Tuesday, March 25, 2008

We need user stories

As the educator mini-handbook takes shape it is time to add stories. This project needs stories in the following areas:

Finding OER: Which sources have you found particularly useful? Not helpful? Search engine strategies?

Creating OER: Software, practices and tips for creating an OER.

Localize and Remix OER: Stories of OER projects that involved remix, or why you localized a particular OER.

Licensing perspectives: Which license do you prefer to use and why? Would you recommend a different license for beginners?

Using OER: Stories of using OER, both in the classroom and online.

Publishing OER: Strategies for successful publishing and why you chose a particular method. 

These stories do not have to be glowing reports of successful OER's, because newcomers can learn just as much from failures as they can successes. The stories do not have to be particularly long; a simple paragraph in most cases would be great. I've written a few starting statements and you're welcome use these ideas as a springboard for your own.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

PDF export

In order to get a sense for the progress on the mini-handbook I used an extremely helpful feature of WikiEducator - collections. In WikiEducator, a collection is a series of pages that you've specially marked.  Creating a collection is easy; use the box below the search bar, located on the left side of any WikiEducator page. In this box you can add the current page to your collection or follow the link to your current collection.

Once you are viewing your current collection, you can modify/rearrange the order in which they appear. On the right side of the page you'll see the "Download PDF" button. The export takes a few seconds, so be patient. This feature opens up many possibilities for sharing and distribution.

The educator mini-handbook, by the way, is about 69 pages long. It has come a long way since January and I'm confident it will be even better in the weeks to come. As always, feel free to leave your comments, make edits or send me an e-mail at seth nospace, nospam gurell at gmail.com