A component-based approach to open educational resources in climate change education

Abstract

This paper reports on the creation of Open Educational Resources (OER) for climate change education as part of a Higher Education Academy (HEA)/Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC)-funded initiative managed by HEA-GEES entitled The C-Change Project. A component-based approach has been adopted by the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching at the University of Wales, Newport, which has contributed OER at different levels of learning object granularity. The learning objects comprise over 2000 photographs, 50 videos and a range of PowerPoint presentations that provide examples of how the smaller learning objects may be used in a particular learning context. The objects have been uploaded to a repository hosted by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC), JorumOpen, and also to Web 2.0 platforms, such as Flickr, YouTube and Slideshare. We strongly advocate this component-based approach as it eases the distribution and sharing of the OER learning objects and reuse in different learning situations. This also encourages a sustainable and systematic approach to creating OER, as images and videos may be created and uploaded relatively quickly, which is of benefit in the fast-moving arena of climate change education.

Introduction

Since the late 1990's, there has been a growing movement in education to freely release course material via the internet as Open Educational Resources (OER) (Caswell et al., 2008), and subsequently OER have become an important addition to the development of e-learning resources in many disciplines, such as geography (Rees et al., 2008). The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was one of the earliest exponents of OER, with their president announcing in 2001 that nearly all of their course material would be released freely on the internet over the next 10 years. Since then, there has been a rapid growth in the provision of OER, but funding OER and embedding a sustainable practice for their creation and release is an important limiter in their production (Weller, 2004; Blackall, 2007; Downes, 2007).

A significant key to the value and success of any OER is the ease with which it can be reused (Littlejohn and Buckingham Shum, 2003). Koper (2003) discusses a range of problems with the reuse of OER in pedagogical contexts that differ from the learning context for which the OER was originally developed. One such issue is that of the granularity of an OER (Duncan, 2003), which is simply the size of the learning object(s) (Wiley, 2008) used. It is clear from some studies (e.g. Duvall et al., 2001) that the smaller the learning object the more reusable it is. This is partly because smaller learning objects may more readily be manipulated and adapted for a new learning context, rather than a larger and more complex object with inherited specific intentions for its use. A good example is that of PowerPoint presentations that are often complex learning objects comprising text and smaller component objects, such as photographs and videos. Large file sizes may cause problems, but more significantly their adaptation for subsequent use may not always be straightforward, perhaps limiting their reuse.

The C-change project

The present project was set up in partnership with five other institutions in the UK to provide OER related to the topic of climate change. Funding was obtained from the Higher Education Academy (HEA) and managed by the Higher Education Academy (HEA) Subject Centre for Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences (GEES). The C-Change Project, as it has become known, has in a very timely way coincided with the publication by HEA-GEES of an edited volume Pedagogy of Climate Change (Haslett et al., 2010). Taken together, the book and the OER provide reviews and case studies of, and resources for, climate change education. HEA-GEES organised the C-Change in GEES Event, held in Manchester on 29th April 2010, which brought together and celebrated the achievement of the C-Change Project and the publication of Pedagogy of Climate Change. The keynote presented at the event outlined current challenges to climate change education and discussed issues relating to OER in this area (Haslett, 2010).

The C-Change Project has repurposed a range of learning objects that have been made available on a JISC repository called JourmOpen (http://open.jorum.ac.uk). The contribution made to the project by the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) at the University of Wales, Newport, has taken note of the issues around granularity of learning objects, which has influenced the strategy taken.

The Newport approach

A component-based approach was adopted by the Newport CELT to create two collections of PowerPoint presentations, each constructed using a combination of component material i.e. images, photographs and videos that are embedded with live links to the parent Web 2.0 platforms on which they are held. Therefore, each component used may be considered a learning object in its own right, and the PowerPoint presentations provide an example of how these objects may be used in a learning context.

Much of the material used in the creation of the digital OER existed previously only in analogue form and needed to be digitised and prepared for online access. Therefore, each item was previously unique and not available in a digital format. Over 2000 photographic prints and 35mm slides have been scanned for use in the resource and made available on Flickr (www.flickr.com) under a Creative Commons Licence. These images were taken by SKH on sea-level change and palaeoclimate research and teaching fieldwork over a period of 25 years, mainly of coastal and glacial landscapes, Quaternary stratigraphic sections and palaeontological specimens.

