While there is healthy debate about what it takes for an OER initiative to be sustainable, I would argue there are two components that must be present - no matter the underlying model - for there to be interest among faculty year after year: compensation and recognition.
In an excellent study from 2007 entitled "On the Sustainability of Open Educational Resource Initiatives in Higher Education," David Wiley makes the point that compensation can and should take forms other than money (6-7). Providing release time or credit towards tenure and promotion are a couple of ways that colleges and universities can reward time and energy spent creating OER or new courses based around them. For many already over-burdened and over-scheduled faculty, these are much more attractive than a stipend that traditionally ranges from $500 to $2000. A stipend is irrelevant if the recipient has no free time to do the work. Furthermore, faculty without tenure must know that their department will value their work with OER in some fashion when it comes to their review for promotion and tenure.
Once the OER is created or the course redesigned, faculty must be recognized for their work in ways that will lead their peers to see what they've done and hear how it went. There is no better method for recruiting new faculty to an OER initiative than having their peers share their experiences and talk about how OER have helped them and their students. As a condition of participation within the initiative, faculty should be required to take part in a video interview wherein they answer a series of questions designed to help others understand the process, recognize the benefits, and think through whether incorporating OER would be right for one of their courses. These interviews should go on the school's website and be released in conjunction with an event, attended by high-ranking administrators like the provost, during which the participating faculty join a few of their students for a conversation about the impact and potential of OER in the undergraduate classroom. The higher the profile of the event, the more likely it is that faculty will pay attention and desire to be included themselves.
Through a combination of non-monetary compensation and campus-wide recognition, OER initiatives can be sustained without a major hit to the budget. While other factors are undoubtedly important, the presence of these two will go a long way towards ensuring a sustainable initiative.
References
David Wiley, "On the Sustainability of Open Educational Resource Initiatives in Higher Education," The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2007. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/edu/ceri/38645447.pdf
No comments:
Post a Comment