OER and the Open University

Business models for OER: A contingency approach

Anne Helsdingen, Ben Jansen & Robert Schuwer

Open University of the Netherlands

OER and the Open University

• Several institutional initiatives: Wikiwijs, Opener, StOER

• Current organisation:– Provides online Bachelor and Master courses for self-study,

provides personal support, administers tests and exams

– Funding from government, lumpsum and per student

– Students pay tuition

• What is a sustainable OER approach for the OU?

OER and OUNL

It’s not a choice if..

Heaven or Hell

Questions

ApproachThe CanvasApproach

Let’s Paint

Are they successful?

Improve education and learning

Reach life-long learners

We don’t know

Are we successful?

We don’t know

It is not a choice if...

• Educational content will be distributed over the internet• Other institutes are providing content and services

What content is suitable?

How do we interact?

Who is responsible for what?

How can we sustain our business?

…but rather how?

OER and OUNL


Heaven or Hell

Questions


Let’s Paint




We don’t know

Are we successful?

We don’t know

Heaven…..

• Free to share and collaborate• Open and easy to work with• Get lots of people involved and contribute• Create learning environments for everyone

…..or Hell?Where to find what – can you still trust sources?

Who is in control?

We are creating a strong competitor

Do I still have a job in the new organisation?

OER and OUNL


Heaven or Hell

Questions


Let’s Paint




We don’t know

Are we successful?

We don’t know

Questions

Why do other institutions provide OER?

How are other educational institutes managing

OER?

How successful are they?

OER and OUNL


Heaven or Hell

Questions


Let’s Paint




We don’t know

Are we successful?

We don’t know

Approach

What are others doing?

Analyse business models of other initiatives

OER and OUNL


Heaven or Hell

Questions


Let’s Paint




We don’t know

Are we successful?

We don’t know

Approach



A story that tells you:

What do we do how and for whom?

Structuring activities, make choices

OER and OUNL


Heaven or Hell

Questions


Let’s Paint




We don’t know

Are we successful?

We don’t know

Approach



A story that tells you:

What do we do how and for whom?

Structuring activities, make choices

We collect data from semi-structured interviews

OER and OUNL


Heaven or Hell

Questions


Let’s Paint




We don’t know

Are we successful?

We don’t know

Approach

OER and OUNL


Heaven or Hell

Questions


Let’s Paint




We don’t know

Are we successful?

We don’t know

OER and OUNL


Heaven or Hell

Questions


Let’s Paint




We don’t know

Are we successful?

We don’t know

Approach

• Analyse business according to Osterwalder & Pigneur (2009) Canvas

• Semi structured interviews• MIT, OU, OUNL, TU Delft, Tecnológico de Monterrey,

Mexico Monterey, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, University of California Irvine, Open Highschool of Utah, Flatworldknowledge, EADTU, Athabasca, Canada, WikiEducator, KU Leuven, ….

• A business models does not specify whether you are successful!

OER and OUNL


Heaven or Hell

Questions


Let’s Paint




We don’t know

Are we successful?

We don’t know

Approach

• Analyse business according to Osterwalder & Pigneur (2009) Canvas

• Semi structured interviews• MIT, OU, OUNL, TU Delft, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico

Monterey, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, University of California Irvine, Open Highschool of Utah, Flatworldknowledge, EADTU, Athabasca, Canada, WikiEducator, KU Leuven, ….

• Literature review: – Using Scopus (peer reviewed)– Keyword: Open Educational Resources – Result: 32 hits. – Selection criteria (abstracts): the objective should be to evaluate

impact, effect or use of OER– Result: 11 (all after 2007)

OER and OUNL


Heaven or Hell

Questions


Let’s Paint




We don’t know

Are we successful?

We don’t know

Let’s paint!

Key partnerships

Customer relationships

Customer segments

Channels

Revenu streamsCost structure

Key resources

Core activities Value Proposition

Key partnerships


Customer segments

Channels


Key resources

Core activities Value Proposition

- Building blocks

- Introductory / teaser courses

-Complete courses

Key partnerships


Customer segments

- Self learners

- Regular students

- Educational professionals

Channels


Key resources

Core activities Value proposition

- Building blocks


-Complete courses

Key partnerships


Customer segments

- Self learners

- Regular students


Channels

- Website

- Web 2.0 tools


Key resources


- Building blocks


-Complete courses

Key partnerships


- Content-push- Interactive with users and contributors

Customer segments

- Self learners

- Regular students


Channels

- Website

- Web 2.0 tools


Key resources


- Building blocks


-Complete courses

Key partnerships



Customer segments

- Self learners

- Regular students


Channels

- Website

- Web 2.0 tools


Key resources

Core activities

Digitizing

Suitable for self-study

Creating community

Value proposition

- Building blocks


-Complete courses

Key partnerships



Customer segments

- Self learners

- Regular students


Channels

- Website

- Web 2.0 tools


Key resources

- Educators-Experts (digitizing, law, didactics)-Volunteers

Core activities

Digitizing


Creating community

Value proposition

- Building blocks


-Complete courses

Key partnerships



Customer segments

- Self learners

- Regular students


Channels

- Website

- Web 2.0 tools


- Fixed costs: Man hours for key activities- Variable costs: Low, updating, storage

