EdShare, OERs and impact Debra Morris University Library University of Southampton edshare.soton.ac.uk

EdShare An infrastructure that allows the institution to share educational resources with whatever audience is appropriate – built on Web 2.0 principles Cross institutional partnership: – ECS (academic group), – EPrints (enterprise service) – Library and – iSolutions (professional specialist academic services) 2OU_March_2011

What EdShare offers Showcase for learning and teaching materials Sharing across the institution Sharing with just a few people or with many Collaborating between and across disciplines Access to the institution’s intellectual resources for education 3OU_March_2011

Motivations UK HE strategic drive for open educational resources (OER) UoS launched a new education strategy in 2010 New Southampton Learning Environment is being developed 2011 onwards We would like people to share: – Improve efficiency – less replication – Improve resources for student – Improve communication 4OU_March_2011

Range of resources 5 Generic resources open to the World OU_March_20115

Guiding principles for EdShare Eyecatching previews Capturing attention and retaining it Engaging the community in making resources visible Supporting staff in building confidence to do this Aligning with institutional strategic change and sharing Exploring implications for other core services – TEL and VLE 6OU_March_2011

EdShare and the University? Institutional resource in educational suite EPrints family Storage place which people across the University (and beyond) can see Links provided to Creative Commons licenses Open Educational Resources development – Projects – HumBox and SWAPBox Modelling work for educational change 7OU_March_2011

8 The question OU_March_20118 The impact of EdShare and OERs on teaching and learning at the University of Southampton and beyond: Impact n. the effective action of one thing upon another (OED) (impact of an academic Library) Poll and Payne, 2006: Effect or influence of one person, thing, or action on another Consequence, visible or practical result or effect of an event or activity Importance or preciousness of something, the perception of actual or potential benefit

9 Research repository impact OU_March_20119 Citations Hit counts and downloads Numbers of items in the repository – rate of growth Community contributing to, and visiting repository – rate of growth Preservation policies for content

10 Library impact OU_March_ Lots of work, but little consensus about significance. Work by SCONUL and others: Visits – footfall Enquiry statistics Metrics for use of e-resources Number of items on the shelves/in collections Growth in numbers of items on shelves/in collections Number of loans Funding levels for services and resources Feedback from users NSS rating – Q. 16 Library aspect Metrics for liaison librarian work with staff and students

11 EdShare and OER impact OU_March_ Considerations for teachers (content contributors): downloads re-mix/re-use comments feedback reputation Metrics for EdShare downloads

OU_March_ Considerations for students (content users): quality/quantity of (available) materials information/digital literacy feedback on usefulness derivatives/re-mixed/originals ease of discovery EdShare and OER impact

OU_March_ Considerations for the institution: community development engagement for EdShare and resources re-mix/re-use comparison with resources within VLE rate of growth & renewal staff profiles enhanced staff reward and recognition overall cost service integration within overall offering EdShare and OER impact

OU_March_ University (external): institutional reputation institutional comparators accessibility and visibility – especially Google visitor locations – international? work for Curriculum Innovation with new international network (high profile UoS) post-HE Academy subject centre arrangements? EdShare and OER impact “ Was already aware about the university’s high quality study skills materials.”

Methods Observations Surveys Workshops Direct questions Solicited/unsolicited testimonials User panels and champions BUT Very resource intensive Difficulty of distinguishing/differentiating EdShare effect from other effects We anticipate long-term effects (est. 2008) OU_March_201115

EdShare as a set of services EdShare is more than simply a repository – offers a way to integrate sets of services EdShare is one aspect of wider, institutional change Impact as a dimension of cultural change Sharing as change in academic practice Southampton Learning Environment - “to develop a virtual environment to embrace the culture, atmosphere and whole experience of University life” OU_March_201116

References Poll, Roswitha and Payne, Philip (2006). Impact measures for libraries and information services. London: Birkbeck ePrints. Available at: OU_March_201117