This section concerns both internal and external partnerships.
At the JISC Innovating e-Learning Conference 2010, Andy Beggan (Head of Learning Technology at the University of Nottingham) and Simon Thomson (Principal Lecturer at Leeds Metropolitan University) gave a joint presentation on “Sustaining OER innovation through collaboration and partnership” set within the context of two OER (Open Educational Resources) innovation projects:
A wiki for the conference was created to give further information about the two projects and the conference session.
Key points made were as follows:
Internal partnerships
“Enablers” for building internal partnerships: |
Also his book with Holger Rathgeber 'The Iceberg is Melting'
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Attributes of successful partnerships |
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Outcomes of the internal partnership developed as part of the projects: |
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External partnerships
Benefits of external partnerships:
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Examples of International partnerships (OER) |
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Examples of National Partnerships (OER) |
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Support for external partnerships (OER) |
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Outcomes from external partnerships (OER) |
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Potential barriers to external partnerships |
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You can view the recording of the session and download the presentation.
At the same JISC online conference, the session Is the future mobile? led by Graham Brown-Martin (founder of Learning Without Frontiers - LWF) gave rise to the most lively debates of the conference which was in large part due to Graham’s background as a “disruptive thinker” and also due to the variety of institutional roles of the conference participants which included:
Graham’s views appealed greatly to those with a more technical background whilst academic practitioners and senior managers responsible for institutional change generally were frequently saying “yes but….”. As is so beneficial with “disruptive thinkers”, it is not that they get everything right, nor do they always see the complete picture …. but they do have a knack of generating valuable dialogue and bringing key issues to the fore, even if emotions sometimes cloud the debate. Of course, Graham is right, in that mobile technologies are going to become ubiquitous and the education sector needs to embrace them – sooner, rather than later. The key issue is how can institutions respond to and keep up with these constant innovations and the emergence of low-cost consumer technologies.
One thing is certain is that academics/teaching staff, educational technologists and senior managers in institutions need to work more collaboratively and in partnerships (both internal and external) and this will require each to better understand the needs, issues and desires of the others.