OERScout technology framework: A novel approach to open educational resources search

Authors

  • Ishan Sudeera Abeywardena Wawasan Open University
  • Chee Seng Chan University of Malaya
  • Choy Yoong Tham Wawasan Open University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v14i4.1505

Keywords:

OERScout, Open Educational Resources, OER, OER Search, Desirability of OER, OER Curation

Abstract

The open educational resources (OER) movement has gained momentum in the past few years. With this new drive towards making knowledge open and accessible, a large number of OER repositories have been established and made available online throughout the world. However, the inability of existing search engines such as Google, Yahoo!, and Bing to effectively search for useful OER which are of acceptable academic standard for teaching purposes is a major factor contributing to the slow uptake of the entire movement. As a major step towards solving this issue, this paper proposes OERScout, a technology framework based on text mining solutions. The objectives of our work are to (i) develop a technology framework which will parametrically measure the usefulness of an OER for a particular academic purpose based on the openness, accessibility, and relevance attributes; and (ii) provide academics with a mechanism to locate OER which are of an acceptable academic standard. From our user tests, we have identified that OERScout is a sound solution for effectively zeroing in on OER which can be readily used for teaching and learning purposes.

Author Biography

Ishan Sudeera Abeywardena, Wawasan Open University

Senior Lecturer, School of Science and Technology

Published

2013-09-30

How to Cite

Abeywardena, I. S., Chan, C. S., & Tham, C. Y. (2013). OERScout technology framework: A novel approach to open educational resources search. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 14(4). https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v14i4.1505

Issue

Section

Research Articles