Giving knowledge for free [electronic resource] : the emergence of open educational resources

2007·4.4 MB·English

by  Centre for Educational Research and Innovation

Giving Knowledge
for Free
THEEMERGENCEOFOPEN
EDUCATIONALRESOURCES
WdihULA
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OECD
CopyrigWedi
CENTREFOREDUCATIONALRESEARCHANDINNOVATION
Giving Knowledge
for Free
THEEMERGENCEOFOPEN
EDUCATIONALRESOURCES
m
OECD
ORGANISATIONFORECONOMICCO-OPERATIONANDDEVELOPMENT
Copyrightedi
ORGANISATIONFORECONOMICCO-OPERATION
ANDDEVELOPMENT
TheOECDisauniqueforumwherethegovernmentsof30democracieswork
togethertoaddresstheeconomic,socialandenvironmentalchallengesofglobalisation.
TheOECDisalsoattheforefrontofeffortstounderstandandtohelpgovernments
respondtonewdevelopmentsandconcerns,suchascorporategovernance,the
informationeconomyandthechallengesofanageingpopulation.TheOrganisation
providesasettingwheregovernmentscancomparepolicyexperiences,seekanswersto
commonproblems,identifygoodpracticeandworktoco-ordinatedomesticand
internationalpolicies.
TheOECDmembercountriesare:Australia,Austria,Belgium,Canada,the
CzechRepublic,Denmark,Finland,France,Germany,Greece,Hungary,Iceland,
Ireland,Italy,Japan,Korea,Luxembourg,Mexico,theNetherlands,NewZealand,
Norway,Poland,Portugal,theSlovakRepublic,Spain,Sweden,Switzerland,Hirkey,
theUnitedKingdomandtheUnitedStates.TheCommissionoftheEuropean
CommunitiestakespartintheworkoftheOECD.
OECDPublishingdisseminateswidelytheresultsoftheOrganisation’sstatistics
gatheringandresearchoneconomic,socialandenvironmentalissues,aswellasthe
conventions,guidelinesandstandardsagreedbyitsmembers.
ThisworkispublishedontheresponsibilityoftheSecretary-Generalof
theOECD.Theopinionsexpressedandargumentsemployedhereindonot
necessarilyreflecttheofficialviewsoftheOrganisationorofthegovernments
ofitsmembercountries.
©OECD2007
Noreproduction,copy,transmissionortranslationofthispublicationmaybemadewithoutwrittenpermission.
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FOREWORD-3
Foreword
The development of the information society and the widespread
diffusionofinformationtechnologygiverise tonewopportunities for
learning.Atthesametime,theychallengeestablishedviewsandpractices
regardinghowteachingandlearningshouldbeorganisedandcarriedout.
HighereducationalinstitutionshavebeenusingtheInternetandotherdigital
technologiestodevelopanddistributeeducationforseveralyears.Yet,until
recently,muchofthelearningmaterialswerelockedupbehindpasswords
withinproprietarysystems,unreachableforoutsiders.Theopeneducational
resource (OER) movement aims to breakdown such barriers and to
encourageandenablefreelysharingcontent.
TheOECDCentreforEducationalResearchandInnovation(CERI)has
already addressed a number ofissues regarding e-learning in higher
education,publishingreportsonE-learning: ThePartnershipChallenge
(OECD,2001)andE-learninginTertiaryEducation-WheredoweStand?
(OECD,2005).Thesecondofthesereportsconcludedthate-learningis
becoming increasingly prominent in tertiary education. All available
evidencepointstogrowingenrolmentsandprovision,althoughfromalow
startingpoint.E-learningactivitiesacrosstertiaryeducationinstitutionsare
verydiverse, fromtrivialonlinepresence toprogrammesofferedfully
online. Modules accounted for the majority of e-leaming activities,
reflectingthedominantcharacteristicofe-learningassupplementarytoon-
campusdeliveryatundergraduatelevel.Learningobjectsweresaidtobe
viewedasapromisingwayforwardastheycanpotentiallycutcostsand
revolutionisepedagogy.Someoftheseissuesarefurtheranalysedinthis
reportwhichaddressesfourmainquestions:
• How can sustainable cost/benefit models for OER initiatives be
developed?
• What are the intellectual property rights issues linked to OER
initiatives?
• Whataretheincentivesandbarriersforuniversitiesandfacultystaffto
delivertheirmaterialstoOERinitiatives?
