Hi Alan, Apology for the tardy response -- its been one of those weeks with a cluttered inbox of international email.
You make two very good points: - "Curratorship" is but one dimension to think about search & find, but does not necessarily address diverse needs of OER participants -- and you give a good practicle example. I like the open model because we have the flexibility to use different approaches to the thinking about the challenge depending on user needs. - Different categories of users who will have different needs (eg students, teachers who use OER in their teaching etc.) -- I'd like to add another category -- educators who are want to know where they can donate time in helping with the development of OER (eg learning design, subject matter expertise etc.) -- Potentially we could design different skins for the main categories of users -- for example a learner / or teacher may not want to see the plethora of links related to editing functions. WE could do with a good dose of information re-design and think more creatively about how to reconfigure the structure and navigation of our landing pages --- taking into account the needs of different users. Watch this space -- we'll start takling these issues in the near future and this feedback is very helpful. Keep on rambling -- we get good advice from "new OER players" in seeing opportunities for improvement. Good post! Cheers Wayne On 9 April 2010 13:58, 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 wiki politics (forum-shopping a grudge, > targetting a > > > user one has disagreed with on another project by using them as a > case study > > > for 'research', exploring failure modes of other projects) > > > 3. focus WV's scope and mission > > > > > –SJ <http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/User:Sj>+< > http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/User_talk:Sj>14:17, > > > 18 March 2010 (UTC) > > > To add a bit of context to this statement, consider that the commentor > is a > > > prominent wikipedian, wikimedian, an active member of the OER > community, and > > > that he holds a community-elected seat on the board of directors of the > > > Wikimedia Foundation. Now, let's, consider his statement that in the > ~four > > > years Wikiversity has been existence he had not come across a detailed > > > discussion as to what "Wikiversity should be or [should] become." I do > not > > > believe the author is stating that it was simply he who did not come > across > > > such discussions, but instead, I believe it is safe to say that those > > > conversations were just non-existent. Further, I do not believe that he > > > feels the project lacks vision or that it is lacking in substance or > even > > > participants. Rather, I believe his statement is that the community has > not > > > exhibited the kinds of acts of stewardship that one expects to see when > > > there is a group of active curators working together on a project. > > > > > I believe that his advice is a testament that what people (and > especially > > > the board of directors) want to see most with the (en) Wikiversity > project > > > is a serious committment to curation of the WikiVersity project and the > rise > > > of committed and trusted project curators who can help in stewardship, > > > conflict resolution, and to continually improve the processes and > > > communications. And, lastly, I believe that that the long-term > stability of > > > any free and open educational resource project (of any real size) will > > > largely depend upon there being a group of active and committed > curators > > > working together. > > > > > -Josh > > > > > On Tue, Apr 6, 2010 at 10:43 PM, john stampe <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > > Hi, all > > > > ... > > > > 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. > -- Wayne Mackintosh, Ph.D. Director, International Centre for Open Education, Otago Polytechnic, New Zealand. Board of Directors, OER Foundation. Founder and Community Council Member, Wikieducator, www.wikieducator.org Mobile +64 21 2436 380 User Page: http://wikieducator.org/User:Mackiwg Skype: WGMNZ1 Twitter: OERFoundation, Mackiwg -- 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]
