JISC

This report aims to articulate the advantages and imperatives for sharing learning resources using evidence from the UK and elsewhere.

In 2007 one of the key conclusions from the synthesis report Sharing e-Learning Content (SELC) was that, while evidence may exist in support of it, the business case for an institution to share learning materials has not been sufficiently well articulated in the UK. In fact, the issue highlighted is rather broader. There is evidence that would support a range of business cases, such as those for:

• lecturers sharing learning materials
• lecturers using and attributing others’ materials
• institutions putting in place policies whereby learning materials are well managed, so that they can be shared appropriately and reused over time
• the UK tertiary education sector as a whole putting in place arrangements in support of sharing learning materials

This report aims to articulate the advantages and imperatives for sharing learning resources using evidence from the UK and elsewhere. This JISC-funded study has also identified a number of compelling business cases and has developed a set of variations as a result of studying a range of business models. It highlights some interesting trends as many of the existing business models have reached a level of maturity and are currently under review.

Summary

The vision of a world where teachers in HE, FE and WBL/CPD would share and re-purpose their learning materials, using the Web as a medium, with the support of interoperability standards, and repository platforms utilising those standards has been with us for many years. Despite our best efforts and good intentions we've not always moved forward as fast as we would have liked. We've encountered many barriers, several forks in the road and often had to make choices without any maps at all. We've tried to develop a few one-way systems that have caused frustration and imposed some risk averse regulations. We've witnessed a few accidents and mourned a few casualties. And now we find that after all that work and, sometimes painful, experience our world has changed. It’s as if we now have access to spinners112 from which we have a broader and expanded view. Many of the barriers are no longer even relevant. Some still exist (but we know them very well) and the end goal remains the same but we have a clearer picture of the many routes we can follow to get there, and also some of the shortcuts.

This may be taking the analogy a bit far but the evidence suggests that the landscape of policy, technology, and learning and teaching practice may have changed sufficiently for us to realise the vision. There are many different models of service to support sharing of learning and teaching resources and there are as many different contexts in which these need to operate. Each model has grown and adapted to the changing landscape. It is important that policy makers, funders, institutional managers, organisations concerned with learning and teaching, learners and teachers have an opportunity to engage with the benefits of sharing, and have robust mechanisms to support their sharing context. The business cases presented as part of this study go some way towards articulating the evidence that there are benefits to sharing at global, national, regional, and individual levels.

Download the full report