E-content and open educational resource
ELECTRONIC CONTENT (E-CONTENT):
Electronic content (e-content) which is also known as digital content refers to the content or information delivered over network based electronic devices or that is made available using computer network such as internet.
Well developed e-content can be delivered many times to different learners. Individual course components i.e. units, lessons and media elements such as graphics and animations can be re-used in different contexts.
Designing and Development of E-content
The purpose of e-content development is to create an information rich society. Every one in the society is empowered to create, receive, share and utilize information for their progress. Very well designed, developed and validated e-content will provide access to high quality meaningful digital content and serve as an effective virtual teacher.
Analysis: It is the first phase of this model meant for examining the suitability of the e-content to be developed.
Design: It is concerned with defining the learning objectives, structuring the content logically, specifying the instructional and evaluation strategies, and preparing for visual and technical design.
Development: It is related to the creation of story board. Story board is nothing but scripting the entire course content. The term ‘story board’ is taken from film production. In a movie it indicates the visual representation of the various scenes. Programming and integration of all media elements into a cohesive multimedia package are the part of this phase.
Implement: In the implementation phase, materials are distributed to learners. A comprehensive implementation strategy document is developed.
Evaluation: The evaluation phase consists of two parts i.e. Formative and summative evaluation. Formative evaluation is present in each stage of the ADDIE process. Summative evaluation determines the adequacy of the distributed materials in achieving the course objectives.
Standards of E-content
E-content standards are rules that most e-content developers should abide by. Standards are engineering or technical specifications that help e-content developers to establish uniformity. The different kinds of standards are mandatory, voluntary and defacto.
According to International Organization for Standardization(ISO) standards can be defined as “documented agreements containing technical specialization or other precise criteria to be used consistently as rules, guidelines or definitions of characteristics to ensure that materials, products, processes and services are fit for their purpose.”
Learning Objects and Re-usability of E-content
Learning Objects: Learning Objects are defined in different ways by different organizations and individuals. Let us consider some of the definitions of Learning Objects here.
According to Wikipedia ‘a learning object is a resource, usually digital and web-based, that can be used and re-used for learning’.
According to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) a learning object is "any entity, digital or non-digital, that may be used for learning, education or training".
Learning objects are any items which have the potential to promote learning. An object which can promote learning and teaching is considered as a learning object.
Following are some important characteristics of learning objects:
- Learning objects are a new way of thinking about learning content.
- Learning objects are much smaller units of learning, typically ranging from 2 minutes to 15 minutes.
- They are of discrete nature. Because of their discrete nature they can be categorized and stored independently
- They are self-contained – each learning object can be taken independently.
Re-usability of e-content:
Three aspects are important in the re-usability of e-content. They are technical, non-technical and pedagogy related ones.
• Technical re-usability of e-content is concerned with the various kinds of tools used to support e-content. These tools may include documentation such as guidelines and instructions saved in the repository.
• Non technical re-usability of e-content is related to the standardization initiatives, intellectual property protection, knowledge transfer, organizational, managerial, social aspects etc.
Pedagogy related re-usability includes content, scenarios and pedagogic approaches. E-content can be modified and re-used easily.
E-content Tools:
E-content can be created in a variety of ways by using variety of tools and software. E-content development combines Content Management System (CMS) and Learning Management System (LMS).
Freeware: It can be used without any monetary charges. However, restrictions are imposed for its use, modification and redistribution. In this source code is not provided. This tool can be passed on to any one free of cost.
Open Source Software (OSS): It is computer software and its source code is made available to the pubic. It is licensed with an open source license. Copy right holder provides the rights to study modify and distribute the software free of cost to anyone for any purpose. Open Source Software is very often developed in a public collaborative manner.
Proprietary software is software that is owned by an individual or a company. It will have major restrictions on its use and its source code usually kept secret. These are exclusive property of their developers and can’t be copied or distributed without complying with their licensing agreements.
Public domain software: The copy right holder donates it to the public. It is available free of cost to every one and it can be used by any one for any purpose and only with very minimal restrictions.
Authoring Tools:
‘An authoring tool is defined as a software application used to create multimedia content typically for delivery on the world wide web(www)’.
The main advantage of authoring tools is their easier and faster use. Using these tools e-content can be developed and transferred easily.
These authoring tools have some common features. They are
- Scope for interactivity
- Navigation-ability to move throughout the content based on the content menu.
- Editing -e-content developers can make changes or update the material easily.
- Preview or play back -it is possible to preview or play back the material.
There are many authoring tools Proprietary software, free software, open source software etc.
Open Educational Resources
Open Educational Resources (OER) are freely available, openly licensed materials and media that are useful for teaching, learning and assessing as well as for research purposes. Wide variety of OER is available for free use for teachers, instructors, researchers and students. It is gaining importance in open and distance learning domain. OER allows us to bring the excellent teaching learning materials into our education system and use them.
Meaning and Importance of Open Educational Resources:
Wikipedia defines "Open educational resources (OER) as digital materials that can be re-used for teaching, learning, research and more, made available free through open licenses, which allow uses of the materials that would not be easily permitted under copyright alone."
Importance of Open Educational Resources
Following are some of importance of OERs.
- OERs are useful in improving education across the globe.
- They offer free access to some of the world’s best courses.
- OERs allow us to bring the excellent teaching learning materials in to our education system
- They offer equal access to knowledge and re-usability.
- They provide self-paced learning.
Various OER Initiatives:
Some of the initiatives are provided here for your reference.
Karnataka Open Educational Resources (KOER)
During 2013-14, the “Karnataka Open Educational Resources” (KOER) program was designed and implemented by RMSA Karnataka with DSERT for its 'in-service teacher education' component.
Objectives of KOER are:
- To support the practicing teachers of Karnataka in their professional development
- To support the practicing teachers of Karnataka in their classroom teaching learning processes.
National Repository of Open Educational Resources (NROER)
NROER is launched by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India. NROER is developed as a solution to address the challenges faced by the education sector of our country.
Objectives of NROER are:
- To store, preserve and provide access to a variety of digital resources to students and teachers.
- To engage the teacher community in the development and sharing of digital resources.
- To improve the quality of the education system of the country.
Creative Common Licensing:
Creative commons (CC) is a global non profit organization which provides free legal tools i.e. Copy right licenses. It is an organization that provides ready-made licensing agreements that are less restrictive than the "all rights reserved" terms of standard international copyright.
Creative Commons Licensing System
In education Creative commons (CC) has become popular licensing system. Creative commons (CC)has designed a collection of licenses to suit to sharing content under various conditions. Advantages of using Creative Commons License are as follows.
- They are easily understood and commonly used. Conditions of a work can be easily understood by the users and re-users of that work.
- It is easy for others to find a CC licensed resource on the Web.
- They have Legal code, Commons code and Digital code.
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