Perspectives on Open and Distance Learning

Perspectives on Open and Distance Learning: Open Educational Resources: Innovation, Research and Practice.
By Rory McGreal (Editor), Wanjira Kinuthia (Editor), Stewart Marshall (Editor), Tim McNamara (Editor) Contributors: José Vladimir Burgos Aguilar, Laura Czerniewicz, Susan D’Antoni, Bakary Diallo, Stephen Downes, Robert Farrow, Norm Friesen, Cheryl Hodgkinson-Williams, Asha Kanwar, Wanjira Kinuthia, Balasubramanian Kodhandaraman, Karel Kreijns, Andy Lane, Samantha Lee-Pan, Airong Luo, Wayne Mackintosh, Stewart Marshall, Patrick McAndrew, Rory McGreal, Tim McNamara, Maria Soledad Ramírez Montoya, Dick Ng’ambi, Michael Paskevicius, Demetrios G. Sampson, Robert Schuwer, Shihaam Shaikh, George Siemens, Sofoklis Sotiriou, Jim Taylor, Abdurrahman Umar, Frederik Van Acker, Hans van Buuren, Marjan Vermeulen, Catherine Wangeci Thuo (Kariuki), Clayton R. Wright, Tsuneo Yamada, Panagiotis Zervas.
This book, initiated by the UNESCO/COL Chair in OER, is one in a series of publications by the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) examining OER. It describes the movement in detail, providing readers with insight into OER’s significant benefits, its theory and practice, and its achievements and challenges. The 16 chapters, written by some of the leading international experts on the subject, are organised into four parts by theme:
   1. OER in Academia – describes how OER are widening the international community of scholars, following MIT’s lead in sharing its resources and looking to the model set by the OpenCourseWare Consortium
   2. OER in Practice – presents case studies and descriptions of OER initiatives underway on three continents
   3. Diffusion of OER – discusses various approaches to releasing and “opening” content, from building communities of users that support lifelong learning to harnessing new mobile technologies that enhance OER access on the Internet
   4. Producing, Sharing and Using OER – examines the pedagogical, organisational, personal and technical issues that producing organisations and institutions need to address in designing, sharing and using OER
Instructional designers, curriculum developers, educational technologists, teachers, researchers, students, others involved in creating, studying or using OER: all will find this timely resource informative and inspiring. Also available in epub format.