A Tale of Two Globes: Exploring the North/South Divide in Engagement with Open Educational Resources

In this chapter we consider what evidence exists of a divide between the Global North and Global South in terms of engagement with open educational resources (OER), understanding engagement as the production and sharing of educational materials online. We discuss whether identifying educators as contributors or consumers of OER can be empirically grounded, and advocate advancing internet access in developing countries to reach a global balance where sharing is key

Emotion In Online Distance Language Learning: Learners’ Appraisal Of Regret And Pride In Synchronous Audiographic Conferencing

In the last few decades, the study of emotions has been considered essential to our understanding of social and human mental lives, as they mediate between what is personally important and the outer world of people, objects and happenings (Oatley & Jenkins, 1996). Despite assumptions that success and failure in language learning are partly determined by learners’ ability to regulate their emotions, there is no research in second language acquisition (SLA) on everyday emotions other than anxiety. Thus, we move away from linguists’ broad conception of affect into the more particular understanding of emotion by emotion theorists, as incorporating phenomenological experiences, cognitive appraisal and some form of coping. Appraisal theory claims that emotions are elicited by evaluations of events and situations in relation to a person’s goals, needs or concerns (Roseman & Smith, 2001). Roseman’s appraisal model proposes seven appraisals of an event that influence emotions: unexpectedness, situational state, motivational state, probability, agency, control potential and problem type (Roseman, 2001). We administered a questionnaire to a large number of distance language learners, and interviewed a sample of respondents to find out about the emotions they felt when using a synchronous audiographic conferencing tool for oral interaction, and also their appraisal of instances of regret and pride, following Roseman’s model. Our analysis revealed that learners overall feel positive emotions more often than negative emotions, and that women report feeling more than men. We found a stable pattern of appraisal for both regret and pride along certain dimensions such as situational state, but varied particularly concerning agency. Our findings suggest that negative emotions should not be ostracised from the process of language learning, and that language learners need to develop an awareness of the origin of their emotions (positive and negative), including self, others and the context of interaction

Flipping with OER: K12 teachers’ views of the impact of open practices on students

In April 2013 the Hewlett-funded OER Research Hub (OERRH) Project, in collaboration with the Flipped Learning Network (FLN), conducted an online survey of flipped educators with the aim of finding out about their use of open educational resources (OER). This paper presents the results of this survey in relation to what school teachers consider to be the impact of OER on students in a flipped classroom. Two brief case studies are introduced to exemplify how OER use leads to increased student engagement in their learning process

Who are the Open Learners? A Comparative Study Profiling non-Formal Users of Open Educational Resources

Open educational resources (OER) have been identified as having the potential to extend opportunities for learning to non-formal learners. However, little research has been conducted into the impact of OER on non-formal learners. This paper presents the results of a systematic survey of more than 3,000 users of open educational resources (OER). Data was collected between 2013 and 2014 on the demographics, attitudes and behaviours of users of three repositories. Questions included a particular focus on the behaviours of non-formal learners and the relationship between formal and non-formal study. Frequency analysis shows that there are marked differences in patterns of use, user profiles, attitudes towards OER, types of materials used and popularity of different subjects. The experience of using OER is fairly consistent across platforms in terms of satisfaction and impact on future behaviour. On the whole, non-formal learners surveyed were highly positive about their use of OER and believe they will continue to use them. With regards to this making formal study more likely some degree of polarization was observed: some believed formal study was now more likely, while others felt it made this less likely. On the whole, while non-formal learners are enthusiastic about using free and online resources, the language and concept of OER does not seem to be well understood in the groups surveyed. A range of findings relating to OER selection and use as well as differences between repositories are explored in the discussion

Open Research

Open Research is an open textbook based on the award winning course of the same name. The course ran two facilitated iterations during 2014 and 2015 on Peer 2 Peer University (P2PU). Open Research was co-authored and delivered by the OER Hub team, leaders in open education research and open research practices. Open Research explores what it means to be more 'open' in your research, ethical considerations, dissemination and the role of reflection. This open textbook also incorporates previous participant contributions into new activity commentary sections

Women’s empowerment through openness: OER, OEP and the Sustainable Development Goals

