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There has been little research into the impact of textbook costs on higher education in the United Kingdom. To better understand textbook use patterns and the issues faced by UK students and educators the UK Open Textbooks Project (2017–2018, http://ukopentextbooks.org/)) conducted quantitative survey research with United Kingdom educators in September 2018. This article reports on the findings of this survey, which focussed on awareness of open educational resources; textbook use and rationale; awareness and use of open textbooks; and open licensing. Results reveal fertile ground for open textbook adoption with potential to support a wide range of open educational practices. The findings indicate strategies for supporting pedagogical innovation and student access through the mainstream adoption of open textbooks.

The affordance of social interaction has been a part of open online repositories of teaching and learning resources for nearly two decades. Repositories are built not only to collect and disseminate materials, but enable users to collaborate and review, comment on and rate the content they access. However, research indicates that (a) most users do not participate in this type of generative use, and (b) the possibility of social interaction does not necessarily signal active participation in social interaction. In recent years the positive effects of gamification and social networking elements on user engagement have come to the fore in educational settings. From this stance, a quantitative study was conducted to assess users’ acceptance of the existing game mechanics of a large national repository of educational resources, their attitudes towards the inclusion of extra features, and teachers’ motivation to share openly. Our results indicate that teachers do not see open repositories as social networks, but as libraries of resources, and are likely to share if rewarded by intrinsic rather than extrinsic factors. Abstract in Spanish La posibilidad de interaccion social viene formando parte de los repositorios abiertos de recursos para la ensenanza y el aprendizaje durante casi dos decadas. Los repositorios existen no solo para recoger y diseminar materiales educativos, sino que tambien permiten a los usuarios colaborar, comentar y evaluar el contenido al que acceden. Sin embargo, estudios de investigacion senalan que (a) la mayoria de usuarios no participan en este tipo de comportamiento generativo, y (b) la oportunidad de interaccion social no conlleva necesariamente la activa participacion en la interaccion social. En los ultimos anos el impacto positivo de la ludificacion y otros elementos caracteristicos de las redes sociales sobre el compromiso del usuario han pasado a un primer plano en contextos educativos. Es por eso que se realiza este estudio cuantitativo para determinar como los usuarios de un repositorio nacional de recursos didacticos valoran las estrategias de juego del sistema, su actitud ante la inclusion de nuevas estrategias, y que les motiva a compartir abiertamente. Los resultados indican que los profesores no consideran los repositorios abiertos como redes sociales sino como bibliotecas de recursos, y es mas probable que compartan si se les premia con factores intrinsecos y no extrinsecos. Abstract in Dutch Sociale interactie heeft de voorbije twee decennia opportuniteiten geboden binnen open online repositories voor leermiddelen voor het onderwijs. Repositories zijn niet alleen gebouwd om materialen te verzamelen en te verspreiden, maar ook om gebruikers in staat te stellen om samen te werken aan inhouden en deze te becommentarieren en te beoordelen. Echter, uit onderzoek blijkt dat (a) de meeste gebruikers dergelijk generatief gedrag niet stellen, en (b) de mogelijkheid tot sociale interactie niet noodzakelijk leidt tot deelname aan sociale interactie. In de afgelopen jaren kwamen de positieve effecten van gamification en social networking elementen op betrokkenheid van gebruikers naar voren in educatieve contexten. Vanuit dit standpunt, werd een kwantitatief onderzoek uitgevoerd om aanvaarding te evalueren van bestaande ‘game mechanics’ bij gebruikers van een grote repository van educatieve leermiddelen, hun houding ten opzichte van het opnemen van extra mogelijkheden, en leraren hun motivatie om te delen. Onze resultaten geven aan dat leraren open repositories niet als sociale netwerken zien, maar als bibliotheken van middelen, en ze meer geneigd zijn te delen door intrinsieke in plaats dan extrinsieke factoren. Abstract in French L’accessibilite a l’interaction sociale est une composante cle des archives ouvertes en ligne de ressources d’enseignement et d’apprentissage depuis pres de deux decennies. Ces archives sont concues non seulement pour rassembler et diffuser du materiel, mais aussi afin de permettre aux utilisateurs de collaborer, reviser, commenter et evaluer le contenu auquel ils ont acces. Cependant, la recherche indique que (a) la plupart des utilisateurs ne participent pas a ce type de generation de contenu, et (b) la possibilite d’une interaction sociale ne signifie pas forcement une participation active a cette interaction sociale. Au cours des dernieres annees, les effets positifs de la ludification et du reseautage social sur la participation des utilisateurs ont ete mis en evidence dans les milieux educatifs. Par consequent, une etude quantitative a ete menee afin d’evaluer l’acceptation par les utilisateurs de la mecanique de jeu en evidence dans une archive nationale consequente de ressources pedagogiques, leurs attitudes a l’egard de l’inclusion de fonctionnalites supplementaires, et la motivation des enseignants a partager ouvertement. Nos resultats indiquent que les enseignants ne considerent pas les archives ouvertes en tant que reseaux sociaux, mais comme des bibliotheques de ressources, et sont susceptibles de partager si la recompense est plutot de nature intrinseque qu’extrinseque.

