From theory to

practice: can openness

improve the quality of OER

research?

OpenEd 2014

Beck Pitt

Bea de los Arcos

Rob Farrow

The Open University (UK)

"Common Good" on Graffiti Wall at

OKFest14, Berlin (CC-BY 4.0 Beck

Pitt)

• Open methodologies

• Open licensing

• Open data

• Open Dissemination

• Open Collaboration

What is the OER Research Hub?

CC-BY 4.0 Bea de los Arcos

• 2-year open research project funded by William & Flora Hewlett Foundation

• Aiming to build the most comprehensive picture of OER impact

• Open collaboration model across different educational sectors

• Global reach but with a USA focus

• Fellowship Scheme

• Researching openness in the open

oerresearchhub.org

#oerrhub @OER_Hub

Our Hypotheses

Keyword Hypothesis

Performance OER improve student performance/satisfaction

Openness People use OER differently from other online materials

Access OER widen participation in education

Retention OER can help at-risk learners to finish their studies

Reflection OER use leads educators to reflect on their practice

Finance OER adoption brings financial benefits for students/institutions

Indicators Informal learners use a variety of indicators when selecting OER

Support Informal learners develop their own forms of study support

Transition OER support informal learners in moving to formal study

Policy OER use encourages institutions to change their policies

Assessment Informal assessments motivate learners using OER

Open Collaboration

Project Co-PILOT

Agile Working

Photo

Cre

dits:

Mo

zfest1

3 B

eck P

itt C

C-B

Y 4

.0

• Open to experimentation with different ways of working

• Improve quality of research and project outputs by collectively focusing on

and progressing outstanding tasks as a group

• Repurpose agile working techniques and share experiences via blogging

Sprints

Open Licensing

Researching in the Open: Researcher Pack

Research Instruments available in the open:

• Ethics manual

• Interview and Focus Group Questions

• Survey Questions

• Open Consent Forms

Researching in the Open: Sharing Practices and

Methodologies

“Building Communities” Photo credit: Beck Pitt CC-BYScreenshots of OER Research Hub and ROER4D websites

• Creating synergies and building

relationships

• Improves practice and

methodologies

• Continuous evaluation and

reflection on our practice

Dissemination: Sharing Evidence

and Research Practice in the Open

Openness facilitates impact and builds networks

Slideshare

and

YouTube

Blog posts on research,

collaborations & findings

Open Access

Journals

OER Impact

Map

Infographics

Research

instruments,

methodology

& reports

Twitter and Facebook

Scoop.It &

Storify

OER Impact Map

http://oermap.org

OER Impact Map

http://oermap.org

Picture credits: Bea de los Arcos CC-

BY

Open and Collaborative

Researcher

Pack

#openresearch

https://p2pu.org

• Four-week course (with badge!)

• Improving quality and sharing experiences: community feedback and review

• 139 participants from around the world

• 3937 page views of course materials during three week sign-up period

• Course openly available for others to use and develop

Mozilla at Mozfest14 CC-BY 4.0 Beck Pitt

Benefits and Challenges of Open

Benefits of Openness:

• Open Collaboration and agile practices enable responsiveness

• Sharing openly continuously improves the quality of research and outputs

• Sharing and collaborating builds and extends networks

• Openness as a habit and virus: the more we practiced openness the more

open the project became

• Community is central to openness

Challenges of Openness:

• Preparation of data and other documents in useable formats can take time

• Flexibility Vs. ensuring data is comparable

• Sampling and control groups

Thanks for Listening!

http://oerresearchhub.org

http://oermap.org

Twitter: @BeckPitt, @celTatis,

@philosopher1978, @OER_Hub

McAndrew, P. Becoming more agile researchers: experiences from researching OER (June 2013,

http://www.slideshare.net/openpad/agile-research-for-open-education-reso) (Accessed 6 June 2014, 12.25)

Perryman, L-A. Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known: nine surveys for OER Research (June

2013, http://oerresearchhub.org/2013/06/19/somewhere-something-incredible-is-waiting-to-be-known-nine-

surveys-for-oer-research/) (Accessed 6 June 2014, 12.23)

SPARC Open Access to Scholarly and Scientific Research Articles Factsheet

http://www.sparc.arl.org/sites/default/files/Open%20Access%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf

(Accessed 3 November 2014, 16:29)

Trotter, H. ROER4D Question Harmonisation Process

(May 2014, http://roer4d.org/892) (Accessed 6 June 2014, 12.26)

All photos CC-BY 4.0 OER Research Hub unless otherwise stated

References/Bibliography

“OER-archery” at CNX2013

Photo credit: Beck Pitt, CC-

BY

in service of The Open University