A new model for collaboration with publishers in developing
open educational resources
Background
The current economic
challenges of UK further and higher education[1] are likely
to impact on the fortunes of future generations of students. One area that will
surely be affected is the problem students encounter in finding funds to afford
high cost text books. The publishing sector shows no indication of reducing
prices to help alleviate this situation[2]. As a result, libraries are left struggling to purchase sufficient texts
with diminishing budgets in order to support the experience that students
expect from higher tuition fees. This is an uncomfortable “confrontation with
reality”.
Open Educational
Resources (OER) provide new opportunities to widen academic access to online
literature. However, this approach can also present a competitive challenge to
publishers who rely on a commercial return. This paper describes an initiative
which set out to challenge the apparent conflict of interest by exploring ways
that academia could actively develop new partnerships with publishers based on
the joint production of OERs.
Approach
The project was
based around a comprehensive professional wiki with over 3,000 pages of content
including an extensive set of curriculum resources. In discussion with a number
of commercial publishers a mutual benefit in sharing material was identified.
By contributing free content to the wiki, the publishers recognised that they
could raise awareness of their own commercial resources. Content was provided
under a Creative Commons licence and then repurposed so that it could be
embedded into the wiki.
A number of
strategies were developed in order to drive extra traffic to these new
resources. Including translation of the content into French and Spanish,
publishing podcast versions of key content on iTunes and promoting resources
using Facebook , Twitter and e-newsletter feeds. User statistics on access to
this content and levels of referral traffic were recorded and the impact of
different promotion strategies compared.
Results
This paper
summarises the key findings of the project including describing the learner’s
perspective as well as that of the academic and the publisher. It presents some
of the benefits of collaboration but also highlights areas that need careful
consideration when entering into such partnerships.
Conclusion
This paper will be
of interest to colleagues wishing to explore ways that they can access new
sources of open content which could enhance their own teaching materials.
[1]
Wilkinson J and B Bekhradnia (2011). Higher education: students
at the heart of the system. An analysis of the higher education white paper.
Higher Education Policy Institute. www.hepi.ac.uk [All URLs in this document were
accessed August 2011].
[2]
Monbiot G (August
2011). The Lairds of Learning. www.monbiot.com/2011/08/29/the-lairds-of-learning/
