I'm not sure if it was the emphasis in H800 but my impression of OERs was definitely skewed towards creating resources which could be utilized in developing nations - my thinking about it was related to it being on basic platforms, accessible with lower tech hardware and less reliable internet access, and having a philanthropic motivation underlying the whole project.
It was only upon reading the Downes paper that the possibilities for OERs in the developed world - even the richest and most privileged corners of the developed world - occurred to me.
The saddest thing about reading the Downes paper was that it is eighteen years old and the optimistic (and, to my mind, entirely reasonable) future he envisioned has not arisen.
I now need to read the next three papers to find out why!
Rethinking OERs
I'm not sure if it was the emphasis in H800 but my impression of OERs was definitely skewed towards creating resources which could be utilized in developing nations - my thinking about it was related to it being on basic platforms, accessible with lower tech hardware and less reliable internet access, and having a philanthropic motivation underlying the whole project.
It was only upon reading the Downes paper that the possibilities for OERs in the developed world - even the richest and most privileged corners of the developed world - occurred to me.
The saddest thing about reading the Downes paper was that it is eighteen years old and the optimistic (and, to my mind, entirely reasonable) future he envisioned has not arisen.
I now need to read the next three papers to find out why!