Entry 52 IDT1415 - OERs Evaluation Criteria

TASK - Think about evaluation criteria as providing you with the questions you should be able to answer before you decide that a source of information is worth using. The criteria should be simple, easily answered and not too long – no more than ten different headings and no more than six questions under each one.

Thanks for your very visual mind map Barb! I must confess that I initially felt a little bit at a loss as I couldn't find the examples given for the task and so your mind map helped me see light and get started. I like how you distributed your ideas and develop them inside the bubbles. Here's my contribution which is not as visual, but which works for me and hope you and the others will also find something useful. As usual, I thought of my criteria from the point of view of applicability to my own context.

When I started thinking about the evaluation criteria which would help me discern between the good and the bad OERs, Entry 10 Are you driven by technology or pedagogy in your teaching? in my Reflective Blog immediately came to mind as I offered a list of questions which I often ask myself when deciding whether a tool is to be integrated into a lesson or session and which have become a sort of self assessment criteria. I believe these questions could also be implemented, adapted and reformulated in addition to others as shown below and with an in-class implementation approach part of courses delivered F2F or in a blended format as these are the only options currently available. 

This is by no means a comprehensive list and will be revisited and integrated through more reading and contributions from the others in the forum. It is simply one possible list which outlines the main criteria I believe to be relevant for my context.

Learning Outcomes

• What is/are the stated outcomes for OER?
• What part of my lesson would be more engaging and cognitively challenging if I added OERs?

Usability

• Once the above is clear, what tools are required by the OERs?
• Do I know them already or remember seeing them somewhere which can help me enhance my lesson? Once there is an answer to this question, try and test the tool.

• Will the lesson be the same without OERs? If yes, discard it. If not, ensure it is recyclable.
• Will my students need training? If yes, then how am I going to give it e.g. a quick screen cast? In or outside class? With lower levels usually in class to 'show' them what I mean. If not, what do they need to know to be independent enough to complete the self training stage before the next lesson?
• What are the technical requirements of the OERs? Will all my students have access to it?

Language Learning

• How is the students' use of the language and learning experience enhanced by these OERs? Identify this before moving on otherwise it'll be infotaiment!
• Is the TL for this specific lesson clearly identifiable? Will the students be able to see it and use it?

Learning & Pedagogy

• Remember Confucius: The more they 'do', the more they will 'understand'.
• Is the OER cognitively engaging or physically involving (mechanical)?
• Is the pedagogical approach behind the OERs identifiable?

Authority

• Is it 'little' OERs or 'big' OERs? If little is a profile of the author available and reliable? If big, what kind of institution is it e.g. educational, commercial, governmental?
• How visible are the OERs in the field of education?
• Are they part of a network? Is it 'alive'? Dated?