Designing Culture Specific and Portable RLO based OERs:

An Indian Experiment

Dr. V. Bharathi Harishankar

Associate Professor of English

Institute of Distance Education

University of Madras, INDIA

Informing Context 1 Indian Distance Education scenario – dual mode & open universityPrint based – SLM formatInstitute of Distance Education -- University of MadrasLaunch of Soft Skills courses -- Institute of Distance Education – creation of SLM material for face to face learners

Many thanks to the University of Madras ....

Informing Context 2

IDRC funded PANdora Project Phase II – Openness and Quality in Asian education – sub-project --

“Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Reusable Learning Objects (RLO) based Open Educational Resources (OERs) in Enhancing Soft Skills of Students.”

Many thanks to the IDRC and the PANdora group....

Defining RLOs & OERs

RLO => chunks of teaching-learning material that can be repurposed in different contexts and portable across cultures.

OER => educational resources (lesson plans, quizzes, syllabi, instructional modules, simulations, etc.) that are freely available for use, reuse, adaptation, and sharing + Open Software, license & best practices

Contextualising RLOs & OERs in the Asian Region

Localisation and Translation of MIT Courseware in China

Vietnam Foundation LO repository created in PANdora Phase I

RLO & OER in India

ICRISAT's AGROPEDIA & AGRO TAGGER = stand alone units of material providing useful information in the agricultural sector – mind map in Drupal repository

IIT's NPTEL = courses on web & video – chalk and talk lectures combined to form full length courses

What, Why & How of OERs in India

Granularity, Reusability and Interoperability within the country

Transcending linguistic and region specific cultural variations within India

Multilingual and Multicultural contexts Culture Neutrality vs Culture Specificity Culturally coded and portable??

Re-thinking the Design Structure of RLO

CONCEPT DEFINITION – universal & culture neutral

CONCEPT EXPLANATION – highly culture specific

CONCEPT ILLUSTRATION – cross-cultural orientation

Mechanics of the RLO-OER Template

• Suite of 250 RLOs on Soft Skills – text, picture, audio, video, multimedia = 30 hours of teaching-learning

• Concept Mapping tool to provide basic tagging (metadata?)

• Use Moodle as the repository + LMS (when taught as a full course)

• Each RLO has keywords, quick assessment and rating components

Taxonomy of RLO Suite on Soft Skills

• Language Skills• Time Skills• Leadership• Team Building• Space• Appearance and Etiquette• Body Language

Sample Topic: Presentation

{Concept Explanation}After a relaxed weekend, your Monday schedule looks like this:

In the morning as you commute to work by MRTS from Mylapore to Velachery, you meet your friend who asks you about your weekend. You narrate the events to her interestingly/ humorously (depending on the incident) with appropriate gestures to bring alive your experience, keeping in mind the time which is available to both of you.

At the MNC you work for, your boss calls for a meeting to propose a plan of action. With the use of a power point presentation he explains his ideas clearly.

Signpost

Covers formal and informal methods of presentation

Combines culture specific information with general information

Sets the time clues

Presentation ....{Concept Definition}

Presentation can be defined as an interpersonal activity determined by the occasion and the listeners.

Signpost

• short and abstract statement• free of culture reference

Presentation{Concept Illustration}

Both are formal presentations, but the style and body language are different

Picture of Indian industrialist – ready reference point

Western attire – culture indicator?

Presentation{Concept Illustration}

• ambiguous reference

• It looks like a modern classroom but it can be anywhere in the world.

Learnings

=> with minimum alterations, the RLO can be reused anywhere

=> very minor changes – place references & names--

are required to make it portable

=> RLO components can be detached and re-used to teach and learn other soft skill concepts

=> these culture specific references can in fact provide cross-cultural comparison

Where do we go from here?

Suitability of RLO Template

Concept Definition, Explanation, Illustration

– New idea – CE-CD-CI

– Distinguishing RLOs – CI-CD-CE

– Known concept – CD-CE-CI

Outcome – The patterns were not pre-determined, thus enabling 'discovery'

Speed-breakers or Signposts?

• Defining the benefits – answering the question “what's in it for me?” for every participant

• Creating awareness -- copyright issues, sourcing material

• Building mechanisms for collaboration – group mail, diary entries, archives of resource, pictures, etc

• Collecting and reflecting on 'experience' narratives

• Balancing institutional norms vs the openness of OERs