This paper explores the potential of open educational resources (OER) and open educational practices (OEP) in helping to achieve women’s empowerment in the developing world – target 5b of the 17 intergovernmental Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) that, since September 2015, define the development agenda until 2030. We take as evidence the Open Education Research Hub (OERH) open dataset, comprising survey responses from 7,700 educators, students and informal learners from 175 countries. Although our sample features an overall 51%/48% female/male gender split, there are many more male than female respondents from the Global South, the latter being slightly younger and better educated than female respondents from the Global North. These female respondents are more likely to use OER for professional development and for training others than are female respondents from the Global North and, of particular importance, are much more likely to face technology problems that are a barrier to their using OER in addition to difficulties in finding resources relevant to their subject area and local context. Our findings align with those of other studies finding ‘extreme inequalities in digital empowerment − which seem to parallel wider societal disparities in information-seeking, voice and civic engagement’ (World Wide Web Foundation, 2015, p. 3) while, more positively, indicating the potential for capacity building through women’s use of OER to train others in the developing world. Obviously, our self-selecting sample comprises only people with an Internet connection and some awareness of OER, and does not include women excluded from OER use and OEP due to their lacking internet connectivity and/or ICT equipment. Even so, our study offers persuasive evidence that where technological barriers can be overcome, OER and OEP can give women a voice, access to information and education, and the opportunity to connect with peers, helping to remove social, economic, political and educational unfreedoms (Sen, 1999)

Researching emergent practice among mobile language learners

Within the phenomenon of widespread adoption of mobile technologies to support informal and personally relevant learning, we seek to identify instances of innovation where emergent practices point to productive ways of learning that in the longer term may also have an impact on formal education. The paper reports our ongoing research focusing on language learners, for whom mobile devices represent a liberating technology that prompts them to rethink and redefine their foreign language learning. Building on the outcomes of 30 interviews with language learners using mobile devices, we share findings from our continued exploration of emergent practice, and include two contrasting case studies of independent learners of Japanese and Chinese. Our findings lead to reflections on authenticity in language learning and we note the strong motivations that lead learners to explore ways of learning that truly correspond to their personal preferences and needs. The research is a contribution to mapping the territory of informal mobile language learning, as we continue to investigate the mobile-enabled resources available to language learners and the strategies they adopt for learning

Adapting the Curriculum: How K-12 Teachers Perceive the Role of Open Educational Resources

It has been suggested that open educational resources (OER) can lower cost and lead to greater flexibility, however while there has been significant investment in opening up content there have been few studies looking at how these resources are perceived by those who might use them. This quantitative article contributes to fill a gap in our knowledge of how K-12 educators teaching in face-to-face, online and blended contexts currently think about and use OER. It is part of the research carried out by the Hewlett-funded OER Research Hub (OERRH) Project to examine the impact of OER on teaching and learning practices. The authors report findings from a survey of 600+ schoolteachers who answered a set of attitudinal and behavioural questions in relation to how they use OER, what types of OER they use and what influences their selection of content, in addition to the purpose, challenges and perceived impact of OER in the K-12 classroom. The research highlights how OER allow schoolteachers to personalise learning through adaptation, and argues that mainstreaming OER in K-12 education is not only a matter of raising awareness but of changing teachers’ habits

OER Hub Researcher Pack

The OER Hub researcher pack will be of interest to anyone conducting research into the impact of open educational resources (OER) or open education. Building on the earlier release of tools developed, used and released by the OER Hub, the researcher pack provides explanation and guidance on how to use these tools. All material and tools are CC BY licensed and are available for reuse

Teachers’ Use and Acceptance of Gamification and Social Networking Features of an Open Repository