The Open Educational Resource (OER) movement has been successful in developing a large, global community of practitioners, in releasing high quality learning material and influencing policy. It now stands at the cusp of mainstream adoption, which will require reaching different audiences than previously. In this contribution the findings of the OER Research Hub are used to identify three categories of OER user: OER active, OER as facilitator and OER consumer. These groups have different requirements of OER and thus varying strategies would be required to meet their needs if mainstream adoption was to be realized.

The true power of comparative research around the impact and use of open educational resources is only just being realised, largely through the work done by the Hewlett-funded OER Research Hub, based at The Open University (UK). Since late 2012, the project has used a combination of surveys, interviews and focus groups to gather data about the use of open educational resources (OER) by educators, formal learners and informal learners across the globe. These data focus on the overall picture emerging from the survey research of the project, which presently comprises more than 6390 responses, 50.3% of which are informal learners, 24.7% of which are formal learners, 21.6% of which are educators and 3.4% of which are librarians. Results from more than 20 individual questionnaires have been compiled, including surveys of K12 and Flipped Learning teachers; college educators from the CCCOER consortium; users of iTunesU, OpenLearn, OpenStax, Saylor, Siyavula and the YouTube channel of The Open University.

This article examines the introduction of new online technologies to support distance language learning in a higher education institution in the UK, charting the development from using telephone conferencing in the 1990s to the implementation of Moodle and videoconferencing more recently. It uses the sociocultural concept of the learner–context interface to emphasise the centrality of both learners and context in the design and delivery of technology-supported language courses rather than making the development of computer-mediated learning opportunities the main focus. Building on research and evaluation work carried out over more than 15 years, the authors of this article analyse the issues that have arisen and that have affected change regarding technology and pedagogy. Central areas of investigation in terms of the learners were found to be interaction, learning communities, metacognition, literacy, affect and learner support; in terms of context they include task design, teacher roles and te...

This article describes the rationale for pedagogical, technological and organisational choices in the design of a virtual learning environment (VLE) for an upper-intermediate Spanish course with regard to the roles of participants (tutors, moderators and learners). We report on findings from a preliminary evaluation of the interaction between the different actors and this space, using quantitative and qualitative data obtained from interviews, questionnaires and analysis of usage logs. We look at the tensions that emerge as tutors and learners adopt new roles and engage in new pedagogical relationships around the opportunities afforded by this kind of teaching and learning space. We argue that our attempt to promote interaction through our VLE model has resulted in a contested space where traditional hierarchies and relationships between tutors and learners are in a state of flux and where new hierarchies and relationships are constantly being forged. Finally we explore new ways in which tutors’ roles mig...

Open educational resources (OER) have been identified as having the potential to extend opportunities for learning to non-formal learners. However, little research has been conducted into the impact of OER on non-formal learners. This paper presents the results of a systematic survey of more than 3,000 users of open educational resources (OER). Data was collected between 2013 and 2014 on the demographics, attitudes and behaviours of users of three repositories. Questions included a particular focus on the behaviours of non-formal learners and the relationship between formal and non-formal study. Frequency analysis shows that there are marked differences in patterns of use, user profiles, attitudes towards OER, types of materials used and popularity of different subjects. The experience of using OER is fairly consistent across platforms in terms of satisfaction and impact on future behaviour. On the whole, non-formal learners surveyed were highly positive about their use of OER and believe they will continue to use them. With regards to this making formal study more likely some degree of polarization was observed: some believed formal study was now more likely, while others felt it made this less likely. On the whole, while non-formal learners are enthusiastic about using free and online resources, the language and concept of OER does not seem to be well understood in the groups surveyed. A range of findings relating to OER selection and use as well as differences between repositories are explored in the discussion.

The OER Research Hub has been investigating the impact of OER, using eleven hypotheses, and a mixed methods approach to establish an evidence base. This paper explores the findings relating to teaching and learning. The findings reveal a set of direct impacts, including an increase in factors relating to student performance, increased reflection on the part of educators, and the use of OER to trial and supplement formal study. There are also indirect impacts, whose benefits will be seen after several iterations. These include the wide scale reporting of adaptation, and the increase in sharing and open practice that results from OER usage.

In April 2013 the Hewlett-funded OER Research Hub (OERRH) Project, in collaboration with the Flipped Learning Network (FLN), conducted an online survey of flipped educators with the aim of finding out about their use of open educational resources (OER). This paper presents the results of this survey in relation to what school teachers consider to be the impact of OER on students in a flipped classroom. Two brief case studies are introduced to exemplify how OER use leads to increased student engagement in their learning process.

This chapter considers how the absence of certain aspects of non-verbal behaviouraffects interaction in audio-graphical learning environments. The authors introducestrategies to deal with turn-taking, time lag and other incidences, while observing thedifficulty in applying the communicative approach to language teaching in thesesettings. By highlighting the limited validity of an extrapolation of methodologiesbetween face-to-face and virtual classrooms, we call for research to address the needfor a new course of action; one that takes full advantage of the technology in its ownright.

As the last ten years have seen the advent of the Open Educational Resources (OER) movement, large numbers of digital content are now available for learners and teachers to use and reuse. Engaging with OER compels educators to address issues of sharing, quality, ownership, and changing professional practices. In this report, we describe the experience of setting up LORO, a repository of languages OER, especially in relation to teachers' perceptions of barriers and enablers to successful engagement with open content.