OERu/Open business model canvases/Charles Sturt University

Open Business Model Canvas

What are the most important costs inherent in our business model?
Which Key Resources are most expensive?
Which Key Activities are most expensive?
Is your business more Cost Driven (leanest cost structure, low price value proposition, maximum automation, outsourcing)
Value Driven (focused on value creation, premium value proposition)

Overall Open Environment Business Fits In? What is the bigger open context your business sits within? Charles Sturt University (CSU) has just begun its journey to incorporate open education practices (OEP) and the use of open education resources (OERs) into institutional policies, practices and curriculum development. CSU is a large regional university of 40,000 students with a footprint covering most of inland New South Wales and is currently Australia’s largest distance education provider. Over 65% of students are studying UG and PG courses in off-campus mode. Many students are first in family at university and a high number are from low socio-economic sectors. All courses are online regardless of on-campus or off-campus mode. CSU has a strong commitment to indigenous reconciliation and sustainable regional development. What open movements exist already that your open business will build on and participate in? CSU is a member of OERu and will offer a course in Introduction to Indigenous Australia: Culture, history & contemporary issues very soon. It is hoped to work collaboratively with other partners to expand this offering. Our second offering from an articulated Masters in Open, Online and Distance Education is under collaborative development. A number of short MOOCs, or tasters, have already been running, mainly in the Business Faculty in partnership with a host provider called IT Masters. These have been very successful in attracting new students. Also just launched by CSU is a MOOC called What’s Uni Like? http://www.whats-uni-like.edu.au/ The MOOC is funded by the national government for use by all Australian universities in raising high school students’ aspirations of university education. CSU is the lead partner, with University of Tasmania and University of Technology, Sydney, in an OLT project "Students, Universities and Open Education" with the aims of determining how student learning outcomes can be enhanced with OEPs, capturing University practice via a range of case studies and developing a Roadmap for a National OEP Strategy for Australia. Internally, CSU has: • Established u!magine as a think-tank and an incubator for educational innovation including OEP http://www.csu.edu.au/uimagine/home • Within the Division of Student Learning, revamped position descriptions for new Director level positions to include OEP and OERs in the selection criteria and position responsibility • Chosen to Focus on Open Education at 2015 internal CSU T&L conference • Addressed OER in CSU’s Smart Learning curriculum renewal process and in professional development of all Course Directors • Undertaken a preliminary redesign of the compulsory Graduate Certificate in Learning & Teaching in Higher Education for university staff to encompass use of MOOCs as alternative assessment tasks. • Articulated this course into a new Masters level course on Open Online and Distance Education. • A recent Badges Project has scoped context for use of CSU badges. • Undertaken to reinvigorate university policies to incorporate openness and OERs. These include: o Development of a Distance Education Strategy which recognises the need to engage with OERs and integrate these with content developed at CSU; an Open Strategy is proposed as a separate policy; o Review of recognition of prior learning (RPL) policy which currently allows award of 60% or higher towards a CSU degree; exploring how much further this can be opened up; o Preliminary investigation of open degree pathways; o Mention of OER adoption and development in guidelines for academic promotion. What is the shared outcome sought and how is it mutually beneficial? To improve the visibility of CSU in the international online space; seek cost-efficiencies in course design; raise aspirations and provide alternative pathways for under-privileged students into CSU. These align well with the OERu mission.
