Simplicity and design as key success factors of the OER repository LeMill
Published | September 2008 |
Journal | eLearning Papers Pages 1-4 |
ABSTRACT
This article focuses on the OER (Open Educational Resources) repository LeMill, which is a web community for finding, authoring and sharing learning resources, provided as a free and open service to everyone at http://lemill.net. Unlike many OER repositories that have authoritative content, LeMill relies on grassroots activity to get new content. All resources are created and edited by volunteer teachers and content authors. The success of LeMill shows that a grassroots OER repository can grow to be so valuable that it attracts new members and new resources by itself. The technology behind the community is not spectacularly ground-breaking, but the extensive design and simplicity are what make LeMill different from most other OER repositories. As a premise, this article claims that it is the emergence of simple enough tools that allow fundamental changes in people's behaviour. Based on the experiences of developing LeMill, the most critical design recommendation for an OER repository is to involve actual teachers throughout the development project. Teacher feedback must be accepted at all times, although it should not be taken at face value. As a closing of this paper, we describe an innovative trinary economy business model for OER repositories which involves teachers, educational administration and text book publishers.Keywords | open source software · business models · collaboration · LeMill · Open Educational Resources · pedagogy · repository · OER creation |
Language | eng |
ISSN | 1887-1542 |
URL | http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=2937505 |
Export options | BibTex · EndNote · Tagged XML · Google Scholar |
Viewed by 178 distinct readers
CLOUD COMMUNITY REVIEWS
The evaluations below represent the judgements of our readers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Cloud editors.










Click a star to be the first to rate this document
▶ POST A COMMENT
SIMILAR RECORDS
Free technology academy: A joint venture of free software and OER
Tebbens, Wouter; Megías, David; David, Jacovkis; Lex, Bijlsma
The decision to publish educational materials openly and under free licenses brings up the challenge of doing it in a sustainable way. Some lessons can be learned from the business models for production, maintenance and ...
Match: open source software; business models; Open Educational Resources
Open educational resources for blended learning in high schools: Overcoming impediments in developing countries
Larson, Richard C.; Murray, Elizabeth M.
With today’s computer and telecommunications technologies, every young person can have a quality education regardless of his or her place of birth. This is the dream that Open Educational Resources (OERs), when viewed ...
Match: repository; collaboration; Open Educational Resources
OER as a model for enhanced teaching and learning
Petrides, Lisa; Jimes, Cynthia; Middleton-Detzner, Clare; Howell, Holly
This article presents preliminary findings from a research study conducted by the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education on the role of open educational resources (OER) in transforming pedagogy. ...
Match: collaboration; Open Educational Resources; pedagogy
Open Educational Resources in Brazil: State-of-the-art, challenges and prospects for development and innovation
dos Santos, Andreia Inamorato
The book “Open Educational Resources in Brazil: State-of-the-Art, Challenges and Prospects for Development and Innovation”(author – Andreia Inamorato dos Santos) has been out of print. This is the second IITE ...
Match: repository; collaboration
OER in the mobile era: Content repositories’ features for mobile devices and future trends
Specht, Marcus; Ternier, Stefaan; Drachsler, Hendrik; Tabuenca, Bernardo
Learning objects and open contents have been named in the Horizon reports from 2004 and 2010 respectively, predicting to have an impact in the short term due to the current trend of offering open content for free on the ...
Match: repository; Open Educational Resources
How are higher education institutions dealing with openness? A survey of practices, beliefs, and strategies in five european countries
Muñoz, Jonatan Castaño; Punie, Yves; dos Santos, Andreia Inamorato; Mitic, Marija; Morais, Rita
Open Education is on the agenda of half of the surveyed Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in France, Germany, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom. For the other half of HEIs, Open Education does not seem to be an ...
Match: open source software; collaboration
Implications of the Delphi method in the evaluation of sustainability open education resource repositories
Wang, Xiaochen; Chen, Tingting; Zhang, Yihan; Yang, Harrison Hao
To better understand the sustainable development of open educational resources (OER), this paper aimed to break through the original ‘fixed’, highly structured evaluation system and develop an open and flexible ...
Match: repository
OER models that build a culture of collaboration: A case exemplified by Curriki 2 open source – The solution
Kurshan, Barbara
This article explores the impact that Open Educational Resources (OER) can have on eliminating the “Education Divide.” Advances in information technologies have created unique opportunities for the free exchange and ...
Match: open source software; collaboration
When the mummy is digital: preservation and dissemination
Minguillón Alfonso, Julià
Most educational institutions include nowadays a digital repository as part of their development and positioning strategy. The main goals of a digital repository are preservation and dissemination, which are some how ...
Match: repository; Open Educational Resources
YouTube as a repository: the creative practice of students as producers of open educational resources
Keegan, H.; Bell, F.
In this paper we present an alternative view of Open Educational Resources (OERs). Rather than focusing on open media resources produced by expert practitioners for use by peers and learners, we examine the practice of ...
Match: repository; Open Educational Resources