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 AIT  Vol.3 No.4 , October 2013
Behind the Scenes with a Video Training Platform: The Challenges of Researching the Provision of Open Educational Resources
Ayse Kok*
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Abstract: Video training platforms are now being implemented on a large scale in organizations. In this paper, I look at a video training platform including open educational resources available for many employees with varying patterns and motivations for use. This has provided me with a research challenge to find methods that help other practitioners in the field understand and explain such initiatives. I describe ways to model the research and identify where pressures and contradictions can be found, drawing on a reflective view of my own practice in performing the research. Open educational resources are defined as technology-enabled educational resources that are openly available for consultation, use and adaptation by users for non-commercial purposes [1]. The bank subject to this case study has been the first organisation in Turkey that provided open educational resources for all its employees. The video platform (called “For @ Tube”) provides users with over 100 video lectures drawn from reputable universities around the world including Yale and Harvard. Other learning tools such as discussion forums, blogs and traditional e-learning courses have been made available to the users on the e-learning platform called “For @” since 2006. In this paper, I aim to introduce the new video training platform (“For @ Tube”) and outline some of the main research issues surrounding such an initiative. I seek to explore theoretical and practical approaches that can provide suitable tools for analysis. Activity theory is seen as a suitable approach for macroanalysis and its use is illustrated in terms of the complexity of large scale research. Activity theory, besides informing research perspectives, can be turned in upon the research process itself, allowing us to consider the challenges and context of the research. By using activity theory in this way and illustrating from a range of practical approaches, I demonstrate and illustrate a useful research approach.
Keywords: E-Learning; Open Content; Video; Action Research; Activity Theory
Cite this paper: A. Kok, "Behind the Scenes with a Video Training Platform: The Challenges of Researching the Provision of Open Educational Resources," Advances in Internet of Things, Vol. 3 No. 4, 2013, pp. 66-72. doi: 10.4236/ait.2013.34009.
References

[1]   UNESCO, “Forum on the Impact of Open Courseware for Higher Education in Developing Countries, Final Report,” 2002. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001285/128515e.pdf

[2]   “Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. The Classification of Educational Goals,” In: B. Bloom, Ed., Handbook 1: Cognitive Domain, Longmans, London, 1956.

[3]   V. Kaptelinin, and B. A. Nardi, “Acting with Technology: Activity Theory and Interaction Design,” MIT Press, Cambridge, 2006.

[4]   J. Greenwood and M. L. Levin, “Introduction to Action Research: Social Research for Social Change,” Sage, London, 2006.

[5]   M. Engestr?m and M. Cole, “A Cultural-Historical Approach to Distributed Cognition,” In: G. Salomon, Ed., Distributed Cognitions. Psychological and Educational Considerations, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1993.

[6]   Y. Engestr?m, “Developmental Work Research: Expanding Activity Theory in Practice,” Lehmanns Media, Berlin, 2005.

[7]   L. S. Vygotsky, “Mind and Society: Development of Higher Psychological Processes,” Harvard University Press, Harvard, 1980.

[8]   B. Latour, “Reassembling the Social. An Introduction to Actor-Network-Theory,” Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2005.

[9]   D. N. Perkins, “Person-Plus: A Distributed View of Thinking and Learning,” In: G. Salomon, Ed., Distributed Cognitions. Psychological and Educational Considerations, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1993.

[10]   B. Somekh, “Action Research: A Methodology for Change and Development,” Open University Press, Maidenhead, 2006.

 
 
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