OE Global 2018

OER stakeholders strive to validate quality and impact of educational materials. One step toward this goal is to create a set of universal metrics to increase reporting and analysis of results. The OER movement can learn and borrow from other communities (especially open source and open access) to collaborate and come up with metrics that are easy to use and simple to understand. Using agreed-upon measurements will make it easier to validate, aggregate and compare data across different platforms, different content and learning environments. This is especially important as the OER community grows and more stakeholders have a need for data. Secondly, as seen in other communities, these metrics should be transparent and published widely through report cards, dashboards and other tools for easy access by stakeholders. Transparency will increase communication throughout the OER community, perhaps increasing collaboration and strengthening the community. Examples from the American University of Sharjah and other communities will provide illustration that strengthening metrics through better data collection will enhance broader conversations about research assessment and increasing impact throughout the OER community.