There are a number of variables when choosing to release OERs. One of the first considerations is how to store and disseminate the resources themselves. The main options are:
- Global communities with shared repositories (may be formal or informal - e.g. wikis)
- National repositories (totally open or with open areas (degrees of openness))
- Institutional repositories (totally open or with open areas (degrees of openness))
- Individual deposit in range of places (may include institutional, national or global repository)
- Individual deposit in one place with links/feeds. etc to other sources
- Closed communities (subject/professional with some open access)
Another consideration is that of resource description and metadata. One of the easiest way to organise a large repository of resources is to 'tag' them either at time of deposit or after the fact. This enables resources to be found quickly and easily. However, this has to be either done automatically (which can be imprecise) or manually (which can be time-intensive). In order for resources to be re-used and found on search engines metadata standards have been agreed upon.
Further guidance on this and other technical considerations can be found via the JISC CETIS OER Technical Guidance page.
Many institutions, therefore, choose to use an existing repository rather than set up their own. JorumOpen was released in early 2010, providing easy access to resources licensed under Creative Commons, free to anyone, worldwide. Members of UK Further and Higher Education Institutions, using the UK Access Management Federation to authenticate, can deposit into JorumOpen - but anyone is able to search, browse and download the resources. Initiatives and debate relating to OERs can be found at The Educational Content Special Interest Group (EC SIG) and a useful briefing paper on sharing learning materials through repositories was written by Andrew Rothery of Worcester University.
Another method of OER release is a 'small pieces loosely joined' approach. This is often done through the use of RSS feeds to aggregate content from a diverse and wide range of individuals, subjects and institutions. RSS feeds can power both audio and video podcasts meaning that individuals can 'subscribe' quickly and easily to content and courses that interest them. JISC CETIS has a guide to OER Syndication via RSS. Jorum also has guidance on RSS Registration and Bulk Upload, and has produced a paper on Issues surrounding syndicated feed deposit into institutional repositories.
iTunesU is a hybrid of the repository and RSS approach. Universities are able to add their content to a large repository, whilst most choose to retain control of hosting. At the same time,audio and video content is made available in a user-friendly format with podcast feeds automatically created.
The JISC-funded Good Intentions report contains a history of UK repositories for teaching and learning and goes into more detail on the types of repositories available for resource dissemination. A companion infoKit on Digital Repositories is also available as well as a 2007 guide to setting up learning object repositories.
JISC/HE Academy Pilot Programme: OER release
The JISC/HE Academy Pilot programme: OER release aimed to provide funding and support to enable individuals, subject communities and institutions to openly release existing materials. The lessons learned, approaches adopted and barriers overcome were expected to inform the wider community and offer models and guidance to support wider release in the UK. It was anticipated that the following technical and data management questions would arise:
- Are there any messages around tools and standards that come from the programme?
- What kinds of metadata are essential, what desirable, and what are the issues in creating and managing metadata?
- How do existing repositories support the release, management, discovery preservation and access to OERs e.g. OpenJorum in the UK, institutional repositories within an institution, web sources globally, etc.
- What issues arise when using public/third-party hosting solutions?
- How best to make hybrid, interactive and multi-media resources available for open access.
Pilot programme outcomes and discussion of these questions is being developed on the OER Synthesis and Evaluation Team wiki - these pages are restricted until release at the end of June 2010.
Image CC BY-NC-SA Maddy Lou
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