Looking at how the OER discipline has grown in terms of research themes

1. Different Aspects of the
Emerging OER Discipline
Martin Weller

2. Background
OER Hub
Based in IET at the OU
Researching different aspects of OER
Hewlett – OER Research Hub 2012-2015
GO-GN – OER PhD research network (go-gn.net)
OEPS – Open Educational Practice Scotland

3. Interesting questions
What does OER research look like now?
How has it changed?
Is there anything generic we can take from how this field developed?

5. OER history
Late 90s – learning objects
80s-90s – Open source licences
2001 – Creative Commons
2001 – MIT OpenCourseWare
mid-2000s – OER repositories, projects, funding
2012 – UNESCO OER declaration
2011 onwards – open textbook movement in N. America
2012 – Year of the MOOC(!)

6. OER as part of…
Open education
Open data
Open research
Open scholarship
Open educational practice
Open pedagogy

8. Method
OER Knowledge Cloud (https://oerknowledgecloud.org/)
Content analysis of abstracts
2015 (most recent full year - 119)
2007 (1st year with double digits – 24)

9. Content analysis
Berg (2007):
Qualitative vs quantitative – both
Latent vs manifest content – Manifest
Units of analysis – abstract
Category development – deductive

10. Totals
Year No publications Year No Publications
2001 3 2008 58
2002 1 2009 67
2003 0 2010 153
2004 3 2011 121
2005 7 2012 167
2006 9 2013 205
2007 26 2014 183

11. 2007
Category No Publications
Project case study 6
Technical 6
OER as subject 11
Research with impact data 3

12. 2015
Category No Publications
Project case study 8
Technical 7
OER as subject 18
Research with impact data 7
Policy 15
Practitioner 11
OER in developing nations 2
MOOCs 36
Pedagogy 9
Open data/practice 6

13. Categories (1)
Project case study –reports on the findings of a particular case
study, or announces the implementation of a project.
Technical focus on the technical specification of a particular project
such as an OER repository
OER as subject - focused on the OER field itself, the nature of
openness, the direction for OER, suggestions for adoption, etc
Research with impact data –undertakes evaluation of the impact of
OER implementation, using educational research methodology such
as control groups, pre and post test, etc.
Policy - report on existing OER policies, the need for policy or
standardized approaches, national frameworks, etc.

14. Categories (1)
Practitioner – the use of OER by practitioners in a particular context, for
example teachers or librarians.
OER in developing nations – the use of OER in the context of
developing nations eg projects such as TESSA
MOOCs –This group could be categorized as an emerging field of its
own, or MOOCs could be interpreted as OER and reclassified under the
other categories.
Pedagogy – several articles focus specifically on the possible impact of
OER on pedagogy, or as a vehicle for change in teaching practice.
Open data/practice/access- an intersection with other aspects of open
practice that have varying degrees of relevance to the OER community..

15. Similar work
Zancanaro, Todesco & Ramos (2015) bibliometric analysis:
- Theoretical discussions - the conceptualization of the term Open
- Quality –issues related the quality of OER, how this can be ensured, or measured
- Barriers to use – addresses problems in the adoption of OER such as formal
recognition
- Open education – provides an overview of open education in general
- Incentive policies – policies for OER adoption
- Survey - detailing results of research carried out on the use of OER
- Technology – detailing technical aspects of OER such as metadata and
interoperability
- Type – particularly the area of open textbooks
- Sustainability –the sustainability of OER projects
- Production – different models of OER production, sharing and dissemination
- Open licenses – copyright issues and Creative Commons licenses

16. Caveats (the questionable
methodology slide)
OER Knowledge Cloud is not exhaustive and can be swayed
The content analysis requires each unit to be placed in an exclusive
category, but inevitably some will be related to two or three
categories.
Labeling the categories was largely a subjective process.

17. What does OER research
look like now?
Practitioner is a large group
MOOC contamination
Impact research is quite rare

18. How has it changed?
Four categories from 2007 still relevant
Reflective practice
Move away from project case studies
Policy reflects maturing of field
Diverging into other areas?

19. Is there anything generic we can
take from how this field
developed?
Arises from impact of networked technology
Changes are attitudinal and technical
A variation in an existing domain that emerges as distinct
Characterized by specialist conferences, journals, large-scale
projects, investment, policy and a sustainable community
Initially driven by enthusiasts and advocates
Diversification of research themes and interested parties

21. A dodgy analogy
Urban Renaissance in 18th Century
Characterized by uniform house design, street planning, a growing
middle-class population and increased leisure facilities
Requires number of conditions including economic prosperity, the
desire for social status, and the pre-existence of towns to build upon
Analogous to the development of new educational areas?
Common features: the arrival of new commercial interests, the
establishment of new conferences and journals, the development of
a new research agenda and identifiable communities.

22. Refs & Links
Edtechie.net Oerhub.net
@mweller @oer_hub
Berg, B. (2007) Qualitative research methods for the social
sciences. 6th ed. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon
Borsay, P. (1989) The English Urban Renaissance: Culture and
Society in the Provincial Town 1660-1770. Oxford University Press
Zancanaro, A., Todesco, J., & Ramos, F. (2015). ‘A bibliometric
mapping of open educational resources’. The International Review
Of Research In Open And Distributed Learning, 16(1).