Developing a culture of OERs - Engaging grass-root stakeholders with

using, producing & sharing open educational resources (OERs) for

professional development.

Stephen Gomez, Charles Dorr & Holger Andersson

Plymouth University & SERIO

Learning from WOeRK projectCPD degree framework

Learners from the workplace

Lifelong learners

Bite-size, credit accumulation, work-related curriculum

WOeRK project

>360 credits-worth of OERs

UG & PG

Management, leadership, mentoring

Research methods

WBL

CPD OER Stakeholders

CPD OER Stakeholders

OER Producers

HE Institution – Senior Managers, Heads of

School (HoS)

Academic Tutors /

Consultants

OER Learners

Employers / employees

Lifelong learners

Project aims • Awareness of OERs among

stakeholdersRaise• Stakeholders’ understanding of

OERs & CPDAssess• Stakeholder perceptions of using

OERs delivering & supporting CPDExplore• Learning from WOeRK’s outputsPromote

Methodology

Research methods

F2F semi-structured interviews

Senior Managers / Heads of School

n=12

Online questionnaire

Academic tutors / professional staff

n=129

WorkshopsFeedback forms

Academic tutors , n=26;Employer, employees,

n=18; Lifelong learners, n=24

Headline findingsAll

stakeholders

• Low awareness of OERs

• Highly receptive to their use

• Keen to use OERs in future

• Appreciated the project in drawing their attention to OERs

Academics

• Appreciate OER benefits

• But…• Must add

value to traditional teaching

• Time constraints – a major barrier

• Requires incentives to engage

• Acknowledge authorship

Senior Managers

• Potential to raise profile of the university and tutors

• Requires an institutional OER strategy

Employers & Lifelong learners

• Highly positive to using OERs

• Saw potential in producing & customising OERs

• Thought they offered a highly accessible form of learning

• Considered LfW CPD OERs highly valuable

Senior managers’ perspectives

• Could support School’s teaching activities

• Particularly distance learning

OERs

• Saving time & effort for teaching staff

• Raises profile of the School & tutor

• Enhance student experience

Advantages• Risk of replacing

traditional teaching• OER engagement

might be adversely affected by new funding regime

Concerns

Staff likely to use OERs in future

Academics: e-survey responses

53% unaware of OERs

Saw OER benefits & indicated future engagement

74% saw distance learning as main use of OERs

Time constraints seen as primary barrier

Academic staff workshop

Eager to learn more about OERs

Generally confident accessing & using

OERs

Need support developing &

publicising own OERs

86% more likely to use OERs in the future

Found the workshop very useful

Employers’ workshop

18 employers attended workshop organised by Plymouth Chamber of

Commerce.

Introduced employers to OERs & LfW

Employers enthusiastic about using OERs for

CPD

All employers likely to use OERs in the future.

Employers positive about customising OERs for their work context.

Lack of knowledge of appropriate

repositories main barrier to

engagement.

Found the workshop very useful

.

Lifelong learners’ workshop

26 members of the University of the 3rd Age (U3A) attendedNone had previous knowledge of OERsAttendees introduced to the concept of OERs & to LfW examplesAll were highly enthusiastic about OERs, seeing the potential to support their learningPlymouth U3A plan to produce own OERs and repositoriesInfo about OERs has spread to neighbouring branches

Supporting cultural changeContinue

awareness raising

Workshops, podcasts,

leaflets, staff development

High-level institutional

support requiredEspecially with new

funding regime

Recognition & reward

mechanisms required

Focus on repurposing

Not “re-inventing the wheel”

Greater ease of finding OERs

required

To become mainstream culture, needs critical mass

to engage!