GIVINGKNOWLEDGEFORFREE:THEEMERGENCEOFOPENEDUCATIONALRESOURCES-ISBN-978-92-64-03174-6©OECD2007
4-FOREWORD
• HowcanaccessandusefulnessfortheusersofOERinitiativesbe
improved?
Thereportisaddressedtomanagersofhighereducationinstitutionsas
well as strategists and decision makers on international, national and
intermediatelevel.Althoughitonlycovershighereducation,mostofthe
issuesraisedarealsoofrelevancefortheschoolsectorandadulteducation.
FurtherinvestigationintouseandproductionofOERinschoolsandthe
implicationsfortheschoolsectorwouldbeofutmostinterest.
TheprojectwasledbyJanHylenwhoisalsothemainauthorofthe
report.FrancescPedroandTomSchullerwerecloselyinvolvedinthe
designandexecutionoftheproject,andAshleyAllen-Sinclairinits
administration.
BarbaraIschinger
DirectorforEducation
GIVINGKNOWLEDGEFORFREE:THEEMERGENCEOFOPENEDUCATIONALRESOURCES-ISBN-978-92-64-03174-6©OECD2007
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS-5
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thestudyhasbeenadvisedbyagroupofseniorresearcherswhohave
bothprovidedvaluableinputregarding thedirectionofthe studyand
commentsonearlierversionsofthereport.ThegroupconsistedofGraham
Attwell from Pontydysgu, United Kingdom, Susan D’Antoni from
UNESCO’s International InstituteforEducationalPlanning, KnudErik
Hilding-HamannfromtheDanishTechnologicalInstitute,FrancisMuguet
fromENSTA,France,SallyJohnstonefromUniversityofWinona,United
States,andJamesDalzielfromMacquaireUniversity,Australia.Marshall
Smith and Catherine Casserly from the William and Flora Hewlett
Foundationareappreciativelythankedfortheirpersonalcommitmentand
supportoftheproject.RobertCampbellfromBlackwellPublishing,Steve
Carson fromMassachusetts Institute ofTechnology(MIT) OCW. Mia
GarlickfromCreativeCommons,0ysteinJohannesenfromtheMinistryof
EducationandResearchinNorway, andFredMulder fromthe Open
UniversityintheNetherlandsalsocommentedonearlierversionsofthe
report. DoranneLecerclehave editedthetext andmadeitreadyfor
printing.DuringthestudytheSecretariathasco-operatedextensivelywith
UNESCO’sInternationalInstituteforEducationalPlanning,butalsowith
theEuropean Schoolnetand the OpeneLearning Content Observatory
Services(OLCOS),aprojectfundedbytheEuropeanCommission.
The Secretariat also wants to express its gratitude to the Swedish
KnowledgeFoundationandtheregionalgovernmentofCataloniaforhosting
expertmeetingsandfundingexpertpapers.Acknowledgementsalsogotothe
CanadianCouncilonLearning,theDanishTechnologicalInstituteandthe
NationalInstituteofMultimediaEducationinJapanforcoveringthecosts
forthecasestudiescarriedoutintheirrespectivecountries.Twocase
studieswereconductedbyCERIstaffforwhichthecostswerecoveredby
the regional government ofExtremadura and the National Distance
TeachingUniversityofSpain(UNED).TheSecretariatalsowishestothank
alltheexpertswhocarriedoutthecasestudies,listedinTable1.1,aswellas
theinstitutionsvisitedfortheirassistanceregardingthevisits.
TheworkwassupportedbyagrantfromtheWilliamandFloraHewlett
Foundation,whichisgratefullyacknowledged.Asoneofthefirstand
largestfundersofOER,theHewlettFoundationseekstouseinformation
technology to help equalise access to knowledge and educational
opportunitiesacrosstheworld.
