1. LORO (Languages Open Resources Online): A Repository for the Department of Languages Anna Comas-Quinn & Hélène Pulker Department of Languages, FELS The Open University eLC Work in Progress event, 5 th November 2009

2. The LORO project April 2009 to June 2010 (key deadlines: October 2009 and January 2010) Collaborating with Southampton for the technical development JISC grant of £29,069, with a substantial part set aside for AL involvement

3. Aims of the project To create an online repository, based on the Language Box, that will allow course developers, tutors and staff tutors easy access to tutorial materials for all languages and levels. To link LORO (internal to the OU) to the Language Box so that materials deposited in LORO can be automatically shared more widely through the Language Box.

4. Project outcomes Users are able to access all materials for all levels and languages, and share their own materials with the user community. A cultural change in tutors’ practices and course- production systems. Dissemination to the language learning and education community

5. How is LORO shaping up? Collections for beginners’ courses (starting in November) already uploaded (see http://loro.eprints.org) http://loro.eprints.org LORO OU ready for content to be migrated (see http://loro.open.ac.uk). SAMS integrated so that users automatically have their own OU LORO account. http://loro.open.ac.uk

6. Engaging academic stakeholders Course developers & staff tutors Ensure key decisions relating to LORO are backed (and enforced) by Faculty and Department. Involve in project, demos, presentations & testing (several members in the steering committee and all members of the project team). Keep them informed (announcements, updates, presentations, Newsletter, put LORO in the agenda of all key meetings).

7. Engaging academic stakeholders Tutors Keep informed (announcements, presentations at Staff Development events, Newsletter) Recruit project staff from pool of tutors (researcher, uploader/testers, peer supporters, trainers, etc.) At a later stage, involve tutors in dissemination activities at their other institutions. Environmental assessment

8. Survey of current practices (course teams & staff tutors) Online survey to all tutors Focus groups Report of findings

9. What we wanted to find out Tutor profile: ICT expertise and experience How they work with tutorial resources (finding, managing, storing, sharing) What they knew about repositories, attitudes, barriers and enablers to use.

10. Online survey - questionnaire Invitation via email (purpose of language repository project) Online questionnaire 330 tutors 7 languages, including English

11. Responses to tutor survey 129 responses (anonymous) Across all languages 3 years or more experience at the OU Interest in taking part in focus groups

12. Focus groups 3 groups x 11 participants on Elluminate Minor payment

13. Using Elluminate for focus groups Effective tool (time and geography) Self-selection Brief training Occasional sound problems and delay Rich discussion captured (oral and chat) Challenges (recordings, ethics)

14. Main findings ICT expertise generally high (but low awareness of repositories) Tutors reuse resources (from course teams and the internet mainly) Resources are often modified Low level of sharing amongst tutors The idea of an online languages repository is very well received

15. Perceived benefits Professional development (feedback from colleagues) Time saving Authorship & showcasing your work Student support

16. Perceived challenges Quality and usefulness of resources System must work (search, browse, structure, file formats) Time consuming Lack of remuneration Reciprocity Recognition and authorship

17. Any questions? Contact FELS-Repository@open.ac.ukFELS-Repository@open.ac.uk or Anna Comas-Quinn LORO Project Manager A.Comas-Quinn@open.ac.uk