however with free and adaptable material.

The OLCOS project offers some ideas on how to plan an educational setting on https://www.olcos.org/english/tutorials/ or http://wikieducator.org/Open_Educational_Content/olcos/intro duction

Veronika

Re: Discussion Input: How can learners and teachers be activated to search for OER?

mazar — 2007-10-12T10:19:34-00:00

Dear Susan,

I agree with you that usually students do not need much more motivation than getting satisfactory (free, prompt and user friendly) access to knowledge, but I believe that once a considerable proportion of students start using their own finding/choice of complimentary study material repositories, their teachers are more likely to get involved as well. - I still remember, that when I was a university student, we collected our laboratory reports on the dormitory's server, so that our peers could use them as a template, and surely soon enough the syllabi of the future experiments started being uploaded by our lab instructors (mainly PhD students, who assisted the profs in the lab experiments), as they realised that we were less likely to lose these documents if they are available electronically. I'm not saying that it's been a highly sophisticated repository, but it was clear the beginning of SHARING. I say we should reach such goals as using proper open educational resources step by step.

On the other hand you are right that it would be most efficient to motivate directly the teachers to start using OER. How? As Matthias said: "provide a setting - i.e. a learning-/teaching arrangement - that makes it possible for learners and teachers to actively explore and experience the benefits of OER".

Best regards,

Ildiko

Re: Discussion Input: How can learners and teachers be activated to search for OER?

mdeimann — 2007-10-17T07:05:39-00:00

Dear all,

Thank you very much for your interesting inputs. It is really a pleasure to see how a movement such as OER has been evolving over the past years and how we all are part of it.

I agree with Ildiko that you need to have a critical mass of users in order to "persuade" other users and to disseminate the idea behind it. However, does this mean that we can lean back and leave it to the pure automatism, i.e. the movement is inevitable? No, I do not think so. Instead I think we should - as Susan mentioned - try to motivate learners and teachers by providing incentives. As soon as they perceive the idea of free usage and sharing as being relevant to them they will most likely "join the club".

On the other hand, I also agree with Veronika and Matthias that it is important to set up appropriate settings. For this purpose it can be highly valuable to draw on the concept of Instructional Design because it provides valid and practical guidelines for designing different kinds of learning environments. Although some might consider ID as somewhat "old-fashioned" it covers basic questions and is especially able to respond to current challenges (e.g. sustainability).

Looking forward to your replies,

Markus

Re: Discussion Input: How can learners and teachers be activated to search for OER?

NouraRaslan — 2008-03-12T20:35:41-00:00

Hello all
In my opinion, first of all teachers should follow courses in computer and Internet throughwhich they can be acquainted with this new technology. Next, computers and Internet lines should be provided in schools. Finally, Students will be happy to follow this new method, provided that they should be prepared and subjected to courses in Microsoft offices and Internet.Unfortunatelly, there are very few experts in this new technology in the developping countries. therefore,Sharing other expertises and communicating with global experts is necessary in my opinion to impose open education resourses in the developping countries,in particular, and globally in general. I think it is worthworthy to struggle for achieving this goal.