Developing sustainable business models for institutions’ provision of open educational resources: Learning from OpenLearn users’ motivations and experiences

Universities across the globe have, for some time, been exploring the possibilities for achieving public benefit and generating business and visibility through releasing and sharing open educational resources (OER). Many have written about the need to develop sustainable and profitable business models around the production and release of OER. Downes (2006), for example, has questioned the financial sustainability of OER production at scale. Many of the proposed business models focus on OER’s value in generating revenue and detractors of OER have questioned whether they are in competition with formal education. This paper reports on a study intended to broaden the conversation about OER business models to consider the motivations and experiences of OER users as the basis for making a better informed decision about whether OER and formal learning are competitive or complementary with each other. The study focused on OpenLearn - the Open University’s (OU) web-based platform for OER, which hosts hundreds of online courses and videos and is accessed by over 3,000,000 users a year. A large scale survey and follow-up interviews with OpenLearn users worldwide revealed that university provided OER can offer learners a bridge to formal education, allowing them to try out a subject before registering on a formal course and to build confidence in their abilities as learners. In addition, it was found that using OER during formal paid-for study can improve learners’ performance and self-reliance, leading to increased retention and satisfaction with the learning experience

Open educational resources for all? Comparing user motivations and characteristics across The Open University’s iTunes U channel and OpenLearn platform.

With the rise in access to mobile multimedia devices, educational institutions have exploited the iTunes U platform as an additional channel to provide free educational resources with the aim of profile-raising and breaking down barriers to education. For those prepared to invest in content preparation, it is possible to produce interactive, portable material that can be made available globally. Commentators have questioned both the financial implications for platform-specific content production, and the availability of devices for learners to access it (Osborne, 2012). The Open University (OU) makes its free educational resources available on iTunes U and via its web-based open educational resources (OER) platform, OpenLearn. The OU’s OER on iTunes U reached the 60 million download mark in 2013; its OpenLearn platform boasts 27 million unique visitors since 2006. This paper reports the results of a large-scale study of users of the OU’s iTunes U channel and OpenLearn platform. A survey of several thousand users revealed key differences in demographics between those accessing OER via the web and via iTunes U. In addition, the data allowed comparison between three groups: formal learners, informal learners and educators. The study raises questions about whether university-provided OER meet the needs of users and makes recommendations for how content can be modified to suit their needs. As the publishing of OER becomes core to business, we reflect on reasons why understanding users’ motivations and demographics is vital, allowing for needs-led resource provision and content that is adapted to best achieve learner satisfaction, and to deliver institutions’ social mission

MOOCs and the Online Delivery of Business Education: What\u27s New? What\u27s Not? What Now?

Although the past 2 decades have produced much promise (and accompanying research) on the use of information technology (IT) in business school courses, it is not entirely clear whether IT has truly transformed management education. There are compelling arguments on both sides. On one hand, advocates for the transformative role of IT can point to several success stories. On the other hand, skeptics of the role of IT in management education can also point to support for their view. This lack of consensus has led researchers in Academy of Management Learning & Education to call for scholars to confront the bias against online education (Redpath, 2012) and engage in serious research on online education (Arbaugh, DeArmond, & Rau, 2013). In this article, we respond to these calls for research by using adaptive structuration theory to develop a conceptual model of three factors that influence the use of IT in business education. We review prior research for each factor and use the conceptual model to identify implications for the design and delivery of business education. Based on the implications, we offer recommendations and recognize challenges for business schools and faculty related to the use of IT in business education

MOOCKnowledge: Establishing a large-scale data-collection about participants of European Open Online Courses

While MOOCS have emerged as a new form of open online education around the world,there are still no cross- provider and large-scale data collections that provides reliable information about demographic details of the population of MOOC participants on the one hand, and their motivation, intentions, social context, lifelong learning profile and impact on study success and career development on the other hand. The MOOCKnowledge project is an initiative to establish a large-scale data-collection about participants of European MOOCs. In this paper we describe the motivation behind the project and discuss the research focus. We explain the structure of the survey instrument, report about the data collection process and provide an outlook on potential future developments of the project.JRC.J.3-Information Societ