Abstract The affordance of social interaction has been a part of open online repositories of teaching and learning resources for nearly two decades. Repositories are built not only to collect and disseminate materials, but enable users to collaborate and review, comment on and rate the content they access. However, research indicates that (a) most users do not participate in this type of generative use, and (b) the possibility of social interaction does not necessarily signal active participation in social interaction. In recent years the positive effects of gamification and social networking elements on user engagement have come to the fore in educational settings. From this stance, a quantitative study was conducted to assess users’ acceptance of the existing game mechanics of a large national repository of educational resources, their attitudes towards the inclusion of extra features, and teachers’ motivation to share openly. Our results indicate that teachers do not see open repositories as social networks, but as libraries of resources, and are likely to share if rewarded by intrinsic rather than extrinsic factors. Abstract in Spanish La posibilidad de interacción social viene formando parte de los repositorios abiertos de recursos para la enseñanza y el aprendizaje durante casi dos décadas. Los repositorios existen no sólo para recoger y diseminar materiales educativos, sino que también permiten a los usuarios colaborar, comentar y evaluar el contenido al que acceden. Sin embargo, estudios de investigación señalan que (a) la mayoría de usuarios no participan en este tipo de comportamiento generativo, y (b) la oportunidad de interacción social no conlleva necesariamente la activa participación en la interacción social. En los últimos años el impacto positivo de la ludificación y otros elementos característicos de las redes sociales sobre el compromiso del usuario han pasado a un primer plano en contextos educativos. Es por eso que se realiza este estudio cuantitativo para determinar cómo los usuarios de un repositorio nacional de recursos didácticos valoran las estrategias de juego del sistema, su actitud ante la inclusión de nuevas estrategias, y qué les motiva a compartir abiertamente. Los resultados indican que los profesores no consideran los repositorios abiertos como redes sociales sino como bibliotecas de recursos, y es más probable que compartan si se les premia con factores intrínsecos y no extrínsecos. Abstract in Dutch Sociale interactie heeft de voorbije twee decennia opportuniteiten geboden binnen open online repositories voor leermiddelen voor het onderwijs. Repositories zijn niet alleen gebouwd om materialen te verzamelen en te verspreiden, maar ook om gebruikers in staat te stellen om samen te werken aan inhouden en deze te becommentariëren en te beoordelen. Echter, uit onderzoek blijkt dat (a) de meeste gebruikers dergelijk generatief gedrag niet stellen, en (b) de mogelijkheid tot sociale interactie niet noodzakelijk leidt tot deelname aan sociale interactie. In de afgelopen jaren kwamen de positieve effecten van gamification en social networking elementen op betrokkenheid van gebruikers naar voren in educatieve contexten. Vanuit dit standpunt, werd een kwantitatief onderzoek uitgevoerd om aanvaarding te evalueren van bestaande ‘game mechanics’ bij gebruikers van een grote repository van educatieve leermiddelen, hun houding ten opzichte van het opnemen van extra mogelijkheden, en leraren hun motivatie om te delen. Onze resultaten geven aan dat leraren open repositories niet als sociale netwerken zien, maar als bibliotheken van middelen, en ze meer geneigd zijn te delen door intrinsieke in plaats dan extrinsieke factoren. Abstract in French L’accessibilité à l’interaction sociale est une composante clé des archives ouvertes en ligne de ressources d’enseignement et d’apprentissage depuis près de deux décennies. Ces archives sont conçues non seulement pour rassembler et diffuser du matériel, mais aussi afin de permettre aux utilisateurs de collaborer, réviser, commenter et évaluer le contenu auquel ils ont accès. Cependant, la recherche indique que (a) la plupart des utilisateurs ne participent pas à ce type de génération de contenu, et (b) la possibilité d’une interaction sociale ne signifie pas forcément une participation active à cette interaction sociale. Au cours des dernières années, les effets positifs de la ludification et du réseautage social sur la participation des utilisateurs ont été mis en évidence dans les milieux éducatifs. Par conséquent, une étude quantitative a été menée afin d’évaluer l’acceptation par les utilisateurs de la mécanique de jeu en évidence dans une archive nationale conséquente de ressources pédagogiques, leurs attitudes à l’égard de l’inclusion de fonctionnalités supplémentaires, et la motivation des enseignants à partager ouvertement. Nos résultats indiquent que les enseignants ne considèrent pas les archives ouvertes en tant que réseaux sociaux, mais comme des bibliothèques de ressources, et sont susceptibles de partager si la récompense est plutôt de nature intrinsèque qu’extrinsèque