Hi Gerd - you win a drink from me simply for posting such a thoughtful  
response on this list. Thank you.

To offer a bit of context, the "textbook" issue does not play as strongly  
in the UK as it does in the US/Canada - so in many ways the issue of  
replacement with OER does not arise. UK educators have often used a range  
of materials from multiple sources alongside (or instead of) a textbook,  
and textbooks (whilst still an expense for students) are not as  
over-priced as across the atlantic.

The context in which we raised your paper (and I lightheartedly offered a  
prize as a means to get people to engage critically with your ideas) was  
to critique another prevalent idea - my "smelly hippy" problem of wanting  
a critically valid way to defend what remains to me an instinct - that OER  
is a part of an open practice which is web-scale and web-orientated rather  
than originating in the structures of academia.

Certainly, I recognised that your suggestion of a global CMS would be one  
that would be alien to many British readers, but had much to commend it in  
terms of answering some of our other concerns around measuring impact and  
reach. However it would directly assault my own personal shibboleth on the  
primacy of open sharing above measurement - so in many ways I was looking  
to be convinced at least part of the way down this road.

I hope you enjoy and continue to respond to the comments on here around  
your paper - your perspective is valuable on our own emerging  
understanding.

Wishing you all the best with Courseweaver and its community.

David

P.S: Was delighted to attend a recent AgShare meeting at the invitation of  
your colleague, Christine Geith. Please do say hello from me and assure  
her that I am still causing trouble :-)

On Thu, 28 Feb 2013 21:46:24 -0000, Gerd Kortemeyer <[log in to unmask]>  
wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I think people are overlooking a word in the title: "traditional" -  
> nowhere does the paper say that OERs have "failed - period." That  
> statement would make no sense, since you have to say "failed at what?"
>
> What the article tries to discuss is "why have OERs failed to have  
> significant impact in TRADITIONAL higher education," i.e., campus-based  
> for-credit universities like the one I work at, Michigan State  
> University? Why are the students still forced to buy textbooks for $180  
> if all of the content is indeed freely available? Why are faculty now  
> buying into restrictive, overpriced e-texts? Why are even the all-new  
> MOOCs full of non-open content? …?
>
> The article tries to explore why traditional faculty at traditional  
> universities might not take advantage of OERs. If it comes across like a  
> sales pitch, I am sorry. At least so far, we have nothing for sale.  
> LON-CAPA is open-source and free.
>
> I have been in charge of this free open-source learning content  
> management system for 13 years. We have lived from grant funding,  
> funding from Michigan State University, funding from other universities,  
> good will, some service contract … in total, we are exhausted from 20  
> years of trying to live like hippies, and we have learned a lot of  
> lessons the hard way along the way.
>
> I wish I could earn that free drink from David Kernohan, since I  
> sincerely wish I could prove myself false with an argument that does not  
> "make me sound like a smelly hippie" (his words). I would also like a  
> non-hippie argument to address those hurdles I am outlining.
>
> I am a little offended by suddenly being associated with the "ugly  
> establishment," while really I am trying to find a *realistic* and  
> sustainable way to bring OERs into traditional higher education. I have  
> no intentions of quitting my day job as an educator, which is the job I  
> love. Building CourseWeaver and the required organizational  
> infrastructure around it takes an estimated six million dollars. We are  
> still planning on an option to use this system for free (Option A in  
> http://www.courseweaver.org/concept/pricing/ - that one is free for free  
> content).
>
> Do OERs have to live inside of a system like CourseWeaver? Of course  
> not! This is not meant to be exclusive! Let there be OERs (including the  
> same OERs) inside and outside of such a system. Let a thousand flowers  
> bloom! All I am arguing is that if you want OERs to *also* penetrate  
> traditional higher education, you have to overcome the hurdles I am  
> outlining.
>
> BTW, there is no censorship in the comments for EDUCAUSE, this is not  
> one big conspiracy. I sincerely hope a productive and reasoned  
> discussion would ensue around the article.
>
> Cheers,
>
> - Gerd.
>
>
> On Feb 28, 2013, at 2:25 PM, Lorna Campbell <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> Against my better judgement, I've taken up David's challenge and  
>> written a  response to *that* Educause post.   It was the offer of  
>> drink wot did it...
>>
>> http://blogs.cetis.ac.uk/lmc/2013/02/28/taking-up-the-challenge/
>>
>> Cheers
>> Lorna
>>
>> David Kernohan wrote:
>>
>> "Ten years later: why open educational resources have not noticeably
>> affected higher education and why we should care"
>>
>> http://t.co/6Vb3M4lQbI
>>
>> I don't want to have a go at this paper specifically(*), but this is an
>> egregious example of a tendency that suggests that OER would be a far
>> better idea if it was just under more control, better organised and more
>> structured. I hear this kind of argument a reasonable amount and I'd  
>> love
>> to have a response to it that doesn't make me sound like a smelly hippy.
>>
>> With the understanding that the wider ukoer community most likely gets  
>> why
>> solutions like this are unviable, I offered a prize for the most
>> interesting response (as a blog post) via twitter - and I want to offer  
>> if
>> here too.
>>
>> One large drink (of the author's choice) for the best (by my personal
>> judgement... cause, hey, I'm buying the drink) blogged response to the
>> paper from a UKOER community member.
>>
>> Deadline would be the start of CETIS13 (12th March)
>>
>> David
>>
>> * I'll let you do that....


-- 
David Kernohan
UKOER Programme Manager
eLearning Innovation Team
JISC
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p:3rd Floor, Beacon House, Bristol BS8 1QU
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m: 07917599296
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