Over the years, the rapid advance of the computer and communication technologies has significantly changed the way in which the society communicates and conducts business. Similarly, changes have occurred in the way in which educational resources are designed, developed and made available to learners. Following this trend, the development and adoption of Open Educational Resources (OERs) has been gaining more supporters across the world, as a means to expand access to knowledge and improve education. Indeed, the free and open distribution of educational resources helps disseminate knowledge, facilitates access to information and promotes the democratisation of access to education, benefiting society as a whole. While OERs can bring benefits to, and impact on education, there are still challenges to their widespread production and adoption. One of the challenges faced by developers (including educators and practitioners) of OERs is to produce quality and relevant learning materials, capable of being reused and adapted in different contexts and learning situations. Also, there is a need for mechanisms that provide higher productivity of the development process and quality of the resulting OERs. This work aims to investigate the development of OERs and establish flexible approaches to effectively support the design and creation of these resources. In this context, an agile method for the development and sharing of OERs, named AM-OER, was established. It is grounded on practices of Software Engineering and on practices of Learning Design. Such practices are embedded in the development of OERs aiming at improving quality and facilitating reuse and adaptation. The ultimate aim of AM-OER is to support the development of quality OERs, able to motivate and guide learners in the process of knowledge construction. Preliminary empirical assessments were conducted to validate AM-OER through its application in the design and creation of courses in the free and open source software development and software testing domain. The results obtained so far have shown that the method is feasible and effective for the design and creation of OERs. / Ao longo dos anos, o rápido avanço nas tecnologias computacionais e de comunicação vem alterando de forma significativa o modo com que a sociedade se comunica e conduz seus negócios. De forma análoga, mudanças vêm ocorrendo na maneira com que os recursos educacionais são projetados, desenvolvidos e disponibilizados aos aprendizes. Seguindo essa tendência, o desenvolvimento e a adoção de Recursos Educacionais Abertos (REAs) vêm ganhando cada vez mais adeptos em todo o mundo, como uma forma de ampliar o acesso ao conhecimento e melhorar a educação. De fato, a distribuição livre e aberta de recursos educacionais contribui para a disseminação de conhecimento e facilita o acesso à informação, além de promover a democratização do acesso à educação, beneficiando a sociedade como um todo. Embora REAs possam trazer benefícios e impacto sobre a educação, ainda existem muitos desafios para sua ampla produção e adoção. Um dos desafios enfrentados pelos desenvolvedores (incluindo educadores e praticantes) de REAs é produzir materiais de aprendizagem de qualidade, capazes de serem reusados e adaptados a diferentes contextos e situações de aprendizagem. Evidencia-se também a necessidade de mecanismos que propiciem o aumento da produtividade do processo de desenvolvimento e da qualidade dos REAs elaborados. Este trabalho tem como objetivo investigar o desenvolvimento de REAs e estabelecer abordagens flexíveis para apoiar efetivamente o projeto e a criação desses recursos. Nesse contexto, um método ágil para o desenvolvimento e disponibilização de REAs, AM-OER, foi estabelecido. O método é fundamentado em práticas da Engenharia de Software e práticas de projeto de aprendizagem (Learning Design), incorporadas no desenvolvimento de REAs no intuito de melhorar a sua qualidade e facilitar o reúso e adaptação. O objetivo final do método é apoiar o desenvolvimento de REAs de qualidade, capazes de motivar e guiar os aprendizes no processo de construção de conhecimento. Avaliações empíricas preliminares foram conduzidas para validar o AM-OER por meio de sua aplicação no projeto e criação de cursos nos domínios de desenvolvimento de software livre e teste de software. Os resultados obtidos até o momento demonstram que o método é viável e eficaz no projeto e criação de REAs.