Key Partners Who are our Key Partners? OERu partners; IT Masters; UTS & UTAS (Australian universities)in an OLT project developing a roadmap to a National OEP Strategy. Plan to work collaboratively to develop open courses with other HR institutions Who are our key suppliers? Existing OERs; OERu Partners; Academic staff within CSU; and plan to collaborate with other HE institutions Which Key Resources are we acquiring from partners? To be developed but will include relevant OERs, open source technology, possibly infrastructure, relevant expertise. Which Key Activities do partners perform? Collaboration and sharing Motivations for Partnerships Optimization and economy Reduction of risk and uncertainty' ' Acquisition of particular resources and activities	Key Activities What Key Activities do our Value Propositions require? Our Distribution Channels? Customer Relationships? Revenue streams? Categories Production Problem Solving Platform/Network	Value Proposition What value do we deliver to the customer? Open access to quality learning and teaching. Affordability - no course fees except for assessment, no textbook costs. Assist digital literacies. Free supplementary resources. An international experience. An opportunity to 'taste' higher education without cost. Provide pathways. Promotes the value of OEP to senior executive and a range of institutional staff. Provides hands -on experience in the design of open reosurces and courses. Which one of our customer’s problems are we helping to solve? For students, access and affordability. Which customer needs are we satisfying? Aspiring to higher education. What bundles of products and services are we offering to each Customer Segment? Characteristics Newness Performance Customization “Getting the Job Done” Design Brand/Status Price Cost Reduction Risk Reduction Accessibility Convenience/Usability	Customer Relationships What type of relationship does each of our Customer Segments expect us to establish and maintain with them? New students: quality teaching with learning resources and feedback; will be structured/guided self-service. OERu Partners: collaborative and sharing as co-developers. National and Government partners: collaboration and sharing; and knowledge and expertise in OEP. Which ones have we established? How are they integrated with the rest of our business model? How costly are they? Examples Personal assistance Dedicated Personal Assistance Self-Service Automated Services	Customer Segments Who are our most important customers? 1) New students: Pathways for new students by attracting students who would not normally attend University - aspirational and skill raising (eg. academic integrity; Targeting low SES students, first in family; Participation by International students, especially from developing countries; Promoting brand to potential International students; 2) OERu Partners Potential partners in developing courses; Co-developing new courses with other Institutions; International presence for DE courses; 3) Government and National Partners OLT Project : working collaboratively with UTS and UTAS Business and private providers - eg. IT Masters 4) Visibility Visbility for the University in a global market.
	Key Resources What Key Resources do our Value Propositions require? Our Distribution Channels? Customer Relationships? Revenue Streams? Types of resources Physical Intellectual (brand patents, copyrights, data) Human Financial		Channels Through which Channels do our Customer Segments want to be reached? Online - Internet; Social Media; dedicated Mobile Apps How are we reaching them now? Online, Facebook, YouTube, some Mobile Apps How are our Channels integrated? Which ones work best? Which ones are most cost-efficient? How do we integrate with customer routine?
Cost Structure Minimal cost for developing courses for the open as we are already a DE provider compared to other open courses; Cost of being a member of OERu; Return on investment is based on intangible factors - visibility, reputation etc; In the future there may be conversions from OERu to fee paying programs	CC Licenses Which Creative Commons license will I use? Still to be determined and approved. preference will be 'as open as possible' but likely to be a range of CC licences used. How does license choice affect the business? OERu Categories Public Domain Mark CC0 CC BY CC BY-SA External resources CC BY-ND CC BY-NC CC BY-NC-SA CC BY-NC-ND	Social Good Beyond revenue and profits what social good is generated by this business? Actively working 'for the public good' by providing free, open access to education, especially to those with currently limited or no access. An aspiration raising endeavor. Provides sustainable education practice. Encourages collaboration and sharing Providing relevance through the range of courses offered.	Revenue Streams Recognition of prior learning; Conversion of students into fee paying courses; Assessment & credentialing on a cost recovery basis - $250 per subject currently; In the future, reputation for high quality and expertise may attract government funding for projects - HEPP; private philanthropical funding for global initiatives, eg Gates, Hewlett Foundations. For what value are our customers really willing to pay? For what do they currently pay? How are they currently paying? How would they prefer to pay? How much does each Revenue Stream contribute to overall revenues? Types Asset sale; Usage fee; Subscription Fees; Lending/Renting/Leasing; Licensing; Brokerage fees; Advertising. Fixed pricing List price; Product feature dependent; Customer segment dependent; Volume dependent Dynamic pricing Negotiation (bargaining); Yield management; Real-time market.