OERlabs Openbook/Project (MSD)

University of Cologne

MSD Kickoff at the UoC, issues and topic priorities

The concept of the MSD under the title "OER meets good teaching" will take place from 14.12.2017 to 05.07.2018. The four dates deal with:

Appointment	Date	Title	Question/Thematic focus
MSD1	14.12.2017	School utopia on Mars	Breaking down hierarchies. Exchange about "contemporary learning". Development of a school utopida based on the 5R principles.
MSD2	11.01.2018	Knowledge Flow at the University	Contextualizing OER and networking. Revising, processing and transfer of knowledge. Present state and future state of teacher training.
MSD3	19.04.2018	Problems, Strategies & Solutions	From theory to practice (presentation of the student project). Individual perspectives and challenges. Proposed solutions to promote openness and OER.
MSD4	05.07.2018	Presentation, Publication & Further Use	Discussion about the topic of "lab design, teacher training, digital media at the university". Panel discussion with student participation: Labs and learning rooms - How can they be designed together? Presenation of the entire project results and exchange.

OERlabs MSD Flowchart

Methods, "rules" and work processes

All our MSD took place on the premises of the University of Cologne and usually lasted for about 4 hours (from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.). Since the MSD was not intended to be a well-structured conference, but rather a space for discussion, we have arranged for an external moderation. At the beginning all participants will be informed about the photo documentation and are free to choose whether they want to be seen on the photos or not. Our dialogue event is connected to the Chatham House rule so that the information received can be freely used without revealing the identity of the other participants. To warm up, we invite our guests to talk to an unknown person. As working methods for our participants we planned to work in small groups with the focus on networking. The introduction to the topics will be simplified with the three MSD Impulse lectures. Finally, in order to give room for feedback and suggestions, we use the "One Minute Paper" method (with 2-3 questions). We document and digitize all results afterwards. For the presentation of the final project results we work with the Speed Geeking Method, which makes it possible to visualize the complete results of all parts of the project in a short time. The sketch method serves very well to loosen up the questions and to answer them quickly. The presentation of a student project underlines the importance of student participation. Keynote lecture and Panel discussion (with student participation) also find their place in our final MSD. A presentation helps us to a better visualisation and a coffee break with cake is always seen as a good networking opportunity.

Participants

We select our participants according to pre-defined criteria and invite them personally to the MSD. It is important for us to invite stakeholders who can bring their diverse perspectives into the dialogue and exchange ideas with each other. In order to develop possible solutions for open practices and OER in the context of teacher training during the process, our participants come from the following areas:

• the prorector for teaching and studies and patron of our project (Professor Dr. Stefan Herzig).
• Head of the Department of Education and Social Sciences,
• The Intermedia Student Council,
• the research management,
• our lecturers for the BFP seminars at the Centre for Teacher Education,
• the Head of Digital Studies at the UoC,
• The Faculty of Law,
• Students, especially teacher training students,
• Cologne University and City Library,
• our partners from Kaiserslautern,
• the scientific personnel development of the UoC,
• the Centre for Teacher Education,
• the Center Network Media with the sister project "OERinForm",
• Regional Computer Centre (RZZK) UoC,
• Prorector for scientific personnel and junior staff,
• Graduate School UoC,
• Institute for Art & Art Theory,
• Competence centre for legal learning and teaching,
• CompetenceCenter E-learning, UoC,
• Center for University Didactics,
• Personnel Development UoC,
• School Research Division,
• UoC Press & Communication,
• Mercator Institute for Language Promotion and German as a Second Language
• Other (snowball principle)

Results and documentation

The information and results about our MSD are documented in detail and can be read on our website. A report is written for each core MSD date and a podcast is produced for three of them as a reflection.

Report MSD 1 (in German): Utopia of a school: What should a school on Mars look like? Podcast. Episode 12 (in German): We have a LIFT-OFF (MSD1 Cologne)

Report MSD 2 (in German): How does knowledge flow in the teaching profession? Podcast. Episode 13 (in German): The Recognition of the Knowledge Flow (MSD2 Cologne)

Report MSD 3 (in German): Solutions wanted: problems, strategies and solutions Podcast. Episode 19 (in German): review, preview and everything in between.

Report MSD 4 (in German): Conclusion of the multi-stakeholder dialogue at the University of Cologne. (MSD No. 4) Podcast. Episode 22 (in German): Welcome to the Matrix.

All reports (except photos), blog posts and podcasts are licensed under CC-BY and may be edited, supplemented and reused. One of the most important results that emerges in the course of the MSD process is the Impact/Effort Matrix, which contains solutions proposed by the participants in the dialogue on openness and OER at the University of Cologne.

Project organisation side-notes

• During the organisational phases of all core appointments, the team faced a number of challenges: Room occupancy and reaching the participants. Room occupancy at the University of Cologne is not an easy matter for the organisation, as the appropriate rooms are not available in large numbers and are quickly booked out. The application process involves a great deal of bureaucracy and must be planned in advance. Another challenge is the acquisition of participants. In the time immediately before an MSD the follow-up takes place, in order to have a larger number of the stakeholders at the event. The participants will be reminded of the event and asked to confirm their participation by telephone.
• The student perspective and participation in the dialogue process is of great importance in our project. The keynote lecture by Sebastian Arz, a student teacher at the University of Cologne, was very well received and left a lasting impression. Sebastian Arz presents not only his seminar product - OER instruction series to the topic friction digital test protocol, and explained that the independent familiarization into the topic OER is possible. This lecture clarifies again what students are able to carry out, if the possibility is given to them.
• Colleagues from an institution see the format of the MSD as a suitable form for their working methods and would like to make use of this format.
• An appropriate range of catering (drinks and snacks) may set it apart from other university events and contribute to a friendly and relaxed (working) atmosphere.