We found that the process of scanning photographs and slides is particularly time-consuming and the time required when embarking on a task of this size should not be underestimated. Additionally, 58 videos have been made available as OER, each being uploaded to YouTube (www.youtube.com), covering topics as diverse as sea ice cover, coral reefs, rainforests and how to use a microscope. These videos were mostly shot in the field with explanations from SKH. Therefore, taken together, both photographs and videos provide a valuable resource that may be used in both classroom and field teaching, for example.

Slideshare (www.slideshare.net) provides another means of disseminating the resource, and has been used to host the PowerPoints and any additional materials such as lecture notes, audio recordings, reading lists and student handouts. All of the individual materials are accompanied with information so that they exist as stand-alone learning objects. While videos are rather self-explanatory, without some textual information images otherwise must rely on their immediate visual impact. No third party material needed to be cleared for copyright purposes in creating these OER at Newport, but time saved in this respect was ultimately invested in repurposing the hard copy material used.

Discussion

The approach utilised in this instance is one that celebrates flexibility and accessibility of the resources available. The component materials are not limited contextually and can be used again independently. It is hoped that educators and learners will continue to use these materials beyond the PowerPoint presentations provided for this project. Climate change is a fast-moving science and it is important to maintain the relevance of the resource. Allowing the materials to be re-used creatively provides longevity and sustainability of use. Perhaps most importantly, the web-platforms that have been used to host the individual materials are freely accessible and can be viewed by anyone with access to the internet.

Another benefit of using web-platforms such as YouTube and Flickr is the potential distribution of the materials as OER. In a list compiled by 278 learning professionals worldwide, YouTube, Slideshare and Flickr were ranked the 3rd, 7th and 18th most useful learning tools of 2009 respectively (C4LPT, 2009). Examples of the use of these tools are beginning to emerge in discipline-based literature e.g. the use of YouTube in nursing (Agazio and Buckley, 2009). Furthermore, both YouTube and Slideshare provide a service that suggests related and recommended content on the right-hand side of the screen, and people viewing similar material may be directed to these resources and vice versa. YouTube, Flickr slideshows and Slideshare content can also be embedded and spread through social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. It is possible to gauge the worth of the resources through comments made and by the number of subscribers to the different media channels; a useful indicator of the impact of the material. It is intended that these online databases are ongoing and any new digital media that is produced as learning resources is added to them as a method of making learning resources available. Also, academic social networks are springing up that are discussing the use of web 2.0 technologies in learning and teaching (e.g. Conole and Culver, 2009).

Conclusions

The Open Educational Resources (OER) contributed by the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) at the University of Wales, Newport, have been provided at different levels of learning object granularity. Each object is provided in its smallest form, such as photographs and videos, and then used in the construction of PowerPoint presentations that provide examples of how the material may be used in a particular learning context. We strongly feel, however, that the smaller objects are more reusable than the larger, more complex objects, such as PowerPoints, and can be reused in a variety of different learning contexts. The Newport CELT has contributed over 2000 images and over 50 videos, as well as a range of PowerPoints, each made available through the JISC repository, JorumOpen, and through Web 2.0 platforms, such as Flickr, YouTube and Slideshare respectively, in order to maximize their distribution and ease of use. This is particularly so as these web platforms have direct and permanent links to their URLs, and html codes may be obtained easily to allow the learning object to be embedded in websites, and in PowerPoint presentations, increasing the range of situations in which they may reused. This component-based approach also encourages a sustainable and systematic/routine approach to providing OERs, as individual photographs and videos may be uploaded very quickly to these web platforms.

To explore, reuse or repurpose this partner's OER please visit:

• http://open.jorum.ac.uk/ and search for “simon haslett”

• http://www.flickr.com/photos/profsinnonhaslett/collections/

• http://www.youtube.com/user/ProfSimonHaslett

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to colleagues at HEA-GEES for managing the overall project and to the project partners for sharing practice and their experience.