Post on 06-May-2015
description
OER Impact at Community Colleges
Dr. Rob FarrowThe Open University Una DalyCCCOER
Background
• Research project at The Open University (UK)
• Funded by William & Flora Hewlett Foundation for two years
• Two professors lead four researchers among a team of ten
• Tasked with building the most comprehensive picture of OER impact
• Organised by eleven research hypotheses
• Collaboration model across different educational sectors
• Global reach but with a USA focus
OER Research Hub
oerresearchhub.org
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
Collaboration Model
Collaboration Model
Collaboration Model
Collaboration Model
CCCOER Mission & Goals
Promote adoption of OER to enhance teaching and learning• Document impact of OER on teaching and learning • Promote integration of OER into curricula• Share best practices for OER through professional development opportunities.
Funded by the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation
General stuff about OERRH & CCCOER, collaboration
240+ Colleges in 16 states & provinces
Research Collaboration
Focus on impact of OER adoption on teaching practice, institutional policies and factors of cost and access
Feb-May 2013
Faculty Survey Development
IRB Process
May-Dec 2013
Survey Deployment
Ongoing
Interviews and focus groups with faculty; policymakers; students
Incorporation of institutional evidence into impact map
Jan-Apr 2014
Analysis & Dissemination
Survey Research in Community Colleges
• Many community colleges require IRB approval for faculty surveys
• IRBs may meet infrequently particularly during academic breaks
• IRBs limit approvals to prevent duplication and survey fatigue
• The process can take longer than expected - good planning is essential!
OER Impact Map
OER Impact Maphttp://chaos.open.ac.uk
OER Impact Maphttp://chaos.open.ac.uk
Survey of College Educators
Methodology
136 usable survey responses were recorded:• De Anza College, CA (5)• Foothill College, CA (33) • Houston Community College, TX (41)• Northern Virginia Community College (30)• Roane State Community College, TN (13)• South Florida Community College, FL (4)
This is being supplemented with qualitative data gathered from college visits in Virginia, Maryland, Washington, and California.
Masters Degree61%
PhD or Professional Doctorate
36%
Bachelors Degree4%
Highest Educational Qualification
72%
11%
10%
6% 1%
Years of Teaching Experience
More than 107-104-61-3Less than 1
Work-based train-
ing
Part-time blended (face to face and distance/
online) teaching
Part-time face-to-
face teach-ing
Full-time distance/
online teaching
Full-time blended (face to face and distance/
online) teaching
Part-time distance/
online teaching
Full-time face to
face teach-ing
Series1 20 23 26 31 39 46 49
5
15
25
35
45
55
15%17%
19%
23%
29%
34%36%
Types of Teaching Activity
No.
of
resp
oses
I have adapted open educational
resources to fit my needs
I have created open educational
resources for study or teaching
I have added a re-source to a reposi-
tory
I have created resources myself
and published them on a Cre-ative Commons
(CC) licence
I have added comments to a
repository regard-ing the quality of a
resource
I have added comments to a repository sug-
gesting ways of us-ing a resource
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
52%
24%18%
11% 9% 7%
Patterns of OER Use
Of those that create OER (24%) less than half publish them on an open (CC) licence
• Most respondents were experienced teachers with postgraduate degrees
• A majority teach full-time and are involved in online instruction
• Around half have adapted/used OER but only around half of these create or upload OER
OER Behaviours
Data sets
Whole course
Interactive games
Infographics
Audio podcasts
Learning tools, instruments and plugins
Lesson plans
E-books
Tutorials
Elements of a course (e.g. a module/unit)
Open textbooks
Quizzes
Lectures
Images
Videos
7.9%
10.8%
12.2%
18 %
23%
25.2%
25.9%
29.5%
32.4%
34.5%
37.4%
38.1%
38.8%
64.7%
69.8%
Types of OER Used
Multimedia content is around twice as popular as other OER (including textbooks)
Few reported using a whole course of OER, suggesting they cherry pick resources as needed
Very few are using openly available data to teach
OER Repositories Used
Joru
mCur
riki
CK-12
OpenL
earn
Saylor
Fou
ndat
ion
Conne
xions
Wiki
book
s
MIT
Ope
n Cou
rsew
are
MOOC
Mer
lot
Creat
ive C
omm
ons
Khan
Acade
my
iTun
es/iT
unes
U
TED talks
YouTub
e/You
TubeE
du/Y
ouTub
eSch
ool
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
1% 2% 4% 5%9% 11% 13%
17% 20%26% 26%
32% 35%
43%
71%
Factors relevant to choosing OER
Being required to use a resource for a project/task
The resource featuring a catchy title or attractive image(s)
The resource having previously been used with students
Evidence of interest in that resource (e.g. lots of downloads)
The length/complexity of the resource
The resource being recently created, uploaded or updated
Personal recommendation
Having previously used this resource successfully
Use of interactive or multimedia content
Positive user ratings or comments about the resource
A description of learning objectives or outcomes being provided
The resource having a Creative Commons license
A detailed description of the resource content
The resource being easy to download
The resource having an open license allowing adaptation
Created/uploaded by a reputable/trusted institution/person
The resource being relevant to my particular interests/needs
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
7%
9%
21%
29%
33%
36%
42%
42%
43%
43%
48%
48%
48%
49%
51%
58%
69%
Factors relevant to choosing OER
Being required to use a resource for a project/task
The resource featuring a catchy title or attractive image(s)
The resource having previously been used with students
Evidence of interest in that resource (e.g. lots of downloads)
The length/complexity of the resource
The resource being recently created, uploaded or updated
Personal recommendation
Having previously used this resource successfully
Use of interactive or multimedia content
Positive user ratings or comments about the resource
A description of learning objectives or outcomes being provided
The resource having a Creative Commons license
A detailed description of the resource content
The resource being easy to download
The resource having an open license allowing adaptation
Created/uploaded by a reputable/trusted institution/person
The resource being relevant to my particular interests/needs
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
7%
9%
21%
29%
33%
36%
42%
42%
43%
43%
48%
48%
48%
49%
51%
58%
69%
Impact on teachers/students
Impact on teaching practice from OER use
I make use of a wider range of multimedia
I reflect more on the way that I teach
I have broadened my coverage of the curriculum
I now use OER study to develop my teaching
I have improved ICT skills
I more frequently compare my own teaching with others
I have a more up-to-date knowledge of my subject area
I use a broader range of teaching and learning methods
I collaborate more with colleagues
I make more use of culturally diverse resources
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
6%
13%
14%
14%
16%
18%
19%
21%
22%
23%
3%
5%
1%
3%
4%
2%
2%
2%
2%
2%
strongly agree– agree– neither agree nor disagree–disagree– strongly disagree–
OER: perceptions of impact on learners
... increases interest in the subjects taught
... builds confidence
... allows me to better accommodate learners' needs
... increases collaboration and/or peer-support
... increases enthusiasm for future study
... increases participation in class discussions
... increases satisfaction with the learning experience
... leads to improved student grades
... increases engagement with lesson content
... develops independence and self-reliance
... leads to interest in a wider range of subjects
... Increases experimentation with ways of learning
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
8.5%
8.6%
8.7%
11.5%
11.8%
12.3%
14.3%
15.2%
15.2%
15.4%
15.5%
17.1%
Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree
Financial Savings
Has your institution saved money through OER?
