Feedback on Version 1.0 of the elevator pitch.
Here is the first attempt:
OERu is an authentically open conduit to learning: an international community of scholars connecting students around the globe with advanced education opportunities; building knowledge and facilitating innovation from any space with a reliable Internet connection. A completely free education, or at substantially reduced rates for those seeking accreditation.
'Through OERu, a vast network of accredited universities, colleges, and polytechnics offer world-class courses in a substantial range of topics. Open enrollment, open textbooks, and open learning platforms enable knowledge acquisition for anyone around the world.
Please provide feedback and suggestions for improvement by clicking on the reply button. Your feedback will inform Version 2 of the pitch.
I think a pitch needs to define the term "OER" concisely.
I also think we should talk about how OERu creates an opportunity for those currently poorly served by traditional tertiary study (i.e. people unable to afford cost or time of tertiary study due to other priorities or tyranny of distance).
I also think two compelling aspects of the OERu are
- opportunistic study (in bursts, not according to an external time line).
- the ability to try (and possibly fail) anonymously.
I also like the idea of OERu being a quiet, humble revolution, democratising tertiary education for the masses, and acting as a rising tide (in the form of ever-improving educational resources available to all) which raises all (learners'/educators') boats.
I agree with Dave, our research and anecdotal evidence shows that executive leaders do not know what "OER" is.
The concept of "Open educational resources" (OER) is complex. We know from the Babson survey that the majority of educators and adminstrators (+70%) can't define OER and don't know why its important.
I don't think that its prudent to attempt defining OER in an elevator pitch - some things are complex and we need to live with that ;-)
Perhaps the approach is:
- Treat "OERu" as a "brand" without defining the acronym. Create interest in the OERu to find out more.
- Say things like "Open education is about removing barriers to access using the power / afordances of the Internet"
My concern with treating "OERu" as a pure brand is that we'll effectively be defining OER in a roundabout way to describe what the brand stands for, but without doing so explicitly, which I think might result in more confusion rather than a bit of clarity...
When trying to describe what I do to people who voice an interest, I usually tell them something like "we are democratising tertiary education by helping educators create open curriculum materials that are available for anyone with an internet connection to access and learn from, and for any tertiary institution to incorporate into their own materials, often contributing their improvements back. It's open sourcing education - it's a quietly and gently disruptive, collaborative and profound revolution." :)
I think the partner elevator pitch needs to be about organisations rather than individuals.
Eg international community of scholars could be stated as an international network of like minded partners.
I reckon these "sound bites" provide a range of useful concepts in a concise form...
Elucidating a few challenges with concepts or phrases in Version 1 of the Elevator pitch:
- community of scholars: The OERu does not provide tutorial support, therefore from a learner perspective the notion of access to a community of scholars may create false expectations. I wouldn't use this concept for an elevator pitch.
- building knowledge: While the discovery and dissemination of knowledge is core business for research-led universities - the OERu network does not carry out pure research. I wouldn't refer to building knowledge - but rather shift the emphasis to learning.
- facilitating innovation: The OERu is an innovative model - but our core purpose is not to facilitate innovation. We implement innovative pedagogies (but stating this could have negative impact within the academy - its best to avoid assertions about particular pedagogical approaches.
- free As indicate by Dave in the meeting, unfortunately the English language does not distinguish between the two meanings of free (i.e gratis and liberty). The free we are referring to is "no-cost" (gratis). That said, the majority of readership would assume that free means no cost. Learners will pay for assessment services - so we must be careful in how we state free, i.e. learning is free, but assessment service will carry cost.
- knowledge acquisition - its pedantic, but imo its better to refer to learning rather than knowledge acquisition so as to avoid any epistemological debates which are rife in the academy ;-).
- students - we mustn't refer to students. The concept of student in many jurisdictions suggests that there is a contractual relationship between the student and the teaching organisation. There is no contractual relationship between an OERu learner and the partner institution until the point where they request assessment services. We must be careful not to convey the idea that partner institutions incur legal responsibility for "free" OERu learners. Our practice at OERu is to refer to learners (not students.)
Key themes that are important (I also recommend consulting the [OERu/Planning/OERu_marketing_communications_and_partner_engagement/Sound_bites_and_barriers#Sound_bites_capturing_the_essence_of_the_OERu|sound bites]:
- OERu is an international network of accredited organisations leading and facilitating access to more affordable and sustainable provision of education to recognised qualifications using the power of open source materials.
- Learners take courses for free and can count learning towards recognised credentials.
- We do this using open online courses - no password is required, you can learn at your own pace and take assessments when you're ready.
