---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Susan D'Antoni <>
Date: 2012/10/23
Subject: [Oer-community] New discussion: Mapping OER initiatives globally
To: oer-community(a)athabascau.ca
Dear Colleagues,
I would like to invite you to take part in one more online
conversation. As a group, you are former members of the UNESCO IIEP
OER Community that interacted from 2005-2009, and new members who have
joined us since then.
The objective of this conversation is to consider together whether the
global OER community could design and build a world map of OER
institutional initiatives.
Over the past decade, there have been more and more initiatives in
more and more countries. It has become difficult to have a sense of
the global OER landscape. As we seek to communicate with
stakeholders, as we seek to connect with potential partners and as we
seek to learn from the experience of others, we might find useful a
picture of the OER world – a global map of institutional and perhaps
national initiatives as a starting point. Over time, an “OER World
Map” could be enhanced as the community wished and found feasible.
Maps can be effective in communicating a message visually. There are
already several global maps that have been created for specific OER
groups, such as, the Open CourseWare Consortium and the Open
University OLnet project in the United Kingdom.
As many of you will remember, the former IIEP OER community showed
enormous energy in its interaction. And importantly, the community
showed a capacity to self-organize. A number of groups came together
to translate the report of the group’s consensus on priorities to
advance the OER movement. If mapping the OER world were seen to be
useful, perhaps the worldwide OER community could self-organize to
build and maintain an OER world map together.
Our conversation is scheduled to take place online over a three-week
period from 12 – 30 November. At the conclusion of the discussion a
draft report will be sent to everyone for review and comment.
In addition to this international discussion in English, some groups
have already decided to hold similar interactions in their own
languages for their own communities or networks. Their input will be
shared with the international group, and incorporated into the final
report of our collective deliberation and conclusions. We hope others
may also wish to organize separate discussions.
A document is attached with the outline of the discussion The content
of the document is also below in plain text. Please do share the
information with your colleagues and networks.
I will be back in contact with further details before we begin. I am
very much looking forward to being back together again.
My best,
Susan
--
Susan D'Antoni
Advisor to the President
International OER Initiatives
Athabasca University
Canada
tel 613 232 6496
skype iiepsusan
_____________________________________________________
Athabasca University UNESCO/COL Chair in OER
Open Universiteit UNESCO Chair in OER
___________________________________________
A world map of Open Educational Resources initiatives:
Can the global OER community design and build it together?
First, an International discussion
12 – 30 November 2012
* Next, local discussions – organized locally
An international online conversation – The objective is to explore
whether the OER community worldwide could work together to design and
build an OER world map – starting with institutional initiatives and
basic information.
A definition – Open Educational Resources are teaching, learning, and
research resources that reside in the public domain or have been
released under an intellectual property license that permits their
free use and re-purposing by others. They may be full courses or
course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests,
software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to
support access to knowledge (William and Flora Hewlett Foundation).
Now a decade of development – a global movement with more and more OER
initiatives, in more and more countries. The vision of increasing
access to the world’s knowledge through making resources open and
accessible is beginning to be realized.
But we still have a problem – we do not have a comprehensive overview
of OER projects in the world – how do I know what is going on in my
own country? And how do I find contacts in other countries, or
contacts working in my own language?
An OER world map – A map would give us the big picture of the global
OER movement. It would help us communicate the story of OER.
Furthermore, it could be enhanced with information such as OER
initiatives by language, and with links to other maps. And it would
help us connect.
Community collaboration – Working together the OER community could
design and build the map, and then regularly update it. With time,
energy and collaboration, the map could become a door to the OER
world, helping us communicate with stakeholders and connect with each
other.
Outline of the international discussion
Week 1: What could an OER world map look like?
12- 16 November
Why map the OER landscape
Essential information and visual presentation
Week 2: Could a world map be built collaboratively?
19-23 November
Organizational approach for collaboration
Ensuring the quality of the information
Week 3: Reflection and next steps
26-30 November
Design of an “OER World Map”
Organization
Resources available/needed
Next steps
Join the international conversation
Send an email to oer-community-request(a)athabascau.ca and type
subscribe in the subject line
Share this announcement with your colleagues and networks
* Plan a parallel or follow up discussion in your own language and network
Contact
Susan D’Antoni at oermapping(a)gmail.com
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