Cathy Swift Interview Notes - September 21, 2009: Difference between revisions
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* Most of their materials are teaching resources | * Most of their materials are teaching resources | ||
* Only a few textbooks | * Only a few textbooks | ||
* Catalog Materials | * ROLE: Catalog Materials | ||
* Educators can enter specific topics to search for on MERLOT | * Educators can enter specific topics to search for on MERLOT | ||
*: All materials pertain to education not just a | *: All materials pertain to education not just a Google search | ||
* They concentrate on higher education but also have K-12 | * They concentrate on higher education but also have K-12 | ||
===University Affiliation=== | |||
* California State University system (founding arrangement) | * California State University system (founding arrangement) | ||
* K-20 education (community college foci) | * K-20 education (community college foci) | ||
* | * Minnesota Schools and Colleges and Universities (pay a partnership fee) | ||
* Tennessee Board of Regents | |||
* 5 person management team work for Cal State | |||
*:Cathy works for Cal State full-time on MERLOT | |||
===Peer-Review System=== | ===Peer-Review System=== | ||
* Peer-reviewers have to be active teachers (real world deployment of the teaching materials) | * Peer-reviewers have to be active teachers (real world deployment of the teaching materials) | ||
* Peer-review metrics: Quality, Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool, Ease of Use | * Peer-review metrics: Quality, Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool, Ease of Use | ||
* No funding to create incentive system for peer-reviewers | * No funding to create incentive system for peer-reviewers | ||
** People can apply to be a peer-reviewer | ** People can apply to be a peer-reviewer | ||
| Line 37: | Line 41: | ||
* Also complimentary registration at MERLOT's | * Also complimentary registration at MERLOT's | ||
* TENURE INCENTIVE: Write letters for peer-reviewers as a tenure-document | * TENURE INCENTIVE: Write letters for peer-reviewers as a tenure-document | ||
* Don't use any published standards outside their own (PROBLEM?) | |||
* Each year they give a “Classics” award for outstanding material in each topic area | |||
* Sort materials by quality rating | |||
* Rely on partners to promote materials | |||
=== Site Statistics === | |||
* http://www.merlot.com - statistics right on site | * http://www.merlot.com - statistics right on site | ||
* Unsure about usage stats, no sign in required | * Unsure about usage stats, no sign in required | ||
* ''January - June 2009'' | |||
** 150,000 visits per month | |||
** Average person spent 6 minutes on the site | |||
** 1.7 million+ visits per year | |||
=== Sustainability and Partnerships=== | |||
* Applied for Grant w/ Connexions | * Applied for Grant w/ Connexions | ||
** Informal relationships with NSDL | ** Informal relationships with NSDL | ||
*** | *** Agreement to do a federated search of their material | ||
* Doing professional development atop training for MERLOT | |||
* | * Partnership system | ||
* | ** Pay for 25,000 dollars a year (membership) | ||
* | ** contribute several people | ||
* Licensing content scheme | * Licensing content scheme | ||
* "Sharing" is the mindset | * "Sharing" is the mindset | ||
= Navigation = | = Navigation = | ||
Revision as of 12:35, 22 October 2009
Conducted with Erhardt Graeff and Carolina Rossini via telephone on September 21, 2009, concerning MERLOT's work on indexing and reviewing OER.
Interviewee
- Cathy Swift
- Director of Academic Partner Services, MERLOT
- Email: cswift [at] calstate [dot] edu
Notes
Questions about Self-Image
Relative to...
- Textbook Adoption at States / Curriculum
- OER Projects
- Textbook Publishing Industry
How does MERLOT see Itself in this Space?
- Free resource
- No cost to including one's own materials
- Most of their materials are teaching resources
- Only a few textbooks
- ROLE: Catalog Materials
- Educators can enter specific topics to search for on MERLOT
- All materials pertain to education not just a Google search
- They concentrate on higher education but also have K-12
University Affiliation
- California State University system (founding arrangement)
- K-20 education (community college foci)
- Minnesota Schools and Colleges and Universities (pay a partnership fee)
- Tennessee Board of Regents
- 5 person management team work for Cal State
- Cathy works for Cal State full-time on MERLOT
Peer-Review System
- Peer-reviewers have to be active teachers (real world deployment of the teaching materials)
- Peer-review metrics: Quality, Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool, Ease of Use
- No funding to create incentive system for peer-reviewers
- People can apply to be a peer-reviewer
- Offer training to new peer-reviewer
- Honor-based system
- Five or more reviews per year, people get listed as a member of a topical Editorial Board
- Also complimentary registration at MERLOT's
- TENURE INCENTIVE: Write letters for peer-reviewers as a tenure-document
- Don't use any published standards outside their own (PROBLEM?)
- Each year they give a “Classics” award for outstanding material in each topic area
- Sort materials by quality rating
- Rely on partners to promote materials
Site Statistics
- http://www.merlot.com - statistics right on site
- Unsure about usage stats, no sign in required
- January - June 2009
- 150,000 visits per month
- Average person spent 6 minutes on the site
- 1.7 million+ visits per year
Sustainability and Partnerships
- Applied for Grant w/ Connexions
- Informal relationships with NSDL
- Agreement to do a federated search of their material
- Informal relationships with NSDL
- Doing professional development atop training for MERLOT
- Partnership system
- Pay for 25,000 dollars a year (membership)
- contribute several people
- Licensing content scheme
- "Sharing" is the mindset
Back to Contacts for EM
Back to Educational Materials