Our focus in Session 11 was all about the life of your OER after release — what happens when it is used in the classroom? How do you keep it up-to-date so it stays relevant going forward? There are many possibilities for adaptation and growth that your OER allows and this will feed back into the community around the book. This phase is an exciting one as you determine how your OER is being used, what impact it is having, and what ways to share this more widely.
We explored the basics of tracking the impact and efficacy of your OER with adoptions. As you know, OER are living documents that tend to change and evolve over time — to better respond to the needs of you and others who are using it. As the resource takes on a slightly different shape, so will your role as creator.
Given the digital first nature of OER, it’s become easier to track when an OER is being used. Less so for how it is being used, which is why we suggest that you consider designing research instruments like student use surveys or interviews to better understand how your users are using your OER.
As you broaden the net, you might also want to encourage other adopters like instructors who teach with your OER to self-report via a simple adoption form. Be clear in the form too why you are collecting the data that you are, and what you intend to do with it — information collection should be transparent and consensual. Make sure you link to this form from your book homepage and all other communications during the book’s release.
As you gain data, you might also get ideas for how to improve accuracy and how to keep your resource up-to-date. Anyone invested in the value of the resource has an incentive to contribute to maintaining and updating it — so be public about the work you’re doing on the book. Keep in mind to make more significant changes outside of academic sessions so as not to disrupt students. Also create a public record of edits and updates in the book’s Version History.
The life after release is an exciting period to show the support that the community has towards the book and to see your hard work pay off. What starts out as just a project team in the scoping phase turns into what we think of as the ‘community of practice’ around your book, including adopters, adapters, readers, and more, all around the world. Behold the power of collaboration and open education!
Join us next week, where we’ll be reflecting on the past 12 weeks and looking ahead to the final months of TSP. We hope to see everyone there, so we can spend some time as a group to look back and plan ahead!