Innovative models for collaboration and student mobility in Europe

This report is based on new developments in higher education and international collaboration as collected by EADTU's Task Force and Peer Learning Activity on Virtual Mobility. The result is a report on three types of collaboration mobility: physical, blended and online. Main parameters for innovative education and mobility formats are defined as well as basic principles of international course and curriculum design. Examples illustrate the complete opportunity space between fully face to face and fully online collaboration. They relate to mobility within single courses, exchange mobility (classical Erasmus), networked programmes and mobility windows and joint programmes with embedded mobility. Mobility offers opportunities to institutions to strengthen their programmes and to students to enrich their study. They benefit from an international learning experience or following courses not provided by their own institution. The report shows concrete mobility schemes used in the membership (and beyond). It underpins policies for international networking and delivers tools to organise innovative education and mobility formats

Developing Self-Regulated Learning Behaviors in Online Learning Environments - A Conceptual Framework for Inclusion

This paper outlines the conceptual framework of an inclusion initiative for programs serving secondary students from economically challenged communities. It proposes the use of distance learning technologies to afford these students access to learning resources, experiences, and environments in STEM. This paper addresses concerns with a complex duality of environmental factors: the environments in which these students are reared and currently reside; and the alteration to the environments in which they “traditionally” learning. It outlines a process where components participating in the online learning experiences contribute to the development of the motivational and learning strategies to overcome environmental conditions and achieve academic excellence

Towards a better learning models through OCWs and MOOCs

echnological advances of XXth century have induced a profound change in society and, therefore, in the high education. Internet supposed a qualitative difference, as information and digital images flooded into homes around the world. The Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) is a medium sized university of Spain that has been involved in the development of digital video content (Polimedia) to support teaching processes for several years. Joint with Polimedia and other learning objects (virtual laboratories, applets, etc.), the UPV promoted the construction of OCWs. Along with the improvement of technology, MOOCs appeared as e-learning material. In this work, we analyze the advantages and drawbacks of OCWs and MOOCs when they are used in our classroom. This experience has led us to incorporate in our methodology the flip teaching

From OCW to MOOC: Deployment of OERs in a Massive Open Online Course. The Experience of Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M)

The emergence of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) is focusing all its attention on open education. There is growing interest in creating MOOCs, which can be done by transferring OCW courses to MOOC format. However, a series of doubts arise regarding the pros and cons implied in this transformation. In this paper we discuss the conclusions derived from our experience at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid with a widely disseminated OCW course that was satisfactorily converted into a MOOC. This experience has allowed us to compare two different models of open education initially based on the same content. We also analyze the difficulties incurred in the transformation process and present strategies to successfully carry out this change

Eduke.me : reaching out for new sources of growth.

The Thesis presented in the form of a Case Study focuses on the challenges and opportunities a Portuguese educational technology startup, Eduke.me, faces upon choosing a path for further growth in the future. By addressing several topics such as market potential, vertical integration, partnerships, capabilities, diversification, innovation and growth constraints, students can apply strategic frameworks and other theories to the analysis of this case. The Thesis is divided into three parts: Case Study, Literature Review and Teaching Note. The thesis intends to be a practical means for students to develop their critical thinking, as well as information processing, with imperfect and scattered data. It allows students to grasp the possible constraints a company may face, and what alternatives exist to overcome them.A tese apresentada sob a forma de um Estudo de Caso centra-se sobre os desafios e oportunidades que uma startup de tecnologia educacional portuguesa, Eduke.me; enfrenta as escolhes um caminho de crescimento futuro. Ao abordar vários temas, tais como potencial de mercado, integração vertical, as parcerias, os recursos, a diversificação, inovação e as restrições ao crescimento; os alunos poderão aplicar modelos estratégicos e outras teorias para a analisar deste caso. O trabalho está dividido em três partes: Estudo de Caso, Revisão Literária e Nota de Aula. A tese pretende ser um meio prático para que os alunos possam desenvolver o seu espírito crítico, bem como o processamento de informações, com dados imperfeitos e dispersos. Isto permite que os alunos compreendam as possíveis restrições que uma empresa pode enfrentar, e que alternativas existem para superá-las