Key resources


Core activities

Digitizing


Creating community

Value proposition

- Building blocks


-Complete courses

Key partnerships



Customer segments

- Self learners

- Regular students


Channels

- Website

- Web 2.0 tools

Revenu streams

-Funding: government or foundation-Transfer to fee based program-Third party funding

Cost structure


Key resources


Core activities

Digitizing


Creating community

Value proposition

- Building blocks


-Complete courses

Key partnerships

- For support or exchange of ideas

- With volunteers



Customer segments

- Self learners

- Regular students


Channels

- Website

- Web 2.0 tools

Revenu streams

-Funding: government or foundation-Transfer to fee based program-Third party funding

Cost structure


Key resources


Core activities

Digitizing


Creating community

Value proposition

- Building blocks


-Complete courses

Key partnerships

Support and exchange of

ideas


Content push

Customer segments

Regular students

Self learners

Channels

Website

(Web 2.0 tools)

Revenu streams

Funding

Cost structure

Manhours for Experts

Key resources

Educators

Experts (digitizing, law, didactics)

Core activities

Digitizing

Ready for self-study

Value Proposition

Introductory courses

Complete courses

Key partnerships


Customer segments

Channels


-

Key resources

Core activities

Many other activities

Value proposition

- A whole lot of other things

Key partnerships

Volunteers


Interactive, contributor and users

Customer segments

Educators

Life long learners

Channels

Web 2.0 tools

Revenu streams

FundingThird party funding

Cost structure

Manhours for variable costs

Key resources

Volunteers

Experts

Core activities

Creating an active community

Value Proposition

Building blocks

Complete courses in making OER

Are they successfull?

Yes and No

OER and OUNL


Heaven or Hell

Questions


Let’s Paint




We don’t know

Are we successful?

We don’t know


Yes and No- Enhance reputation- Improve education and learning- Provide better service to regular students- Service life-long learners

OER and OUNL


Heaven or Hell

Questions


Let’s Paint




We don’t know

Are we successful?

We don’t know


•Yes• Reputation • Service to own students

OER and OUNL


Heaven or Hell

Questions


Let’s Paint




We don’t know

Are we successful?

We don’t know


•No• Improving education and learning• Reaching life-long learners

OER and OUNL


Heaven or Hell

Questions


Let’s Paint




We don’t know

Are we successful?

We don’t know


One-way interaction with users is not using full potential of collective intellect to improve materials

Updating and revision cycles tend to be long

One-way interaction may not generate a rich learning environment

Value proposition is content-oriented, not offering meaningful learning experiences / tasks

Feedback on learning is absent or low quality

OER and OUNL


Heaven or Hell

Questions


Let’s Paint




We don’t know

Are we successful?

We don’t know


Value proposition is not adapted to specific needs of the life-long learner

Ware-house approach Bespoke training

Cost-driven approach towards learning materials denies the fact that learning is an investment on all levels (community, organization, learner)

OER and OUNL


Heaven or Hell

Questions


Let’s Paint




We don’t know

Are we successful?

We don’t know

Yes, No…. We don’t know

Not many effect or impact studies published

Organizations’ impact measures are limited

And even if they do:

And how can we relate that to business model choices?

- Insufficient information on failed initiatives

- Insufficient knowledge of new learning models

OER and OUNL


Heaven or Hell

Questions


Let’s Paint




We don’t know

Are we successful?

We don’t know

Are we successful (sofar)

Yes and No

OER and OUNL


Heaven or Hell

Questions


Let’s Paint




We don’t know

Are we successful?

We don’t know

Are we successful (sofar)

Yes and No

Why do other institutions provide OER?

How are other educational institutes managing

OER?

How successful are they?

OER and OUNL


Heaven or Hell

Questions


Let’s Paint




We don’t know

Are we successful?

We don’t know

Are we successfull?

Yes

We know what other institues are doing

We know why they are doing this

OER and OUNL


Heaven or Hell

Questions


Let’s Paint




We don’t know

Are we successful?

We don’t know

Are we successfull?

No

We do not know which business models guarantee succes

OER and OUNL


Heaven or Hell

Questions


Let’s Paint




We don’t know

Are we successful?

We don’t know

Yes, No…. We don’t know

Many more questions:

Learning value of new environments: transfer, collaborative learning, peer review, and so forth

Transaction models of ‘consumer behavior’

Who are our customers? Government, learners, contributors…

…….

OER and OUNL


Heaven or Hell

Questions


Let’s Paint




We don’t know

Are we successful?

We don’t know

OER and the Open University

Documents

Transcript of OER and the Open University