Cathy Swift Interview Notes - September 21, 2009: Difference between revisions

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(New page: ''Conducted with Erhardt Graeff and Carolina Rossini via telephone on September 21, 2009, '''concerning MERLOT's work on indexing and reviewing OER.''' ...)
 
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== Notes ==
== 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
* 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
* California State University system (founding arrangement)
* K-20 education (community college foci)
* ASIDE: 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
* Barriers to adoption MERLOT reviewed materials
* Minnesota Schools and Colleges and Universities (pay a partnership fee)
* Tennessee Board of Regents
* 5 person management team work for Cal State
* Also doing professional development atop training for MERLOT
* Partnership system
** Pay for 25,000 dollars a year (membership)
** contribute several people
* http://www.merlot.com - statistics right on site
* Unsure about usage stats, no sign in required
* Applied for Grant w/ Connexions
** Informal relationships with NSDL
*** agreement to do a federated search of their material
* 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
* Licensing content scheme
* "Sharing" is the mindset
January - June 2009
* 150,000 visits per month
* Average person spent 6 minutes on the site
* 1.7 million+ visits per year


= Navigation =
= Navigation =

Revision as of 12:30, 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
  • 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
  • California State University system (founding arrangement)
  • K-20 education (community college foci)
  • ASIDE: 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
  • Barriers to adoption MERLOT reviewed materials
  • Minnesota Schools and Colleges and Universities (pay a partnership fee)
  • Tennessee Board of Regents
  • 5 person management team work for Cal State
  • Also doing professional development atop training for MERLOT
  • Partnership system
    • Pay for 25,000 dollars a year (membership)
    • contribute several people
  • Unsure about usage stats, no sign in required
  • Applied for Grant w/ Connexions
    • Informal relationships with NSDL
      • agreement to do a federated search of their material
  • 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
  • Licensing content scheme
  • "Sharing" is the mindset

January - June 2009

  • 150,000 visits per month
  • Average person spent 6 minutes on the site
  • 1.7 million+ visits per year

Navigation

Back to Contacts for EM
Back to Educational Materials

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