Why Do I Want to Do This?

Why Do I Want to Do This?

If you're asking yourself that question, then this course is exactly what you want to do.  As we will see, the creation, licensing, sharing, and improvement of open resources provides an abundance of positive outcomes for students, teachers, and institutions alike. 

However, we are all busy people, and many of us may want some juicy specifics up front.

So here are the FAQs.  Judge for yourself.

Q: Are the supposed "student success benefits of OER" actually supported by research, or is this just another unsubstantiated pedagogical claim?

A: It is true that published studies and examples of the specific effects of creating or adopting the open philosophy are somewhat limited, but this is mostly because the movement is still very young.  Still, there are some interesting studies out there that support the adoption of OER, which we will look at in the first module.  The most promising characteristic of the movement, however, is that with appropriate attention to how we create and share our resources, we can apply the wealth of extant research into multi-modal, student-centered pedagogy.  It only makes sense that fostering collaboration on and improvement of resources with educational best practices in mind will, ultimately, translate into a more diverse, higher-quality cache of materials that educators worldwide can use and continue to make better. 

 

Q: Isn't all this information already available online?  Why wouldn't I just go straight to the source?

A: That's some attitude you've got.  The truth is that there are many, many helpful resources online that any quick web search for "OER" will yield.  There are so many, in fact, that it can be taxing just to scroll through the results to find those sources that are most relevant to the composition instructor.  Ultimately, web searching is helpful especially in that it reveals how very few resources actually exist online for explaining, creating, and sharing free educational materials designed by and for teachers of first-year composition/rhetoric.  That said, one of the goals of this course is to help you get acquainted will the vital terminology and core principles and methods of open resources (which will assist your own explorations, we think).

 

Q: Why aren't there lots of free educational materials already available for composition and rhetoric?

A: There are, in fact, a lot of educational materials available online, but they are not always thoroughly vetted and properly licensed, and therefore our use of them could be considered in potential violation of copyright.  Also, composition and rhetoric requires a fair amount of subjective interpretation and analysis of existing texts, and texts are (as we know) usually copyrighted.  This places such a limit on what can be safely integrated into an open resource that most instructors don't dare try for fear of infringement.  One of the core purposes of this course is to get you oriented with ways to develop free and modifiable resources with confidence.  Also, a lot of educators tend to demonize sites like Wikipedia, which are, purposely, open and shareable under certain basic terms.

 

Q: I forbid my students from using Wikipedia.

A: First of all, that's not a question.  Secondly, why?  It's not like forbidding students from accessing Wikipedia is actually going to stop them from doing so.  It's a cultural juggernaut, warts and all.  Certainly, the use of Wikipedia in academic or professional research is definitely a bad idea, but why not explain that to students and identify when and how it can be used responsibly? 

 

Q: Is it not extremely time-consuming to develop resources like this that require meticulous attention to detail?

A: We presume that, for all educators, details should (and do) matter.  Especially with the inevitable shift to digital, paperless learning (and not just in distance education), we are all going to have to pay attention to the details as we digitize our existing materials or create new ones, no matter how much we hate it.  So, to answer the question, yes, it is time-consuming, and maybe even "extremely time-consuming."  But all quality educational materials are time-consuming to develop, and, if we pay attention from the ground up, we will only have to do it once (rather than using something for a while and then finding out that it might not be okay to use and having to do it all over again, only to find out later that that isn't okay to use, and on until we find ourselves frustrated, paranoid, and alone, unable to share our teaching legacy for fear of legal ramifications and/or terrible shame).  

 

Q: You just hurt my feelings.

A: We are truly sorry if the last answer seemed harsh.  But we recommend that you read it again anyway.

 

Q: If OER are equally (if not even a bit more) time-consuming to develop, how can you justify a course claiming an "easy way?"

A: This can be answered in two parts.  First, if we can retain some working knowledge of the basics of openness, copyright, and licensing, then it won't be all that hard to apply that knowledge to our future work.  Second, there are a number of helpful tips and guides in here to walk you through certain processes that, admittedly, can be off-putting the first time you do them.  Let's just say that this course contains no cheats and no shortcuts... hold on... we feel something coming on...

Byte: This course contains no cheats and no shortcuts.  Rather, what you have here is an attempt to make the digital transition even easier and more productive for educators.  Shortcuts and cheats have been (probably too often) the modus operandi of a lot of pressed-for-time educators in the past, and we'll have none of that.  Shortcuts and cheats in the development of teaching materials are often tantamount to plagiarism or intellectual property theft. 

 

Plenty of questions, right.  Well, let's get on with it, since there's obviously a good amount of misconception to remedy.  Click the little arrow button at the bottom right to get to the first module.