Keynote 1 ppt

Keynote 1: OER and the Open Agenda

Malcolm Read, Executive Secretary, Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC)

Abstract: From the earliest ideas around open source software and open access to research, the “open” agenda has been a major catalyst for change in UK and worldwide education. Although “openness” as a concept is highly compatible with the academic ideals of a collegiate community of scholars, adapting to “openness” has been an activity which has required the substantial rethinking of processes and business models within the contemporary institutional and educational ecosystem. Situating the Open Educational Resources agenda within wider aspects of openness, this talk will discuss the programme-level learning drawn from the UKOER pilot programme and offer an insight into future national priorities concerning OER. It will focus on the challenges offered to institutions and national bodies around achieving sustainable practice in this area, and around reaping the many benefits of open resource release. The challenges of exploiting the OER "infrastructure" for formal and informal learning are not yet fully surmounted. The open world can be seen as chaotic and difficult to navigate, as ideas of free-text search and discovery drawn from the mainstream world wide web compete with traditional academic structures based around a library model. The structure and discovery of electronic learning opportunities will be considered, with some thoughts on the need for (at least some) structures within openness and the practical realities of achieving this within an organic system.