Thoughts on Open Data, Research, Books, Journals, and Government

Open Data, Research, Books, Journals, and Government, is this a dream or a reality, for the learning institute I work for? What are my thoughts on these topics? First off, as most of these terms were new to me I have briefly highlighted my findings of what each of these are. In the end I conclude by sharing how this will (or can) affect the organization I work for, and what the implications are (if any). 


Open Data, defined by the Open Knowledge Foundation as: “A piece of content or data is open if anyone is free to use, reuse, and redistribute it — subject only, at most, to the requirement to attribute and sharealike.” The readings this week provided an excellent resource to learn about the World Bank Open Data Initiative. 

Open Research which promotes collaboration rather than just the sharing of data, is already active within many online communities. My experience with Drupal, allowed me to observe the vibrant online discussion and the sharing of research (code) which enabled developers to further their own efforts by gaining valuable advice from global experts (free of cost).  

Open Books, a rich resource! My initial exploration of this led me to find a variety of quality books from authors (most of whom I noted were university professors). A portion of the tag line: "top quality books by expert authors"! From learning about sales to how to conduct a successful job search this is a resource worth noting and exploring with fellow learners. 

Open Journals, in particular the Directory of Open Access Journals, is a collection of just that, Open Access Journals and Articles. While this offers a wide variety of resources, perhaps if one knew the name of the author he or she would have a better chance of finding the specific quality resource he or she was looking for. When you have over 781,850 articles to choose from, what would be the most effective way to find the one you needed?


Open Government - what I understand this to be is a drive towards greater transparency and sharing of information from the government to its citizens and other government as well. As the article 'Citizens Love Transparency' highlights, there are notable benefits to this endeavor.


I equate the opportunity for (quick and easy) open data, access, books, journals and government is largely thanks to technology and the internet. Working for an organization that  is not involved in any e-learning initiatives (and I currently do not see these elements within the workplace), I am curious as to how and when these ideals could or would take hold. 


As the workplace has recently quadrupled in size, perhaps managing organizational change has taken the precedence. Still, the organization is looking to solidify and brand their curriculum. Perhaps once this is done it would be shared as an OER (much like other universities or training institutes have done). 


No doubt there are many implications to this, especially as the stakeholders might share varying views. However, I am certain that these changes (if they occur) will take time to be seen. 

Publishing Open Educational Resources

In this ongoing series of posts, part of my involvement in the course Open Educational Resources from the University of Manitoba, I am asked to comment on the following:

"An interesting perspective to accessibility is the US's America with disability Act Section 508. Is there as similar act in Canada? Do we need a similar act or are existing laws sufficient to address the disabled? What would these laws be? How does this apply to your own context?"

What I will first take into account is the discussions provided as a part of this week's content. In the section Share, the first step towards the publishing of content is the decision to use Self- or Third-Party Publishing. There are of course pros and cons offered with regards to these two options. 

Third-Party Publishing is often quick, easy and free to use. However, when you place content on their website you lose control and have to adapt to the terms of use that the hosting website already has in place. Lost content (abruptly) and advertisements on your site may be some of the risks you will take when going this route. 

Self-Publishing allows you to be completely in control of all aspects of OER deployment (and responsible). You will need to pay for the site to be hosted and you are also afforded the additional duty of having to update and maintain the site. 

I imagine you would not, easily, be able to allow others to Revise and Remix content within the site. One could allow for this rather easily if he or she published using Third-Party Publishing (for example: http://www.wikispaces.com). 

The advice is given that ones technical skills and abilities would often determine the route he or she went. It is often easier for someone who does not possess certain technical skills to travel the Third-Party Publishing route. In a previous post I wrote of the mental block experienced when trying to use FileZilla (a tool used for Self-Publishing). As such, using Third-Party Publishing would be the quicker (more efficient) route for me at this time. 

My reaction after spending time reviewing some of the tools available to promote accessibility via Section 508 (see: tools and resources). My initial skim through some of these tools reveals that they will require a higher technical ability from the user. Higher than what is required for someone to publish via the Third-Party Publishing route (although some Third-Party Publishing tools have these tools built in). 