GIVINGKNOWLEDGEFORFREE:THEEMERGENCEOFOPENEDUCATIONALRESOURCES-ISBN-978-92-64-03174-6©OECD2007
Copyrightedmaterial
TABLEOFCONTENTS 7
TableofContents
ExecutiveSummary 9
Chapter1:SettingtheScene 17
Challengesforhighereducation 18
EarlierwritingsonPER 23
Methodology 94
Chapter2:OpenEducationalResources-ConceptualIssues 29
Definingopeneducationalresources 30
Openness 32
Educational 36
Resources 36
Conclusions 37
Chapter3:WhoisInvolved?MappingtheOpenEducational
ResourcesMovement 39
Use,usersandproducersofopeneducationalresources 46
Conclusions 55
Chapter4:WhyPeopleareSharing:Incentives,BenefitsandBarriers 57
Driversandharriers 58
Argumentsforgovernmentinvolvementinopeneducationalresources 60
Reasonsforinstitutionalinvolvement 63
Motivesforindividuals 65
Conclusions (S8
Chapter5:CopyrightandOpenLicences 71
Copyrightandopencontent 73
Barriers 78
Policyrecommendations 84
GIVINGKNOWLEDGEFORFREE:THEEMERGENCEOFOPENEDUCATIONALRESOURCES-ISBN-978-92-64-03174-6©OECD2007
8-TABLEOFCONTENTS
Chapter6:SustainabilityIssuesforOpenEducationalResourcesInitiatives...87
Organisingopeneducationalresourcesinitiatives 91
Costsandrevenuemodels 93
Policyissuesregardingthesustainabilityofopeneducational
resourcesprojects 94
Summingupissuesrelatingtosustainingopeneducational
resourcesprojects 96
Chapter7:HowtoImproveAccesstoandUsefulnessof
OpenEducationalResources 99
Validationofqualityofopeneducationalresources 100
TWreanbslaactcieosnsafnorddlioscaalbilseadtipoenopolfecontent 110048
Technicalissuesrelatedtoaccessibility 109
Chapter8:Conclusions,PolicyImplicationsandRecommendations 117
Conclusions 118
Policyimplicationsandrecommendations 120
Clossary 177
AnnexA:QuestionnaireontheUseandProductionof
OpenEducationalResources 131
AnnexB:ExamplesofPolicyGrids 139
References 141
GIVINGKNOWLEDGEFORFREE:THEEMERGENCEOFOPENEDUCATIONALRESOURCES-ISBN-978-92-64-03174-6©OECD2007
EXECUTIVESUMMARY-9
ExecutiveSummary
An apparently extraordinary trend is emerging. Although learning
resourcesareoftenconsideredaskeyintellectualpropertyinacompetitive
highereducationworld,moreandmoreinstitutionsandindividualsare
sharingdigitallearningresourcesovertheInternetopenlyandwithoutcost,
asopeneducationalresources(OER).Thisstudy,whichbuildsonprevious
OECDworkone-learning,askswhythisishappening,whoisinvolvedand
whatthemostimportantimplicationsare.
Highereducationisfacinganumberofchallenges:globalisation,an
agingsociety,growingcompetitionbetweenhighereducationalinstitutions
bothnationallyandinternationally,andrapidtechnologicaldevelopment.
OERisitselfoneofthesechallenges,butmayalsobeasoundstrategyfor
individualinstitutionstomeetthem.Thetrendtowardssharingsoftware
programmes(opensourcesoftware)andresearchoutcomes(openaccess
publishing) is already so strong that it is generally thought ofas a
movement.Itisnowcomplementedbythetrendtowardssharinglearning
resources-theopeneducationalresourcesmovement.
Thereport’stitle,GivingKnowledgeforFree,revealsthepotential
implications of the OER movement. OER is not only a fascinating
technological development andpotentially amajoreducational tool. It
acceleratestheblurringofformalandinformallearning,andofeducational
andbroaderculturalactivities.Itraisesbasicphilosophicalissuestodowith
thenatureofownership,withthevalidationofknowledgeandwithconcepts
suchasaltruismandcollectivegoods.Itreachesintoissuesofpropertyand
itsdistributionacrosstheglobe.Itofferstheprospectofaradicallynew
approachtothesharingofknowledge,atatimewheneffectiveuseof
knowledgeisseenmoreandmoreasthekeytoeconomicsuccess,forboth
individualsandnations.Howparadoxicalthismayturnouttobe,andthe
formitwilleventuallytakeareentirelyunforeseeable.Thereportoffers
somepreliminaryhandlesforunderstandingtheissuesraised.
OERprojectscanexpandaccesstolearningforeveryone,butmostof
allfornon-traditionalgroupsofstudents,andthuswidenparticipationin
highereducation. Theycanbe anefficientwayofpromotinglifelong
GIVINGKNOWLEDGEFORFREE:THEEMERGENCEOFOPENEDUCATIONALRESOURCES-ISBN-978-92-64-03174-6©OECD2007