OERlabs Openbook/Project (OpenLab)

University of Cologne

Kick-off of the OpenLabs at the UzK, questions and thematic focuses

The two OpenLabs we run are open events and complement the multi-stakeholder dialogue at the UoC.:

Appointment	Date	Title	Thematic Focus/Question
OpenLab 1	22.02.2018	„MS-OER“ – an interactive education-roadtrip through copyright & openness	Practical specialisation in copyright law International situation and licensing Potentials and possibilities across borders
OpenLab 2	14.06.2018	sharing teaching material and knowledge on the internet? (Workshop)	How do students work with creative works from the Internet? OER-theme and students

Specific content of the OpenLab events

#OpenLab with André Hermes: sharing teaching material and knowledge on the internet?

Methods, "rules" and work processes

Like the MSDs, the two OpenLabs events take place in the rooms of the University of Cologne. In comparison to the MSD, they take 2 hours (from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.) and are primarily aimed at students. The OpenLabs, like MSD, attach great importance to openness and are connected to the Chatham House rule so that the information received can be freely used without revealing the identity of the other participants. The round of introductions with expectations of the participants is a good method to ask the previous experiences. For the Introduction to the topic, the Presentation is used, which should also describe the scenario. The participants who are not teacher students should be able to take the teacher's perspective through such an introduction. For a better perception of information and storage of contents, we recommend that our participants make notes. Core contents will be made as transparent as possible and the events will be moderated. The first OpenLab will be moderated by our scientific staff. The second OpenLab takes the form of a workshop and is led by an external expert (André Hermes, teacher and media consultant). The two events aim to bring theory into practice by focusing on OER's search, the practice of licensing and the avoidance of typical mistakes. The two events offer space for exchange, open questions, criticism and possible fears around the topic "OER".

Participants

The OpenLabs focus primarily on (teaching) students. For this reason, students of teaching professions and other disciplines (e.g. media cultural studies, intermedia) are invited to attend the events. In addition, the research assistants of "school is open", a research assistant of the TH Köln from the field of social work and our colleagues from the TU Kaiserslautern will be present. The participants will be made aware of our events through our website, Twitter, Facebook and mailing lists of the UzK institutes.

Technical University Kaiserslautern

Thanks to the good cooperation with the University Library (UB), the OpenLabs offer can take place in the Central Library of the TUK. It is centrally located on campus and in the immediate vicinity of the Mensa and the Regional University Computer Centre Kaiserslautern (RHRK). The large lecture halls of the TUK can be reached on foot in less than five minutes. These general conditions are important because we want to appeal to those who have made a last-minute decision and keep opportunities open for students with a full lecture plan. The room (see Fig.1) offers all interested persons an opportunity to work, a meeting place and networking with like-minded people and is open to all members of the TUK.

Announcing and opening the OpenLab

Since the room is not used by us alone, it is necessary to publish fixed opening hours in the form of pre-determined dates. These, together with brief descriptions of the OpenLabs, can be accessed via the project homepages, the junior professorship and the university library. In addition, posters, flyers and student addresses in courses draw attention to the possibilities of OpenLabs. The opening of the OpenLabs room will be accompanied by a launch event announced throughout the university. In the OERlabs project, we used the cocktail shaker metaphor to draw attention to the adaptation potential of open educational materials through remixing. Accordingly, at the kick-off event, visitors were offered non-alcoholic cocktails in an informal atmosphere. This will not only draw attention to the project and the space, but will also highlight the functions of the space.

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  Figure 1: Panoramapicture of the OpenLab room
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  Welcome to the information tables of the kick-off event
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  Welcome to the information tables of the kick-off event
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  Visitors may record their wishes and needs

Room for networking

The OpenLabs start with the central goal, which is to produce ones own OER material or to remix existing material. Therefore, the space and the concept are designed in such a way that visitors receive the information and support they need to be able to work on their own material according to their needs. However, the room offers the opportunity to get to know each other, ask questions and discuss during the appointments. An exchange or discussion about advantages, disadvantages and applications of free educational materials is just as welcome as thoughts about the way of working in the OpenLabs. The resulting suggestions can be important for the visitor or for a specific organizational unit. For the University Library, OpenLabs is a source of information in the context of its own development away from a knowledge repository. While we benefit from the UB's experience in addressing students on bulky topics.

Room for information

The UB has collected freely available literature on OER and published it together with a QR-Code as a poster, which gives a good overview of possible starting points and topics of one's own discussion with OER. In addition, the desired work can be accessed immediately. This range is supplemented by printed material on display. Practically oriented information material, such as how podcasts are to be implemented, and theoretical discussions on licenses and copyright are represented. The room is also available for informal conversations for those interested in OER. Thus the room not only supports the visitors but also us by crystallizing good information material and finding suitable topic entrances. Information material such as the copyright sketch note or the already mentioned compilation of the UB of freely available publications on OER find further use elsewhere.

Room for work

The tables in the room can be set up as needed to meet the needs of group or individual work. All participants have access to pin boards, flip charts and magnetic boards and can spread out with their digital equipment. In addition, participants without their own hardware can access the PC pools of the UB and the RHRK. This includes a powerful notebook that enables video editing, for example. We and the participants have a small budget available to print prototypes or finished material, such as sketch notes, in different quality and quantity if required.

Room for support

Regardless of whether the participants want to play around with their idea or just want to know what OER means - our tutors are personally available for all questions and suggestions about OER during the lab appointments and can also be contacted by e-mail. Questions that cannot be answered on site will be researched by the tutor or suitable contact persons will be found. The aim is not to relieve the participants of any work, but to point out useful sources and other OER communities and to promote participation in networks. The mutual support of the participants among each other and the contribution of own OER experiences is expressly desired. Support is also provided in the form of suggestions for material production and for finding one's way around in the broad OER online offering. In this way, participants can develop and pass on their own repertoire of tips and tricks.

Our takeaways
Opening of the project and communication with the outside world should convey the working atmosphere Enable contact via various channels (personal/electronic) prepare information material in analogue and digital form and ensure easy access