Workshop facilitated by Brandon Muramatsu and Jeff Merriman
OER10 Conference, Cambridge

Image credit: slowmuse.files
Live blogging: 1:30PM
OER Reuse
Jeff started by defining interoperability as ” … the ability of two or more systems or components to exchange information and to use the information that has been exchanged”. However, their preferred definition is ” a measure of the ease of integration between two systems or software components to achieve a functional goal”.
Brandon and Jeff argue that interoperability is not just about passing information. A highly interoperable integration is one that can allows the user to do the things that are aimed to be achieved.
There are many applications and many OERs. Multiple repositories and VLEs. The aim is to define an integration goal, one-to-many and many-to-many , particularly for non-technical people.
The India Institute for Human Settlement is a new MIT initiative in India and is thinking of ways to be able to change easily and cheaper to better and most up-to-date technological alternatives in the future, as the project progresses.
Current tools that focus on interoperability of systems and/or resources:
The conversation moved into discussing what interoperability means – interoperability of systems or pedagogies? Both seemed to be important and needed. However, it is a difficult matter because each OER is produced for a specific context and audience and any reusability of such materials would have to contemplate a process of adaptation and localisation that can hardly be done by a technological tool without the time-consuming ‘human thinking’ component.
It was also brought to the discussion that OER is not only for teachers but also for learners, and interoperability should take the learners into consideration too. The discussion needs to be continued as at the moment many issues regarding interoperability of OER projects seem to remain a challenge to educationalists and technologists.
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