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Where do we start? Are we looking for each bulleted point to have it's own page? Or each section? Where do we start?

Marionjensen (talk)07:45, 31 January 2008

Right now the plan is for each major section (Get, Publish, etc.) to be its own page, although each section will take up multiple printed pages. As for the question of where do we start, I'm going to post a new thread on that.

Sgurell (talk)04:59, 1 February 2008

Hi,

It would be useful to create a table on the content outline page listing each of the main sections of the combined guide.

For example the section on introducing OERs might look something like this

Introducing OERs[edit]

In the combined outline this is now listed as background.

Aims Subsections Prerequisite units Intended target audience Scope
To provide a brief overview of OERs and why they're important.
  • What OERs are
  • How the field evolved (Brief history)
  • Why they're important (Value proposition)
  • Key questions for decision makers
  • Key questions for educators (Advantages / disadvantages)
  • Summary
None
  • Newbies
  • Educators
  • Policy makers
30 minute learning resource

From a learning design perspective there are two approaches we could consider

  1. Having one units with multiple tracks (eg one for teachers and another section for policy makers as in the case of the example above)
  2. Descrete units for a more homogeneous target audience. For example, a Unit on Developing and OER friendly Intellectual Policy may be of more interest to a managers/ decision-makers group whereas a unit on remixing free content may be more appropriate for teachers/educators.

I think the OER Handbook and its subsequent subsections should cater for both approaches. Spending a little time on generating a table like this will save a lot of time for the project down the track. It will also give clear guidelines and parameters for members of the community who would like to participate.

Furthermore, doing it in this way will help in determining the structure & scope for each unit. This will become the navigation for the respective units in the wiki.

Finally -- for each section I think a little needs analysis of the target audience would help a lot. Nothing too elaborate -- but a simple list of the kinds of questions the target audience are likely to ask pertaining to the relevant section will make sure that our handbook is a compelling page turner.

We should also think about designing these materials as interactive texts -- by that I mean incorporating useful activities for the user. Take a look at the Newbie Tutorials for ideas.

Mackiwg (talk)13:09, 2 February 2008

I've added another outline to the OER handbook main page that attempts to use the suggestions you've provided. Feel free to take a look and make suggestions. I'll continue to work on it.

Sgurell (talk)08:58, 6 February 2008
 

I'm still with Teemu's deceptively simple spanner in the works when he called for a straight an simple "text book". The table above is using design and language that potentially narrows the scope and audience to education only. My preference is to stick with established bookish formats and structures (chapters, parts, footnotes, figures, index) and then complement it with worksheets for different contexts. If you can keep this in mind when you propose structures it will keep the door open for me to participate... unless you can convince me of the worth of edumacationing this from the start..

Leighblackall (talk)00:26, 11 February 2008