Dear Folks,
If we are to learn from the Reusable Learning Objects [RLO] movement, then some Needs Analysis should be done on the needs of OER reusers in their contexts. The learning objects movement is criticised by Geser (2012) as being industrialist with its concept of context-free lego-brick one-size-fits-all. The argument here is that such bland context-free RLO units are not relevant to the students’ needs – probably because of their context-free design. This is despite calls for end-user Needs Analysis eg by Woo, Gosper, Gibbs, Hand, Kerr & Rich (2004, p.1) “In fact, lack of [RLO] uptake is commonly experienced and it can be partly attributed to the neglect of user concerns. The end users of these systems have rarely been identified, and seldom given a chance to speak about their needs and concerns.” and they blame the top-down approach used for getting RLO to be adopted. Woo et al (2004, p.9) call for “more research [to] be carried out to understand the different needs of users from different education sectors and different cultures”. Perhaps we need to involve the student end-users in OER ownership, and in OER creation and co-creation ?
Your input ?
paul
Geser, G. (Ed.) (2012). Open educational practices and resources. Salzburg, Austria : Open Learning Content Observatory Services (OLCOS). Retrieved from http://www.olcos.org/cms/upload/docs/olcos_roadmap.pdf
Woo, K., Gosper, M., Gibbs, D., Hand, T., Kerr, S., & Rich, D. (2004). User perspectives on learning object systems. Australasian World Wide Web Conference 2004 – AusWeb04 Papers. Retrieved February 28, 2013, from http://ausweb.scu.edu.au/aw04/papers/refereed/woo/paper.html