O ensino de computação envolve muitos assuntos que formam a base para uma aprendizagem eficaz. A falta de recursos apropriados torna difícil a apresentação de tais assuntos de forma clara, devido à dinâmica e à complexidade dos mesmos. O ensino de assuntos referentes ao conteúdo de hierarquia de memória e memória virtual é desafiador, porque ambos consideram diferentes aspectos estruturais, funcionais e de desempenho. Muitas abordagens vêm sendo estudadas para tornar o ensino desses assuntos mais atrativo. Uma dessas abordagens considera o desenvolvimento e aplicação de Recursos Educacionais Abertos (REA). Os REA têm sido aplicados com sucesso para ajudar o ensino e a aprendizagem de assuntos desafiadores. Mesmo com conhecimento da possibilidade do uso de REA, muito conteúdos ainda são desprovidos desses recursos. Tendo isso em mente, este trabalho apresenta a transformação do simulador Amnesia em um REA para facilitar o ensino e o aprendizado de memória virtual, simulando aspectos estruturais, funcionais e de desempenho. O foco deste trabalho é melhorar o ensino de Memória Virtual com o auxílio do REA Amnesia. Foram desenvolvidos materiais didáticos para auxiliar os professores e alunos com planos de aula, tutorial de utilização e texto com conteúdo teórico, os quais são disponibilizados juntamente com o REA Amnesia. Para verificar a melhora no ensino e aprendizado foram realizados três experimentos com alunos de graduação e pós-graduação, aplicando avaliações quantitativas e qualitativas. Os experimentos seguiram uma base experimental similar, mas cada experimento teve sua particularidade na aplicação e na análise dos resultados. Os experimentos realizados mostram uma considerável evolução no aprendizado do assunto memória virtual. No primeiro experimento foi possível observar uma melhora 28,8% na quantidade de acertos. No segundo experimento foi possível comparar resultados de alunos que utilizaram o REA Amnesia com alunos que não tiveram nenhuma aula entre as avaliações. Os resultados do terceiro experimento mostram melhorias de até 180% na quantidade de acertos com a utilização do REA Amnesia, para alunos com dificuldades (demonstradas em suas notas), onde o uso do Amnesia se mostrou mais importante. / The teaching of computer science involves many subjects that form the basis for an effective learning. The lack of adequate educational resources makes difficult to present such subjects clearly, due to the dynamics and complexity of them. The teaching of subjects related to the content of memory hierarchy and virtual memory are challenging, because both present distinct aspects, such as: structural, functional and performance. Many approaches have been studied to make the teaching of these aspects more attractive. One of these approaches considers the development and application of Open Educational Resources (OER). OER have been successfully applied to help the teaching and learning of challenging issues. Even knowing the possibility of using OER, many contents do not use such resources. This work presents the transformation of the Amnesia simulator in an OER to make easier the teaching and learning of the virtual memory subject, simulating structural, functional and performance aspects. The focus of this work is to improve the Virtual Memory teaching with the help of the OER Amnesia. We developed teaching materials to help teachers and students with class plans, tutorial of utilization and text with theoretical content, which are available along with the OER Amnesia. In order to verify the improvement in teaching and learning were conducted three experiments with undergraduate and graduate students, applying quantitative and qualitative evaluations. The experiments followed a similar experimental basis, but each experiment had its particularity in the application and analysis of results. The experiments show a considerable progress in the subject virtual memory learning among the students. In the first experiment, it was possible to observe a 28.8% of improvement in the quantity of hits by students. In the second experiment it was possible to compare results of students who used the OER Amnesia with students who had no class between the two tests applied. The results of the third experiment show improvements of up to 180% in the amount of hits, when using Amnesia, for those students with difficulties (demonstrated in their notes), where the use of Amnesia was more significant.

