Dominic Orr

Research on open educational resources (OER) and the challenge of the extended lifecycle

This chapter investigates research challenges specific to OER. Reviews of existing research have concluded that there have been insufficient analyses of the use, sharing and adaptation of OER. This chapter will cover three sources of information about OER usage, sharing and adaptation patterns: 1) automatic tracking of usage in OER repositories; 2) user surveys and 3) qualitative studies. The potential of each of these information sources is examined and the real benefits in practice are presented. The main purpose is to examine the research potential of each of these information sources and how they can be combined to provide more insight into the practices of OER use, sharing and adaptation.
 LinkToContentAt: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264247543-11-en Knowledge Type: Thematic report [1] Other Tag: tertiary education [2] copyright [3] curricula [4] diffusion [5] division of labour [6] education sector [7] formal learning [8] higher education institutes [9] higher education research [10] higher education system [11] market structure [12] numeracy skills [13] open innovation [14] path dependency [15] public understanding of science [16] resource allocation [17] second stage of tertiary education [18] colleges [19] social entrepreneurship [20] Parent URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264247543-en [21]

Securing the sustainability of open educational resource (OER) initiatives

This chapter considers the sustainability challenges for OER initiatives. A conceptual model is presented that distinguishes between three models of cost recovery: philanthropy (and government support), community and revenue. In each case the challenge of sustainability, methods of covering initial and maintenance costs, and measuring success are presented. The role that government plays in providing funding and setting up favourable conditions for recovering costs using the three models is explored. Exemplary cases of OER initiatives are then presented and their cost-recovery models are highlighted.
 LinkToContentAt: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264247543-12-en Knowledge Type: Thematic report [1] Other Tag: venture capital [2] copyright [3] corporate social responsibility [4] creative commons [5] digital economy [6] financial support [7] government funding [8] innovative entrepreneurship [9] knowledge intensive business services [10] libraries [11] business networks [12] niche innovation [13] open innovation [14] open science [15] PhD students [16] role models [17] scalability [18] science base [19] second stage of tertiary education [20] Parent URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264247543-en [21]