Is Thinking Green Thinking OER? – Is the Future of Paper Textbooks in Danger?

As I began to prepare to blog this week I have no inclination to walk over to the public library or to take the long bus ride (or drive) to the Elizabeth Dafoe Library (apparently the largest of the libraries located at the University of Manitoba campus).  

To be honest my first thought was to search various online referatories, including the University of Manitoba Libraries, as I looked for something creative and response engendering to write briefly about (related to the topic of Open Educational Resources). My second thought was to email my instructor (who I know had done research on related topics) and request any recommendations for quality papers which might “shine a light” on what I intend to argue this week (The Networked Learner?).

My initial search led me to an article written by Luis Alfonso Arguello Guzman entitled: “University Students’ Digital Reading and Writing Migration.” In this section Guzman states that students’ minds are not connected to the print culture and are instead connected to “surfing, searching and browsing networks (206).”

Guzman continues to discuss that the readers of university text(s) will not become obsolete but that students reading practices are now: “decentered and replaced by the on-screen browsing of web pages (212).”

While I must conduct further research to support these ideas, I begin to wonder if this shift would prove to benefit to the environment or further endanger it.

This “shift” seems to foster a learning environment that would welcome the use of OERs in learning institutes. Let us say that the initiatives promoting Open Education Resources gain a larger following within the next five years. If online resources replaced textbooks would this save valuable natural resources and reduce carbon emissions?

A “first order effect” (direct effect) on the sustainability of our environment by Information and Communication Technologies is described in an article published by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (authored by: David Souter, Don MacLean, Ben Okoh, and Heather Creech).

The effects of ICTs on the environment are described as both: “strong and negative (page 13).” The contribution by ICTs to greenhouse gas emissions will grow from what it presently is at, 2-3%, to 6% by 2020 (page 13).

While eliminating paper-based books and learning material, I assume simply put, would save some trees. However, the implications of switching to digital-based learning materials are noticeable, for example, the short life span of most ICT equipment (page 30).

Energy used by at home by a student taking an online course may surmount the amount of energy he or she might have used had they gone to a common area (such as a university or public library) and studied using paper-based learning material. The concept is explored on page 14 and is described in the article as a third order effect of ICTs on the environment.

The Gutenberg Project, in my opinion, is an initiative that can link digital natives to the print culture and in a way that is easily relatable. As I put in this final thought I am reminded of an acquaintance that informed me that she had just been to the library and carried 10 books home for work on her essay.

Perhaps the print culture will continue to thrive…but as for the effects on the environment I need to delve deeper.

Creating Content

This week I am asked to share my thoughts on the free online tools which I can use in the development of an 'Open Educational Resource'. This week's section provided a useful summary of  a wide variety of tools which can be used to develop and host content. 

To comment on tools that I have worked with in the past:

- Audacity: This I used to create an a short audio clip. The challenge was finding a quick and user friendly tool to upload it with. 

- GIMP: I actually only downloaded (and opened) this tool and never used it. In one of my previous roles, as a graphic designer, I always had access to the Adobe Suite and generally used Photoshop for photo editing and manipulation functions. Now without the same access I will be exploring this tool further. Photoshop Express looks like another tool I will explore as I create  an OER. 

- OpenOffice: Two years ago when buying a laptop (on somewhat of a tight budget) I opted out of my usual purchase of Microsoft Office and instead installed (free of cost) OpenOffice. To be honest I have only figured out how to use the word processor. My place of work uses the traditional Microsoft Office so I never cared to explore the open version further. A new tool I became aware of in this course is Scribus (apparently similar to InDesign).

- Drupal: Several years ago I managed a website using Drupal. I found this pretty easy to  use and quickly got the hang of putting up new articles, images and polls. Then I designed an offline website using Adobe Dreamweaver, this I found fun, but of course it would be harder to manage a dynamic website with this versus using the CMS options. 

- FireZilla: This is where I got stuck. I could use the Content Management Systems but could never figure out this part of uploading the information (this was quickly taken over by a colleague).  

There are other tools which I would enjoy using more and learning about in the near future. Moodle and Elgg, part of the learning support system family. 

In the organization I work for, the tools one can use when developing in-house training materials is subject to the creator. However, when it comes to developing online resources for our learners the process can be challenging to navigate. I foresee that most of the tools I will use, will be for personal projects and only in the future (perhaps) will I bring them into the workplace. Of course these can all be added into ones "toolbox". An ability to make use of these "free" applications makes creation fun, one is not limited, and more possibilities are created. 

It seems that when I work with  learners in the classroom the majority of the curriculum is predetermined (here we take into account the funders and stakeholders). However, as we promote continuous learning I can (and will) make student aware of the learning opportunities that OERs provide them. 

Another important factor I have learnt -  have a computer that can manage the use of these tools. 