The Section 508 Standards are useful and a certain level of standardization is of course important to allow everyone equal access to online learning resources and content. Perhaps it comes down to education. Are we informed or possessing enough technical skills to ensure that these standards are met? My initial thought is that we are not and most may not even be aware these standards exist. 

Apparently there are no laws in Canada that would force a content creator to comply to any standards when making his or her content accessible (taken from www.cippic.ca). A shift of mindset is required in order to ensure that content is truly accessible to all. This could start with educating users to meet the W3C guidelines, and other suggestions are welcomed. 

Copyright...

As I type the title of this week's blog I almost can almost hear the sound of looming musical notes playing in the background.

Copyright...a word which has so much meaning, brings about controversy and seems to be understood and viewed by in vast differences by people and cultures. 

This week, after immersing myself in the various assigned readings, and as my participation in the course 'Open Educational Resources' offered by the University of Manitoba, I am asked share my thoughts on Copyright. 

Particularly, to comment on whether "the preponderance of different types of licenses making it easier to reuse resources, or is it adding another layer of complexity which in effect works to place a barrier on using OER?"

It seems to me that once one delves deeply into this topic it becomes apparent that there is no easy answer or solution to any poised concerns. We have the challenges brought on by individuals in society offering differing perspectives and then this is compounded once copyright is viewed from the perspective of various cultures (as described by Marco Fioretti in the article 'The Tragedy of Commons'). 

Perhaps, and as we might already know, what works in the western culture does not always relate or resonate with eastern ones. 

In the section License from this week's assigned readings the following is stated: "The legal aspects of an OER project can be daunting..." Indeed, and well put! The words local expert, legal department and consultation follow in this paragraph. 

As a noob to the world of OER do I think that copyright is too complex? Definitely! I was amazed to learn that material published in Wikipedia would not compatible with material published in WikiEducator (thereby not allowing its resources to be combined). Ummm...great thinking?

I found it informational to read David Wiley's account of how the “Libre License League” deleted material posted by students on Wikibooks because of incompatible license violation. It seems that LLL has a inextinguishable drive to promote their views that the GNU license is superior to that of the Creative Commons licenses. Here I learnt also that GNU licenses are mainly geared towards software whereas the Creative Commons licenses are aimed at websites, articles, and educational material. 

An ideas is poised this week. What if, and to simplify the situation, only two categories: were available for copyright: copyrighted work (which has to be cleared) and public domain (which which is free to use). 

The initial flaw in this is that seems to be overly simplified does not allow for the complexities that varying opinions will bring to this issue. In using the Creative Commons licenses one can still choose from various options in how he or she will license his or her work. In addition to the baseline features authors can choose from various options allowing themselves to exercise greater individuality in how they distribute their own work. This is described by Brian Fitzgerald in the article: Open Content Licensing (OCL) for Open Educational Resources. 

There is no doubt more to be said, however, (and as much as my understanding of this topic will allow me to state),  the issue of copyright is best addressed by licenses which allow for flexibility and options for the publisher. At the same time this is limiting for some. Steps can be made towards a more welcoming environment (for new OER members) once the existing licenses merge (for example: GNU and Creative Commons).

Integrating Open Educational Resources

Being asked this week to comment on the eight steps to OER integrating OER in teaching and learning and how they relate to the context of the OER I have begun to develop. The eight steps are as follows (and you will find my comments below each step):

1. Assess the validity and reliability of the OER.

The topic of the OER is Career Development. When viewing other OER I do look to confirm the reliability of it. Initially, while I am the sole developer I must make this judgment alone. Once other peers start reviewing and participating they too will be a part of validating resources. When viewing an OER from a repository that offers comments and ratings this can help in making the decision of whether or not I will incorporate the resource. 

The integrity of information given to a job seekers is paramount. Often there is high levels of stress and a job seeker may jump at anything if it offers him or her a "lifeline". Even if the information is inaccurate or misleading.

2. Determine placement within the curriculum, if not already done.

While I possess the initial idea or outline for the OER this is likely to morph as soon as I can encourage other participants to collaborate in its ongoing development. When developing the OER I am not looking at incorporating it into an existing curriculum, let us say within a class room  or online course setting. Rather, initially this will provide a resource for other self-directed learners and I am trying only to match resources to my own idea of how the OER could guide a learner through the Career Development process.