O ensino de computação envolve muitos assuntos que formam a base para uma aprendizagem eficaz. A falta de recursos apropriados torna difícil a apresentação de tais assuntos de forma clara, devido à dinâmica e à complexidade dos mesmos. O ensino de assuntos referentes ao conteúdo de hierarquia de memória e memória virtual é desafiador, porque ambos consideram diferentes aspectos estruturais, funcionais e de desempenho. Muitas abordagens vêm sendo estudadas para tornar o ensino desses assuntos mais atrativo. Uma dessas abordagens considera o desenvolvimento e aplicação de Recursos Educacionais Abertos (REA). Os REA têm sido aplicados com sucesso para ajudar o ensino e a aprendizagem de assuntos desafiadores. Mesmo com conhecimento da possibilidade do uso de REA, muito conteúdos ainda são desprovidos desses recursos. Tendo isso em mente, este trabalho apresenta a transformação do simulador Amnesia em um REA para facilitar o ensino e o aprendizado de memória virtual, simulando aspectos estruturais, funcionais e de desempenho. O foco deste trabalho é melhorar o ensino de Memória Virtual com o auxílio do REA Amnesia. Foram desenvolvidos materiais didáticos para auxiliar os professores e alunos com planos de aula, tutorial de utilização e texto com conteúdo teórico, os quais são disponibilizados juntamente com o REA Amnesia. Para verificar a melhora no ensino e aprendizado foram realizados três experimentos com alunos de graduação e pós-graduação, aplicando avaliações quantitativas e qualitativas. Os experimentos seguiram uma base experimental similar, mas cada experimento teve sua particularidade na aplicação e na análise dos resultados. Os experimentos realizados mostram uma considerável evolução no aprendizado do assunto memória virtual. No primeiro experimento foi possível observar uma melhora 28,8% na quantidade de acertos. No segundo experimento foi possível comparar resultados de alunos que utilizaram o REA Amnesia com alunos que não tiveram nenhuma aula entre as avaliações. Os resultados do terceiro experimento mostram melhorias de até 180% na quantidade de acertos com a utilização do REA Amnesia, para alunos com dificuldades (demonstradas em suas notas), onde o uso do Amnesia se mostrou mais importante. / The teaching of computer science involves many subjects that form the basis for an effective learning. The lack of adequate educational resources makes difficult to present such subjects clearly, due to the dynamics and complexity of them. The teaching of subjects related to the content of memory hierarchy and virtual memory are challenging, because both present distinct aspects, such as: structural, functional and performance. Many approaches have been studied to make the teaching of these aspects more attractive. One of these approaches considers the development and application of Open Educational Resources (OER). OER have been successfully applied to help the teaching and learning of challenging issues. Even knowing the possibility of using OER, many contents do not use such resources. This work presents the transformation of the Amnesia simulator in an OER to make easier the teaching and learning of the virtual memory subject, simulating structural, functional and performance aspects. The focus of this work is to improve the Virtual Memory teaching with the help of the OER Amnesia. We developed teaching materials to help teachers and students with class plans, tutorial of utilization and text with theoretical content, which are available along with the OER Amnesia. In order to verify the improvement in teaching and learning were conducted three experiments with undergraduate and graduate students, applying quantitative and qualitative evaluations. The experiments followed a similar experimental basis, but each experiment had its particularity in the application and analysis of results. The experiments show a considerable progress in the subject virtual memory learning among the students. In the first experiment, it was possible to observe a 28.8% of improvement in the quantity of hits by students. In the second experiment it was possible to compare results of students who used the OER Amnesia with students who had no class between the two tests applied. The results of the third experiment show improvements of up to 180% in the amount of hits, when using Amnesia, for those students with difficulties (demonstrated in their notes), where the use of Amnesia was more significant.

