OpenER: A Dutch Initiative on OER Robert Schuwer Project leader OpenER

2 Agenda ­Why this experiment? ­Major goals ­Organisation ­Activities ­Courses ­Research ­Results ­Current status and future ­Lessons learned

3 Mission of the OUNL ­Working together within networks and alliances, OUNL develops, provides and promotes higher distance education of top quality. ­The university is a pioneer in the innovation of higher education and aims at the wide-ranging needs of its students, the market and the community at large. ­OUNL seeks to be an institution that is strongly anchored in the Dutch higher education system through its educational, research and innovation activities.

4 OUNL and Life Long Learning ­The OUNL is a major initiator, together with the national educational broadcasting company and the national infrastructure organisations for education and research, of a national initiative in the field of lifelong learning in which the employer’s organisations, the trade unions and the various educational branch organisations participate. ­This national program aims at realizing a national learning infrastructure for lifelong learning, targeting individual learners and thereby bridging the gap between formal and informal learning.

5 Why this experiment? ­2000 / Lisbon Agreement: How can we increase the number of people with higher education? ­Three courses of action: ­creating a wider range of learning tracks ­creating more diversity in higher education ­bringing more nontraditional groups (i.e. employed and unemployed people) to higher education by extending opportunities for lifelong learning based, amongst others, on an e-learning approach

6 Main characteristics ­OpenER is flexible, open, time-independent, easy accessible (standard PC, Internet access, web browser are sufficient) ­OpenER requires an individual to invest time and effort but does not incur any out-of pocket expenses. The content is self-contained. No materials have to be bought ­Research and measurements of effectiveness around the project ­Almost all learning material offered is in the Dutch language

7 Intended outcomes (1) ­16 courses of 25 study hours each (= 1 ECTS) ­or > 16 courses, totals to 400 hours ­a user-friendly on-line delivery system ­user-friendly on-line facilities for self-testing and assessment ­substantial marketing and communication to create awareness with the Dutch population about OpenER and the OUNL

8 Intended outcomes (2) ­freely available academic level learning materials ­opportunities for those with limited experience and confidence to become better prepared for formal education ­opportunities for formal testing and certification as a starting point for higher education study ­extra enrollments in Dutch higher education ­knowledge on the effectiveness of open content delivery for stimulating participation in higher education ­research and evaluation results on open content delivery and community forming among users

9 Financials The OpenER-experiment received grants from ­The Directorate Learning and Working, established by the Dutch Ministery of Education, Culture and Science and the Ministery of Social Affairs ­The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation ­To a total of approx. €660,000.

10 Organisation

11 Activities to start ­Selection of Content Management System ­Independent of regular IT infrastructure ­Formulate course characteristics ­Faculty tour ­Three courses already available ­Hesitation to cooperate ­“Give away your crown juwels for free“ ­No room for unplanned activities

12 Course characteristics: initial ­Size of 25 study hours ­Given the target group: initial Bachelor level ­Content handles a complete subject (no ending with a “cliffhanger”) ­Intellectual properties on the material owned by the OUNL ­In form and content representative for a regular OUNL course. ­Course material in Dutch (to avoid creating a potential barrier when using the English or German language) ­Derive a course for OpenER from an existing regular course

13 Course characteristics: adjustments ­Duration different from 25 hours ­Course in English ­Courses developed from scratch ­Add a read aloud version of some courses ­Add courses on an advanced level

14 Course development ­Jannes: hit the floor!

15 Communication ­Press releases around publication of new course ­National newspaper ­Internet newssites ­OUNL website and intranet ­Weblog project leader

16 Feedback ­Feedbackforms ­General ­Linked to a course ­Registration (voluntarily)

17 Research ­ >

18 Results (1) ­Launch on December 5, 2006 generated a lot of publicity ­Some figures: ­650,000 unique visitors, 12% returning ­24 courses online (4 – 45 hours / course) ­Creative Commons by-nc-sa 2.5 ­Some objects excluded ­5500 users registered ­Costs for creation € €30,000 ­2000 surveys submitted

19 Results (2) ­Five courses offered the possibility to do a formal examination and to earn a certificate. This service costs €50 for a user. About 80 learners applied for a formal examination. ­One course was linked to a series of broadcasts about Dutch history on an educational channel on Dutch television. Each chapter of the course was linked to a broadcast in this serie. Each broadcast was afterwards available on internet, with the course linking to it.

20 Proof of the pudding ­Question on electronic order form for regular OUNL courses: Was taking a free OpenER course a cause to order this course? ­During period of 13/2/2008 to 15/4/2008: 10,5% of about 900 buyers answered yes. ­Measurements are still going on

21 Lessons learned (1) ­For some users another language than the Dutch language is a barrier. ­Courses of 4 hours were considered too short to get a good idea of what it means to study a subject on this level of education. ­For courses that were fully webbased and did not offer the possibility to print out the course text, users asked for a printed version. ­Errors in the courses were reported by the learners. ­The read aloud versions were hardly used. Main cause reported was the automatic generation of a read aloud version of a webpage (using Readspeaker) with errors in pronunciation.

22 Lessons learned (2) Objectives for publishing open courses for faculties ­The courses should give a good picture of the main subject areas in our faculty. ­The courses should show how entertaining learning can be ­The courses should also be attractive for our own students.

23 Lessons learned (3) ­Rely on quality awareness of authors ­Authors are already used in making self study material ­Support of top management is crucial ­Producing courses should be a regular task at faculties ­Higher delivery reliability ­Not dependant on few enthusiastic people