LORO (Languages Open Resources Online): A Repository for the Department of Languages

1. LORO (Languages Open Resources Online):A Repository for the Department of Languages Anna Comas-Quinn & Hélène Pulker Department of Languages, FELS The Open University eLC Work in Progress event, 5th November 2009

2. The LORO project • April 2009 to June 2010 (key deadlines: October 2009 and January 2010) • Collaborating with Southampton for the technical development • JISC grant of £29,069, with a substantial part set aside for AL involvement

3. Aims of the project • To create an online repository, based on the Language Box, that will allow course developers, tutors and staff tutors easy access to tutorial materials for all languages and levels. • To link LORO (internal to the OU) to the Language Box so that materials deposited in LORO can be automatically shared more widely through the Language Box.

4. Project outcomes • Users are able to access all materials for all levels and languages, and share their own materials with the user community. • A cultural change in tutors’ practices and course-production systems. • Dissemination to the language learning and education community

5. How is LORO shaping up? • Collections for beginners’ courses (starting in November) already uploaded (see http://loro.eprints.org) • LORO OU ready for content to be migrated (see http://loro.open.ac.uk). SAMS integrated so that users automatically have their own OU LORO account.

6. Engaging academic stakeholders Course developers & staff tutors • Ensure key decisions relating to LORO are backed (and enforced) by Faculty and Department. • Involve in project, demos, presentations & testing (several members in the steering committee and all members of the project team). • Keep them informed (announcements, updates, presentations, Newsletter, put LORO in the agenda of all key meetings).

7. Engaging academic stakeholders Tutors • Keep informed (announcements, presentations at Staff Development events, Newsletter) • Recruit project staff from pool of tutors (researcher, uploader/testers, peer supporters, trainers, etc.) • At a later stage, involve tutors in dissemination activities at their other institutions. • Environmental assessment

8. Environmental assessment • Survey of current practices (course teams & staff tutors) • Online survey to all tutors • Focus groups • Report of findings

9. What we wanted to find out • Tutor profile: ICT expertise and experience • How they work with tutorial resources (finding, managing, storing, sharing) • What they knew about repositories, attitudes, barriers and enablers to use.

10. Online survey - questionnaire • Invitation via email (purpose of language repository project) • Online questionnaire • 330 tutors • 7 languages, including English

11. Responses to tutor survey • 129 responses (anonymous) • Across all languages • 3 years or more experience at the OU • Interest in taking part in focus groups

12. Focus groups • 3 groups x 11 participants • on Elluminate • Minor payment

13. Using Elluminate for focus groups • Effective tool (time and geography) • Self-selection • Brief training • Occasional sound problems and delay • Rich discussion captured (oral and chat) • Challenges (recordings, ethics)

14. Main findings • ICT expertise generally high (but low awareness of repositories) • Tutors reuse resources (from course teams and the internet mainly) • Resources are often modified • Low level of sharing amongst tutors • The idea of an online languages repository is very well received

15. Perceived benefits • Professional development (feedback from colleagues) • Time saving • Authorship & showcasing your work • Student support

16. Perceived challenges • Quality and usefulness of resources • System must work (search, browse, structure, file formats) • Time consuming • Lack of remuneration • Reciprocity • Recognition and authorship

17. Any questions? Contact FELS-Repository@open.ac.uk or Anna Comas-Quinn LORO Project Manager A.Comas-Quinn@open.ac.uk