Is there a place I can go to find out what courses are on WikiEducator and or OER? Katherine Bolman
On Apr 8, 3:58 pm, Alan <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi, > Thanks for this discussion its highlighted an issue for a site on WE > that I work on a lot but has only small traffic (DE Hub). The curator > idea is interesting, however any limit on the availability of > materials because they have been returned to the basement seams to me > to run counter to the spirit of OERs. Certainly having a curating > function that pushes out what is current an available could work > assuming the availability of funding and resources to support the > activity. > > I wish to raise an issue that at first may not seam relevant but is > closely related and apologies if this has been raised in the past. > I've been following this and other discussion on WE for the past few > weeks and we seam to be making reference to OEr users without being > particularly specific about which users. It appears to me that there a > numerous users who will have different expectations of the OER they > are seeking. Three that immediately come to mid are the > "student" (looking for a structured program of study), the "free > wheeling student" (who wishes to compile their own learning program > from a range of available resources) and the "teacher" (looking to > add, supplement or build a program of study for students). Clearly > there are many possible content cross overs between the OERs they all > require, however it seams to me that there is not enough consideration > given to the design of the OER to meet the needs of the different > users. This spreads into the discussion concerning where to find OERs, > as end user will not necessarily wish to hunt through all the > resources that do not meet their needs. This I suggest compounds the > issue of how to get the end user to find the right OER for their > individual needs. > "Ramblings of an new oer player". > Cheers, > Alan Wyle > > On Apr 8, 9:38 pm, simonfj <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > That's great Joshua, John, Joyce, Edwin, > > > Let me note this one. "what I think > > > > we are talking about is not simply "findability" of a site, but, rather > > > being able to continually reach out to people and engage them and connect > > > them with a project". > > > It really is the point isn't it? My perspective, which is one of an > > old audio/video teacher, has me looking at 'repositories' or > > 'libraries' in terms of tens of thousands of TV stations or utube > > channels, each broadcasting or streaming their contents (in different > > languages). It's a bit your idea of libraries with their endless > > shelves of contents; only the 'consumer' can do nothing but switch > > between channels in a search for something useful. > > > All WE want is a sociable curator(s) who can reach out/direct a > > student to a small shelf of media, in their preferred format, which > > they understand may be useful to a searcher, after understanding their > > level of understanding, age, language, etc. > > > The one thing which seems to be becoming apparent to most people here, > > if they are thinking about 'findability' and an interactive space > > where learning communties might coalesce, is the fundamental idea that > > these communities are firstly, global and secondly, disciplinary > > focussed ones. > > > At the same time, i spend a lot of my time talking with the (NREN and > > commercial telecommunication's) network engineers who try and > > understand what 'products and services' their content producers might > > want. E.g.http://www.terena.org/activities/media/meeting1/ > > > The web, for them, is simply the door to a range of back end services > > which are largely duplicated because they're rarely asked to build > > networks on behalf of global groups. National institutions are the > > ones who call the tunes and spend the money, so the global > > aggregations tend to be just on the 'surface' level. The main effect > > here is that the real time communications networks, which can't be as > > forgiving as the information networks (latency, bandwidth, etc. > > limitations), remain pretty expensive for most web users. It's a CATCH > > 22. > > > We're beginning to see the start of how we might begin to solve this > > problem ( a least at a euro librarian's level) at a portal called > > europeana. > > I'll just point you at this (embryonic) > > page.http://www.europeana.eu/portal/communities.html?page=view# > > > Let me flag this idea as it an attempt at using a librarian's logic to > > put some shape on a disciplinary centric web. What if we use the dewey > > code as a way to classify the url's and communication's hub of > > european communities? The idea is to institute a new kind of directory > > which uses a cut down dewey code with european as the directory host. > > i.e. xxx.xxx.europeana.eu > > > Now this is no great leap. It's simply an attempt to bring together > > (european) real time network engineers and curators, and have them > > focus their professional logics on disciplinary communities' > > repositories and communications at the same time. I've always found > > that it much easier "an active and committeed group" (who might speak > > different languages) to work together if they share the same > > 'telephone' (conferencing) number as well as the same url. > > > We'll see. > > > On Apr 7, 7:24 pm, Joshua Gay <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > I apologize ahead of time for derailing this conversation a bit. However, > > > I > > > believe that it presents a good opportunity to touch upon what I believe > > > to > > > be an important issue. > > > > It seems like there is a deeper issue being discussed in this thread than > > > simply the "findability" of a project's site. For example, even if a > > > person > > > is able to come to your project homepage and know how to get there, it > > > doesn't mean that this will necessarily get them any closer to finding > > > what > > > aspects of the project will be the most relevant for them. So, what I > > > think > > > we are talking about is not simply "findability" of a site, but, rather > > > being able to continually reach out to people and engage them and connect > > > them with a project. I believe that for a project to be able to achieve > > > this > > > that participants must continually take on the roll of curator. > > > > To provide some intuition behind what I mean, let's consider the job of > > > the > > > curators of a very large art museum. Their goal is not simply to make > > > available their entire collection to the public. If they did this, in some > > > cases it would take a person weeks of walking through miles of corridors > > > and > > > buildings. Instead, their goal is to use their collections as effectively > > > as > > > possible and to facilitate various activities such as exhibits, research, > > > and education. > > > > Or, consider the job of curating a large library. Popular and new books > > > are > > > exhibited in a way to both be accessible and inviting. Special collections > > > and exhibits are often carefully crafted collages of information. Creating > > > processes and roles to manage circulations is often of vital importance to > > > whether or not a library is effectively achieving its mission. And then > > > beyond these kinds of activities, curators of libraries must often put > > > their > > > most effort into satifying their steakholders: the local public and > > > community. > > > > I believe that the free and open educational resource community is > > > beginning > > > to form large collections and libraries and (perhaps most importantly) it > > > will continue to have more and more success at cultivating new and > > > nurturing > > > existing communities of people that are actually are actually building > > > libraries of knowledge. If we were to organize the work context in which > > > the > > > work is being done, we might say that the members have taken on the roles > > > of > > > author, editor, teacher, student, librarian, and archivist. > > > > However, in many of these projects, it is hard to try to claim that a > > > substantial number of participants have taken on the roll of curator. In > > > the > > > long term, I believe that curation is needed in order to constantly > > > rejuvinate projects; revitalize communities; and promote fresh and > > > relevant > > > exhibits and special collections. In the short term, I believe that a > > > focus > > > on curation will make it easier for people to find the best and most > > > relevant free/open educational resources a given project has to offer. > > > > It is likely that the biggest challenges in curation will not stem from > > > choosing what works you will exhibit, but instead, the biggest challenges > > > will be in deciding what works will remain in the basement or will not be > > > part of the collection at all. Or, looked at another way, it won't be > > > whether or not there are enough rooms in the building for community > > > members > > > to have meetings and run programs, but what programs will be promoted on > > > on > > > the bulletin board, the latest brochure, or free bookmarks at the counter. > > > > To provide a recent and relevant example, one might look toward the recent > > > uproad in the English version of the Wikiversity (a project of the > > > Wikimedia > > > Foundation). Instead of providing for you an ethnographer's analysis of > > > the > > > controversy, I will instead share a single quote from an important > > > discussion > > > thread<http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Wikiversity:Community_Review/Wikimedia...>on > > > the controversy, which reads: > > > > The only detailed discussion I have seen about what [Wikiversity (WV)] > > > should be or become has been here, on this wiki (and recently on this > > > page). > > > There is no particular [Wikimedia Foundation (WMF)] view of WV - though > > > recently I have heard a number of Wikipedians suggest that trolls are more > > > welcome here than elsewhere. (It's not clear to me that this is true, but > > > some of the discussions about the deleted project are flavored by those > > > thoughts.) I think the current concerns would be resolved by developing > > > ways > > > to > > > > 1. review research projects that would cause trouble for other groups > > > or > > > projects online, or that might hurt individuals through the course of > > > research > > > 2. review any WV projects that might be veiled attempts to continue an > > > ongoing campaign of > > ... > > read more » -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "WikiEducator" group. To visit wikieducator: http://www.wikieducator.org To visit the discussion forum: http://groups.google.com/group/wikieducator To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe, reply using "remove me" as the subject.
