OERu/Getting started with OERu/Finding your way/Public face and internal operations

When exploring the OERu neighbourhood for the first time it is important to distinguish between the public face and internal operations of the network.

Differentiating public sites from open development sites
The OERu is an open collaboration and we pride ourselves in being distinctively open. We maintain a public and transparent record of all our internal operations which can be viewed by any member of the public not unlike an "open kitchen" where diners can view the preparation of their dishes from start to finish.

Visiting our web sites used for operational planning for the first time can be confusing. The documents and materials hosted on our planning sites are very often works in progress and will go through multiple iterations before they are ready for general "public" consumption. Planning is a complex and messy process and our operational development sites are not intended to function as the public face of the published outputs of our collaboration. The difference with the OERu is that we do not hide the complexities of planning and course development from public view.

So for example, learners and new partners will first engage with the OERu through the main oeru.org website. This is the public face of the OERu and the majority of visitors will not need to explore our neighbourhood beyond the front door and reception room. However, our backyard and kitchen remain open for anyone to see. On the other hand, a course developer would design and draft course materials using WikiEducator. WikiEducator is an internal site used for drafting of course materials publicly. Visitors should be aware that the layout and presentation of this site is not intended to be used as the professional public site for the final published course materials.

A range of technologies for different purposes
The OERu uses a number of technologies to support