Sustaining OER

This week our readings focused on the sustainability of OER. Initially my mind went to

Sustainability = funding teachers over the long term to create OER

(This is certainly one of the pieces of sustaining OER to consider: The OER textbook Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy cost about $190,000 to create and sustain, $154,000 of which consisted of staffing costs.)

However, there are other sustainability concerns beyond paying the staff. Institutions also have to consider sustainability concerns like:

• Technology needs

• Ongoing training for the organization

• Policies surrounding the OER

• Needs for organization and storage of OER

• Sustaining ease of access

• Ensuring that OER is trustworthy and authoritative,

• Ensuring that OER is easily adapted to different languages

• Ensuring that OER follows the licensing demanded when reused

After taking in all of this information, my response was overwhelm. “It’s too big. It will just become a bureaucracy nightmare. I’m out.” But then I read the following from David Wiley,

“What is the future of open education? Where is it going? I think there is only one answer: localization.”

Immediately I felt a release of my shoulders and relief in my heart. Yes, that’s how it can work. How it is implemented will depend on the local community based on funding availabilities and experts and technologies available, and its sustainability will depend on the unique resources and ideas of each community. If we start from the top down, the organic and unique needs of each locale becomes invisible, and the heart of OER--that each local community can freely share and learn from other local communities and continuously improve upon the method of sustaining their OER—will be missed.

My questions to continue chewing on are:

1. Is there an OER container online where local communities or schools can read about other locale’s experiences for sustaining OER and where they can also share their own successes?

2. What sorts of sustainability resources does my local community offer?