OER Content Development

February 2nd 2010Phyllis H. Hillwig

Agenda• How is it done currently?

• How can OER build and scale content for large-scale adoption?

• What is the future of content development?

What Do We Do?

Help EducationEntities:• Create products faster• Convert fixed

development costs to variable costs

• Innovate throughout the development cycle

• Refresh and Ensure materials are ready for mass consumption

Must-Haves: for High-Stakes Education Programs

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Based on the Knowledge FromTraditional PublishersTraditional Publishers SchoolsSchools

Non-ProfitsNon-Profits

OEROER

DOD StarbaseDOD Starbase

Flat World KnowledgeFlat World Knowledge

Connexions is: a place to view and share educational material made of small knowledge chunks called modules that can be organized as courses, books, reports, etc.

Anyone may view or contribute: • Authors: create and collaborate • Instructors: rapidly build and share custom collections • Learners: find and explore content Where does content come from?• Authors/contributors• Teachers/ students• Content service providers• Publishers

Content Development in

Source: http://cnx.org/

Authors/Contributors Recommendations

Benefits:Subject matter expertsLow-cost solutionChannels to students,teachers, and peers

Author’s good willDependent on endorsementIncomplete, modularLimited presentation options

Author’s good willDependent on endorsementIncomplete, modularLimited presentation options

Challenges:Challenges:

Recommendations• Pre-qualify SMEs.• Invest in a small internal staff.• List and train best practices.• Be flexible.• Encourage completion and consistency.• Leverage networks within for adoption.• Engage peers to review and spot check.

PublishersPros:Known brand identityPublished at own costTrusted and known qualityOn-level, audience centeredHuge variety of publishers

Pros:Known brand identityPublished at own costTrusted and known qualityOn-level, audience centeredHuge variety of publishers

Cons:Business model not developed with OER ideals Messy to untangle rightsOpen to learn more, but guarded

Cons:Business model not developed with OER ideals Messy to untangle rightsOpen to learn more, but guarded

Recommendations with Publishers

• Understand their business models and value they bring

• Community of users have value to the publishers, is there a blend model?

• Many are open to new possibilities in today’s market.

Service ProvidersPros:In the business of building commercial-ready content Work-for-hire and fastNetwork of resourcesWork along side to build courses strategicallyDo “additional work”

Pros:In the business of building commercial-ready content Work-for-hire and fastNetwork of resourcesWork along side to build courses strategicallyDo “additional work”

Cons:Will cost more than just hiring SMEs Dependent on client’s brandDoes not have a body of content to adopt

Cons:Will cost more than just hiring SMEs Dependent on client’s brandDoes not have a body of content to adopt

Recommendations with Service-Providers

Use them if you: • want to build content quickly and consistently.• need support. (project management, editing, art,

other services)• have a small internal project management Q/A

teams

Building for AdoptionAnyone can build content, but what are the

ingredients for large-scale adoption?

Questions to Check• Do you know your competitors?• Will it engage the user?• Does it have adequate support materials?• Does it use visuals and media well?• Do you understand copyright?• Do you have reviewers who can endorse and influence? • Does it have clear, measureable, learning objectives?• Does it integrate well?• Can we find it easily?• Is it complete?

Content Facts• To build a strong OER community, you need a critical

mass of quality and scalable content at all levels of learning.

• Understand the advantages and disadvantages to content solutions to help sculpt content development decisions.

• Plenty of room for a variety of solutions.• While content access is free, content creation is not.

The Future……is Here

Measureable ValueBased on the economic crisis, tighter

scrutiny, age of transparency

Design and User Experience as Differentiators - CONTEXT

What is remembered is through experience each step of the way

Life-Long Learners

Know that your users can be anyone, anywhere, with a variety of needs

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Multi-Delivery and Integration

audio

video

game sim

illustration

photo

Mobile NationExpect anywhere, anytime access to

learning

How will you change content to adapt?

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All About the Individual•Customization down to the individual.

LMS

Student #1 Curriculum

Student #2 Curriculum

Learning Objects Learning Paths

New Research

• Motivation, Challenge, Emotion, Age give us insight into learning

Not About Content, but Eyeballs and Attention

Is value measured by how many users and long you can keep a user engaged?

Thank You

Phyllis H. Hillwig, Ed.D. phillwig@wordsandnumbers.com410.467.7835 x273 cell: (443) 562-1086