yes44%
no20%
don't know37%
“OER resources are old-school, low-tech modules that are not peer-reviewed or nationally normed. There are some interesting tentative attempts at creativity but much of OER is cr*p.”
“Students return for additional classes”
“They don't like losing the revenue stream from the bookstore”
“I know that some instructors are only using OER which provides substantial savings for our students.”
Have your students saved money through OER?
yes62%
no13%
don't know25%
“Saving money is a big incentive for students and institutions.”
“I still use publishers' textbooks in my classes. I use OER as supplements to the textbook.”
“My students tell me and enrollment in my classes has continually increased over those of my peers.”
“I developed an online textbook for the personal health class that I teach. This saves each of my students approximately $100.”
“I know that some instructors are only using OER which provides substantial savings for our students.”
Student Retention
strongly agree12%
agree26%
neither agree nor disagree
50%
disagree7%
strongly disagree4%
“OER use helps at-risk students to continue their studies”
“Driving down the cost coupled with the ability to modify and adapt the material to meet the needs of my learners are two major factors in why I like using OER materials.”
• More than 1/3 believed that OER use promotes student retention
• Around half feel it has no effect
• The remainder (12%) disagreed or strongly disagreed with one noting that “other things are more important”.
Attitudes
“Some at-risk students benefit from OER because of the obvious release of financial obligation. Others are challenged by the technology and OER actually makes their success rates drop.”
“My concern is that at-risk students don't seem to do well in online environments because it doesn't always provide them the structure they need.”
“Many at risk students don't have the means to access high speed internet or have limited technological availability. To assume they do is simply wrong. Additionally, they have more complicated extrinsic factors impacting their lives, which may require more intensive contact from the instructor to keep them involved in the course. OER is not going to be a make or break issue of retention. It is not a panacea for at-risk students.”
“The biggest factors in physics for student attrition are time-constraints and insufficient previous preparation, neither of which is affected by the class resources.”
OER and retention of at-risk students: comments against
Materials are available in different languages
Availability of culturally-relevant ma-
terials
Materials can be used for improv-ing non-na-
tive lan-guage skills
Materials can be
adapted to suit student
needs
Greater range of learning methods
Use of re-sources for improving
study skills
Materials can be used
flexibly
Materials can be
accessed at any time
Reduced cost of
study mate-rials
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
11%18% 21%
35% 36% 36%
47%57% 60%
OER as promoter of student retention: factors
Importance of Open Licensing
How important is open licensing (e.g. CC)?
crucial20%
very important35%somewhat important
19%
neither important nor unimportant
22%
not at all important5%
More than half feel that open licensing is important, but fewer actually practice it.
This could indicate either 1) that educators are not confident about licensing their work or 2) they feel it is an avoidable addition to their workload.
Summary
Summary of Results
• Most of the respondents have used some sort of OER, though only around a quarter create OER
• Most report positive effects on their teaching practice as a result of OER use, particularly around peer collaboration and improved subject knowledge
• A smaller proportion (but still in excess of 40%) feel that OER use directly leads to improved reflection on pedagogical practice
• Positive effects were also identified for learners, especially around increased self-reliance, subject interest and experimentation
• There were similar numbers who thought OER wasn’t making much of a difference and a core of what might be termed ‘anti-OER’ responses
Summary of Results
• There were mixed views about whether OER was saving institutions money, but approximately 2/3 felt that students had saved money
• Around 1/3 believe that OER is improving student attrition while around 1/2 believe it is not having an effect
• Only around half of OER creators have used open licensing
• There is a core of advocates who understand and actively promote OER; they adopt open educational practices and believe it leads to benefits
Next Steps
Next Steps
• Further analysis of this cohort, including isolation of the OER advocates and OER detractors to identify behavioural and attitudinal patterns
• Mapping the survey data
• Cross-referencing with other OERRH surveys, e.g. Saylor ‘informal learners’ survey (n=3014) to build picture of different stakeholders/sectors
• Integration of institutional metrics and qualitative data gathered in field work
• Open dissemination of raw data; openly licensed research instruments
• Adding your data to OER Impact Map?
Thanks for listening!oerresearchhub.orgchaos.open.ac.ukoerconsortium.org
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