3. Check for license compatibility. (See License Incompatibility in Licensing for more details).

I have much to learn about the licensing process. A notable quote from the  assigned reading, apparently there is a: "requirement that derivative works are released under exactly the same license as the source materials." Something I will undoubtedly do my best to keep in mind.

4. Eliminate extraneous content within the OER (assuming the license permits derivatives).

The OER I am developing is going to be more of a referatory than anything else. So I do not imagine I will need to go through this step. It is of course prudent to do this if you were merging content from another OER.

5. Identify areas of localization.

Most of this OER will be geared to the newcomer to Manitoba. Some of the resources may be used for learners with similar needs (Ex. those who were born in the province or those who have already lived here for some years). Others may adapt this OER to suit their purposes. For example they could simply retain the outline, and replace the links with that of local resources.

6. Remix with other educational materials, if applicable.

I assume that "remixing" could be interpreted in different ways. In the OER I intend to mix in other resources for the benefit of the viewer. Keeping in mind accessibility and quality I will also hope that mixed in resources still allow for uniformity of the OER.

7. Determine the logistics of using the OER within the lesson.

  

The OER will be accessible online. For my targeted learner this is a possibility. Even if someone new to the country does not own his or her own computer the local libraries provide this service for free (although for a limited time) as do most agencies that assist job seekers. With the initial development of the OER less thought will be given to making it accessible on mobiles but that is a topic for consideration as I observe that over 60% of this target group own smart phones.

8. Devise a method of evaluation or whether the currently planned evaluation needs adjustment.

My initial thoughts are that a poll or discussion board should be available for readers to give feedback on the use and relevance of the OER. This week the reading highlights the importance of getting the learner involved. Through participants (the viewer) getting involved in the content development, the OER will progress and this is my preferred method of feedback - learners adapting the resource to suit his or her own needs.

Localization and Internationalization of Open Educational Resources (OER)

A definition of Localization is: “adapting an OER for a specific locale including translation, modifying the formats of dates and currencies, and recontextualizing the OER to be more meaningful for the learners in the local context.” Internationalization is concerned with: “preparing OER for adaptation by others in multiple locales (taken from  Adapt).” 

I would like to remove the word OER from these definitions and substitute it (adapt) it for the words learning materials. 

After reading through this week’s section I am reminded of a project where I localized a series of books for school children in India. Specifically children living in rural vilages. Since the series of books was actually developed for children in Africa I localized the books by changing the characters’ clothing to that of the traditional village Indian garb (the Saree and Lungi).  

Additionally, I placed bindis on the children’s foreheads and changed the hairstyles and composition to more closely suit that of children from India. The project manager definitely had a firm understanding of the importance of localization and made certain that the wording (characters’ names, stories and examples) were adjusted as well. 

The team that initially created these books did not think much about the “Internationalization” of the series, most of the photos had to be redrawn (I believe the tool I used at that time was Xara). 

As I finish this walk down memory lane I look to see how I can incorporate “Localization” and “Internationalization” into my soon to be developed OER. 

I have determined that the OER (I will not call it “mine” as that would defeat the purpose of OERs) will cover the career development process. The hope is that this will become a benefit to job seekers and other career development practitioners. 

I imagine that the career development process is viewed differently in each country, region and culture and, no doubt, there would be elements of the OER that would benefit from localization (if someone chose to usee it in another country or provine). 

However, there are also elements of the content that would be universal, for example: steps to successful goal setting. My assumption is that portions of what will be developed will be suitable for use globally. Other portions would provide Manitoba specific information and would need to be localized. 

In order to allow other users in various locales to adapt this work to their needs (Internationalization) I would not include flash object, I will make videos downloadable and ensure that the HTML code is accurate (to describe only a few examples). The "accessibility" of the OER is important as it can allow for others to reuse, recreate, and localize it. 

Initially, I will focus on the creation of the OER and not worry about translation, dubbing, or subtitling (facets of localization). Perhaps, if the OER garners enough interest then interested persons will attempt to localize this for their location (I would of course provide whatever assistance I could). 

This topic is crucial to think on and the advice given is that localization and internationalization must be taken into account at the beginning, before one starts developing the OER.