Technical University Kaiserslautern

Based on the preliminary conceptual considerations (cf. Instruments // MSD // Field Notes: What is the setting? the employees of the TUK oriented themselves based on planned steps of an MSD (Hemmati, 2002; Dodds & Benson, o.J):

1. Initiating the process
2. Generating the main themes and actors
3. Preparing and conducting dialogues
4. Follow-Up phase.

Initiating the process

Identification of potential stakeholders in the project

The project is under the patronage of the Vice President for Studies and Teaching, therefore, based on the preliminary considerations at the OER regulars' table both the initial planning and implementation is discussed with him and the definition of stakeholders is agreed upon by him as well. In addition, it is determined that the invitation will be issued by him. In the stakeholder analysis all relevant persons of the TUK are identified. This is expanded according to the topic of the Round Table. The extension applies in particular to representatives of teacher education institutions as well as (teacher training) students and pupils.

Generating the main topics

Based on the claim to promote OER in teacher education and thus to address the teacher education chain, the topics OER in the university, OER in teacher education and OER in the region are set. As shown in the preliminary conceptual considerations, these are intensively linked with the OERlabs and the OER events.

Preparation and implementation of the events

These took place in the rotunda of the TUK, the "good room" of the TU. Through both measures (invitation by the vice president as well as a special event room) the round tables gained a certain visibility within the university. The Round Tables took place in the afternoons and lasted between 2 and 3 hours. The structure of the Round Tables was similar: After a welcome by the Vice President for Studies and Teaching, Dr. Löhrke, there was a thematic input, followed by an exchange and work phase for those present. The results of the work were collected and subsequently summarised and made available to all those present by e-mail as documentation. Only in the last event was a presentation of the materials produced in the OERlabs supplemented.

The first round table took place in December 2017 with a focus on higher education in general. Stakeholders from the TUK and its institutes as well as other universities were invited. Prof. Dr. Jäckel, President of the University of Trier, was invited as a keynote speaker. After a short input on the topic of OER at the university, three thematic tables were offered. The topic complexes at the tables form "guard rails" in which (higher) school fields OER can have an effect. However, they should be open enough to absorb the participants' associations and thoughts.

• The first theme table on the topic of "Openness: Marketing or Branding" discussed the motives for developing openness at the university and especially in teaching. Legal and structural hurdles were discussed, but also the chances for an educational institution to deepen and establish open practices were pointed out.
• At the table for media production, the desire and will to create diverse didactic materials became apparent. Obvious hurdles were identified, which make such a creation more difficult. Approaches to problem solving with the support of OER were also discussed.
• OPEN KIOSK: At the cooperation kiosk, the "customers" were able to place strategic conditions, such as runners or target group analysis, in their shopping bags in order to illustrate successful cooperation approaches. In addition, incentive structures were discussed for potential partners* to participate.

The second round table took place on the subject of teacher training. In addition to the participants of the first round table, representatives of teacher training were also invited (e.g. teacher training institutes, ministries, teachers, head teachers, trainee teachers, pupils, etc.). The aim was to get as many actors as possible from the teacher training chain into conversation under multi-perspectivity. After first looking back at first year process of the project and summarising where successes and pitfalls lie in the implementation of OER in teacher training, Mandy Schiefner-Rohs's keynote speech also highlighted perspectives on OER and teaching that had previously received little attention. On the one hand, a variety of media is already being used in the teaching context, which also refers to interactive and online materials. Here the teachers do not begin from scratch. On the other hand, it is about more than just the production of new materials (keywords: opening up teaching, designing learning spaces, etc.). As a result, the audience was invited to think and participate: through teaching/learning cooperations, through the negotiation of evaluation criteria for materials and the question of error culture in schools, through the passing on of knowledge in colleges and much more.

The third round table opened up and the topic for the region and the question of what OER can contribute in educational landscapes (not only for teacher education). According to the motto "What can we do already - What do we still need", Dr. Martin Verlage, Managing Director of KL.digital GmbH, will present which measures and projects have already been developed in the region and what educational projects have been implemented in Kaiserslautern beyond the university(s) before the role of OER in the region was discussed: from teacher education and school development to the opening of the university and equal opportunities in an educational landscape. At the end of the event, the guests had the opportunity to gather impressions of the various "OER locations" created within the framework of the project, placed on pin boards. On symbolic dandelions, ideas and comments were recorded, which will be processed by the OER team of the TUK and should contribute to a further investigation of the topic.

Follow-up

The experiences of the respective Round Tables were summarised in two- to three-page PDF documents and made available to the participants by e-mail. In addition, a podcast or a video was produced for the round tables, in which the experiences were brought together again and the reflection was stimulated.