Comments on: On the Sustainability of OER Projects

By: David Wiley

David Wiley — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:40:40 +0000

“To foster the movement in the long-term it behooves us to focus on the immediate needs of local sustainability.” Yes, yes, yes. Otherwise, we become the dictionary example of “flash in the pan.”

By: Mr. Jared Stein

Mr. Jared Stein — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 18:26:00 +0000

@Jeremy I like where you’re going with this, but I’m not sure if adapting existing financial systems to OER efforts is “artificial structures”, though maybe I’m misunderstanding. I for one am willing to accept that the movement could be extinct, and for a good reason, but, based on several online cultural shifts toward “free” or “open” information, I think we’re more likely going with the flow rather than against it.

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 03:17:05 +0000

I like your ideas on mainstreaming. Just today in our college technology council meeting, I corrected the chairman’s assertion that it’s illegal to upload textbooks to our CMS. “It’s could be an *open* textbook,” I said.

But… You’re a “strong-minded capitalist, eh? Let’s talk about how companies react to market forces.

Look at diversified companies like IBM. I must admit that I’m a little biased (having completed three internships there as an undergrad), but whenever a market they’re in becomes a commodity, they bail out responsibly. It’s not worth it for them to compete on razor-thin margins.

Compare IBM’s actions to one-trick ponies like SCO, or consortia like RIAA, who employ every method at their disposal to force their relevance on the marketplace when demand is moving the other way.

Let’s bring this model into the OER debate on sustainability. *Are we so convinced that OER is the way to go that we have to put artificial structures on it to keep it viable?* Or are we willing to accept that, like an organism ill-suited for its environment, this movement may someday be extinct… and for good reason?

By: Tom Carey

Tom Carey — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 00:31:40 +0000

Another article to address OER sustainability is the chapter “Extending the Impact of Open Educational Resources through Alignment with…Institutional Strategy: Lessons Learned from the MERLOT Community Experience” in the book “Opening Up Education”. The part that applies to this discussion is a description of the MERLOT cooperative approaches to sustaining institutional investments – in essence, identifying strategic institutional priorities where support for OER work would have an evident payoff, rather than going for ‘big picture’ support of OER as opening up education to the world.

You can access the chapter online at http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/chapters/0262033712chap12.pdf

By: Thieme Hennis

Thieme Hennis — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 09:58:13 +0000

Hi, interesting piece. I am also convinced that lower barriers for publication, a more intrinsic relation with external parties, and new business models may lead to sustainability of OER. I am currently working with an OER/social networking startup, and we (http://aboutpeers.com) have proposed to develop the next Delft OCW site.

Find the link to my report on the future of Delft OCW (thesis project) here: http://hennistalk.blogspot.com/2008/05/final-thesis-report-future-of-delft.html

A shorter description, but without extensive description of the revenue models and overall sustainability can be found in the article I presented in last year’s Ed Media conference: http://www.scribd.com/doc/11464174/ED-Media-08-Future-of-Delft-OCW-A-Case-Study