Here is the end of project report from 24th October 2011 archived as it is no longer available on the HEA website sadly. I’m updating this in November 2017, and now some years after the end of the project it is nice to see this SCOOTER website and resources on YouTube still being used. Professor Dyson continues his brilliant work, and more of his resources, particularly the guides for schools, are translated into several languages for global use.
Anyhow – here is the project report and main recommendations made at the time.
PDF File – SCOOTER Final Report
General Recommendations
Sharing educational resources around a subject theme such as haemoglobin disorders is important and has generated much interest and collaboration, but allowing such activity to become a self-sustaining initiative is a longer-term goal.
On-line and off-line marketing techniques are equally important – the use of social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, Posterous and YouTube, as well as conventional off-line networking,
Cultural transformation doesn’t just require staff engagement and having a policy in place. Institutions need to look at incentives and staff motivation, not just to be involved in OER but other scholarly activities as universities face the future. Creative solutions need to be provided to provide staff with time; these could include spontaneous events such a reading weeks where an output has to be demonstrated; this could include a more creative approach to timetabling to keep space clear; for our institution the use of wider technology solutions for example on-line assessment would also reduce the burden of more traditional academic practices.
OER is a useful vehicle for academic staff to explore copyright, and a clear conclusion, is that academics wishing to not just produce but also use OER, they need to have access to relevant expertise for consultation. Determining the Creative Commons licence of a resource is not enough, and the authenticity of each and every author also needs to be verified. Layers of copyright within a single resource can also be complex and time consuming to understand.
Recommendations for the Wider Community
Institutions considering introducing OER policy and transforming practice should refer to OOER Institutional Policy Toolkit as a starting point, and learn from other organisations which approaches worked or did not work. Transformation takes time and requires engagement from staff at all levels.
Hospitals, community organisations, industry should consider OER as a vehicle for networking with academic institutions, and possibly don’t appreciate the relevance or usefulness of assets that they own. From these practices, dialogue about research, collaboration, employability can all follow.
