Tonight I finished the week by starting (ha!) the OpenEd 2021 recordings. I had a lot of fun in our sessions! The first recorded session I watched was by Kenneth Feldt and entitled “Open is insufficient: How Innovative Re-use of Content Can Extend Institutional Reach.” Feldt is a managing partner of the Electric Book Company and they have been reaching out to the OER community to promote better content and reusability. The idea Feldt’s team is that of a website with review materials for college level courses in a format that is mobile and desktop friendly, interactive/messaging friendly and student-demand driven. I did not know that OpenStax makes the xml files available! Feldt asked: how can we improve reusability? The first example was improving messaging by allowing instructors, for example, to highlight elements of a figure, create a sharable link, and then use that link to help address a student’s concern. Feldt then shared how collecting useful videos that bring in meaningful perspectives is important. Their team creates curated content that is searchable and directly linked to the textbook. Feldt went on to explain that structure friendly content makes it reusable and shared examples of XML, DITA (Darwin Information Type Architecture), and others or organizing and sharing content. Video quality and length is also important to make it reusable: Feldt explained that legible writing, slow speaking, and length are critical. I thought that Feldt’s example of certification and refreshers for graduate students are excellent examples of uses of these resources we often overlook. This first ten-minute recorded session was packed with ideas to make better resources for learners.