In recent decades, open, online learning environments have become progressively more popular and well-funded. An integral aspect of this open learning movement is the transition of a substantial amount of control of the learning process from designers and instructors to the users engaging with the environment. With heavy investments coming from both the public and private sectors, and an ever-growing market of online learners, it is crucial that we better understand how the provision of user control over the learning process affects the quality of that learning process. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of one aspect of open learning environments that has yet to be fully understood: user choice of learning sequence, or non-sequential user choice. Building on previous research with open educational resources (OERs) designed to help drivers learn about adaptive cruise control (ACC), an advanced car safety system, this research compared the learning process of subjects with (N = 42) and without (N = 42) control of the learning sequence. Specifically, this study sought to investigate two core issues: 1) the effect(s), positive or negative, that non-sequential user choice has on the development of mental models of ACC, as measured by a post-test assessment; and 2) the relationship among post-test performance, chosen order of resources, and time spent engaging with individual learning resources. To examine these issues, two primary analyses were completed. To address the effect of non-sequential user choice, subjects’ performance on scenario problems and a declarative knowledge post-test was compared using independent sample t-tests (α = .05). A multiple regression analysis was conducted to investigate the relationship among post-test performance, chosen order of resources, and time spent on each of three learning resources (α = .05). Subjects in the experimental (choice) condition scored significantly worse on the post-test assessment than subjects in the control (non-choice) condition (t[82] = -2.116, p < .05, d = -0.462). The regression analysis found a significant regression equation (F(4,37) = 3.930, p < .05) with an R2 of 0.298 (Adjusted R2 = 0.222). Surprisingly, however, only one of the resource time predictor variables was an individually significant predictor of post-test performance. Possible explanations for these findings are explored based on the available research literature. These explanations include the possibility of choice overload, poor decision-making by subjects, confusion due to a lack of instructional guidance, and the development of choice apathy. However, further research is necessary to determine why non-sequential user choice had a negative effect, as well as to expand research on non-sequential user choice to other contexts and content areas.

The dissertation deals with the issue of open educational resources (OER) in the context of environmental studies. The thesis has been framed as a set of four thematically related studies published as peer-reviewed articles in relevant professional journals. The introductory section deals with the broader context of the issue of open educational resources and clarifies the thematic context of individual publications. The first study discusses the issue of open educational resources, the evaluation of their quality and possibilities of use in environmental disciplines; at the same time, it analyzes various types of resources available for environmental education in the Czech environment. Based on this, research was carried out among students of environmental disciplines at Czech universities on a sample of 233 respondents. The results of the research are presented in the second study, which focuses on quality assessment, while the third study deals with the general methods of OER use. Findings show that the most widely used resource among students is Wikipedia, which they also consider to be a relatively high-quality resource. For these reasons, the last study focuses further on Wikipedia and the proposed verifiability of claims by respected sources as a quality indicator for the use of Wikipedia in...

A key component of Open Education movement are Open Educational Resources (OER), which are defined as any digital objects that are commonly shared in online repositories and can be freely accessed, reused and adapted by a community of users for educational purposes using an open license scheme. This broad definition includes a lot of different artefacts, such as digital learning objects, software tools like wikis or authoring systems, electronic textbooks, and lesson plans. Existing research on OER has focused on how to make digital objects available and re-usable for educators and learners. Currently, there are millions of resources for basically all subjects, education level. However, their adoption has been limited, the consumption of them is passive, and there are still many barriers towards the uptake of OER. Amongst those, are the not-invented-here syndrome and the lack of involvement and recognition of users who feel that they do or cannot contribute appropriately. In our research, we focus on tweaking the steps that are accomplished before having the resources complete and shared. In particular, in situations when ideas are initiated, shaped, and shared with like-minded people in order to create new educational outcomes, such as OER.

https://dc.etsu.edu/digital-animation-videos-oer/1038/thumbnail.jpg

https://dc.etsu.edu/digital-animation-videos-oer/1041/thumbnail.jpg

https://dc.etsu.edu/digital-animation-videos-oer/1044/thumbnail.jpg

Rachel Fleming, Ashley Sergiadis, and Rachel Caldwell discuss several ways that academic libraries can help OER adopters and authors improve the impact of their work, make materials more accessible, and ensure continued access.