After reading the article "Creating, Doing, and Sustaining OER: Lessons from Six Open Educational Resource Projects", I conclude that it is important to keep adult education principles (or just education principles) in mind when developing an OER. An example was given in one of the case studies. It stated that the OER was too "content heavy". Some of the text was substituted with role plays, visuals and other activities and then this had a better effect overall. 

Library Critique

Being asked this week to critique a library website brings me back to September 2010 when I enrolled in my first course in the CACE program. This was the first time I accessed the resources available at the University of Manitoba Libraries. Initially I found this website challenging to navigate but did find some useful resources which did help me complete what I set out to do.

Now, after over a year of not using any of its search functions I am asked to critique it and give my view on whether libraries are repositories or referactories, or both. This is done as a part of my involvement in the CIS:ETL program.

From the readings this week I understand repositories to be “an organized collection of instructional resources” an example of which is MERLOT. Recently, as I have begun exploring website and I have improved my understanding of the context of a repository.

Next, the same author defines a referactory as “Gateways and guidelines to instructional repositories”. An example is the Virtual Training Suite that provides free online tutorials to help you develop your Internet research skills.  

So are libraries repositories or referactories? Initially, the University of Manitoba Libraries seems to be a repository as I find review its search function. However after further exploration I would conclude that a library could be both repository and referactory.

The University of Manitoba Libraries offers tutorials and resources to help the users learn how to use the following:

1.     Specific databases

2.     Tools to keep track of citations

3.     Access Archives

Additionally, it provides links to help learners cite and write properly. Already I am beginning to see greater value to this website and of course how elements of its features match the previous definitions of what a repository and referactory is. However, "even the terms repository and referatory are used somewhat differently by different authors" so I am certain there will be varying views on this definition. Apparently, learners are: "facing a daunting problem". They need to learn the skills to navigate and locate information on the web and to this end some of the largest repositories are including "user guidelines" (referactory). 

(http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERB0405.pdf). 

Tony Hirst in his post on the http://blog.ouseful.info/ suggests that libraries incorporate links to teaching materials or OERs. He rationalizes that: “if you’re a lecturer looking to pull a new course together, or a student who’s struggling to make head or tail of the way one of your particular lecturers is approaching a particular topic, or a researcher who needs a crash course in a particular method or technique, maybe some lecture notes or course materials are exactly the sort of resource you need?”


So to second Tony's recommendation the University of Manitoba Libraries could incorporate the ability to search various OER. There is no doubt a wealth of information to be explored online. The find section in the OER Handbook for educators successfully opened my eyes (widely) to this. 


I will definitely continue to explore this and may soon become a believer of the benefits of Open Educational Resources. Perhaps you are or will also be one soon?

To Share or Not to Share?

If we are to encourage self-directed learning having open and unrestrained access to information and learning resources would go along way in empowering the learner to achieve his or her goal. This sharing and freedom of information would allow our society (and the individuals that make up this society) an opportunity to build upon work developed by great minds. I, as a learner enjoy access to the already limitless amounts of information available on the Internet.

As you read on you will find that I have begun to share my thoughts on the Budapest Open Access Initiative and The Cape Town Open Education Declaration.

In reflecting on the meaning of “open access” I conclude that I would be ethically at peace to sign these declarations, as they do not aggressively impose their ideas, they merely share a thought, a hope and a dream. Perhaps this is a vision to be respected.

Some key observations: included in the Budapest Open Access Initiative is the following statement: “The only constraint on reproduction and distribution, and the only role for copyright in this domain, should be to give authors control over the integrity of their work and the right to be properly acknowledged and cited.” This, in my opinion is the least of what should be afforded an author who has invested time and effort in the development of what could be his or her own personal masterpiece.

How should an author be compensated for his or her effort? The Budapest Open Access Initiative offers suggestions on other streams of funding and the development of “new cost recovery models and financing mechanisms.”

The “open access” initiative or movement still puzzles me though. The first part of this puzzle is that by it calling for free access to resources (of many varieties) I find it to seemingly impose on how writers, researchers or other related professions should market or distribute their work. This is in marginal disagreement of what I imagine the virtues of “open access” to be.

The Cape Town Open Education Declaration promotes the ability of learners to  “create, shape and evolve knowledge” but does not in anyway consider the fact that an author may desire to leave a legacy other than that of contributing to what could become a nameless network of information (learning resources).

How can this declaration appeal or cater to the individual(s) need (or desire) to be remembered? In my opinion, it does not, and as such posses a weaker argument, less likely to garner support, than the Budapest Open Access Initiative, spoken of in earlier paragraphs. 

I find this to be the differentiating factor between these two initiatives. The Cape Town Open Education Declaration does not cater to humankind’s personality. People have often been found to take credit for a novel idea and then share it, at a cost, with other members of our society. I am  also conditioned to believe that they would not take kindly to someone taking their idea and  then recreating or renaming it as their own. 

Perhaps new declarations will come that take into account what I find to be necessary components for consideration. The benefits of these initiatives are widely known and while I consider elements of these ideals to be flawed the “dream” undoubtedly lives on, gains momentum and garners increasing support.