newcomers breakfast

April 10, 2023 Open Sharing, Global Benefits 1

Universities working together to advance education andempower people worldwide through opencourseware.

Newcomers BreakfastSeptember 23, 2008

Terri Bays—OCWC Program Manager Jenny Gray—OpenLearnClay Whipkey—OCWC Technical Director

Open Sharing, Global Benefits



I. Context

II. Collaboration

III. Community

IV. Questions



Context —What is OCW?

• An Opencourseware (OCW) is a free and open educational resource for faculty, students, and self-learners throughout the world.

• OCW is not a distance-learning initiative: there are no degrees granted, no student/faculty interactions and no transcripts.

• OCW is a collection of high-quality learning materials presented in the form of courses.

• OCW materials are there for the taking (and for transformation).




• OCW is not a distance-learning initiative: there are no degrees granted, no student/faculty interactions and no transcripts.– But OCW can complement a distance-learning

initiative, taking content from and directing learners toward an existing e-learning curriculum.

– OCW has much to learn from e-learning methodology– The Meta-University or “Pathways to Credit”discussion

centers around the potential for credit-bearing OCW courses in the future.




• OCW is a collection of high-quality learning materials presented in the form of courses.

Open Content

OpenEducationalResources

OCW




• OCW materials are there for the taking (and for transformation).

– Reuse: use the work verbatim, just exactly as you found it– Rework: alter or transform the work so that it better meets

your needs– Remix: combine the (verbatim or altered) work with other

works to better meet your needs– Redistribute: share the verbatim work, the reworked work,

or the remixed work with others

FREE ≠ OPEN ≠ LIBRE



I. Context

II. Collaboration

III. Community

IV. Questions



Collaboration —What is the OCWC?

• “Universities working together to advance education and empower people worldwide through opencourseware”

• Shared Tools• Shared Models • Shared Commitment




• Shared Tools: Jenny Gray



The techy bit

By Jenny Gray

Lead Technical Developer

OpenLearn, Open University, UK



Things to think about

• How to make stuff (production systems)

• Getting it out there (delivery systems) • Getting people in (discoverability)

• Knowing who used it (metrics)



Questions to ask

• Do you have something already?• Will you have dedicated staff for OCW?• Can you extend an open-source system?• Can you afford a paid-for system?• Will you host it yourself?



Production systems• What you want it to do

– Tracking– Workflow– Rights management– Licence choice

• The big names (CMS, LMS)

– Plone, Drupal, Educommons

• XML?



Delivery systems

• The big names (CMS, VLE)

– Educommons, Moodle, Sakai, Connexions

• Embedding the CC Licence (RDF)

• Accessibility– XHTML, WAI, WCAG, W3C

• Media formats– GIF, JPG, PNG, FLV, MPEG, AVI, MP3, Real

• Sharing content (IMS CC)



Discoverability

• Search engine optimisation (SEO)– Site map– Keyword rich title tags and urls

• Feeds (RSS, OAI-PMH)– OCW Search– OER Recommender– OERCommons– Attract return visitors

• Metadata– Dublin Core (DC)



Metrics

• Log analysis• Big names

– Google Analytics

– Webalizer, WebTrends, Site Intelligence



How the OCWC can help

• Ask an expert– At conferences

– http://www.ocwconsortium.org/ocwcforum/viewforum.php?f=4

• Technical Committee– Best practices and standards

– http://wiki.ocwconsortium.org/index.php?title=Technical_Committee

• Toolkit– http://wiki.ocwconsortium.org/index.php?title=Software




• Shared Models—Continuity of Experience within an Environment of Change.• Collaborative Tools: Clay Whipkey• Toolkit and Technical Workgroups




• Shared Commitment– Governance Process– Board of Directors– Standing Committees



I. Context

II. Collaboration

III. Community

IV. Questions



Community—What are we doing here?

• Networking• Reflection• Moral Support• Regional Consortia



I. Context

II. Collaboration

III. Community

IV. Questions



Thank You!Visit The OpenCourseWare Consortium portal athttp://www.ocwconsortium.org

Contact the Consortium at:[email protected]