OERu/2011.11 OERu Proposal for action for Academic Volunteers International

Group 2 in Dunedin focused on developing a proposal for action for Academic Volunteers International. The group was asked to consider and think about scalability challenges and solutions.

Who are the volunteers?

 * Not necessarliy subject content supporters
 * Students
 * Free assessment services in return for facilitating, for eg 3 courses
 * Community service learning credit.
 * Academics -- using recorded volunteer service hours for community service in staff appraisals self
 * Retired teachers/ academics
 * "Paid" facilitators (see economic model.)
 * Existing communities of online communities
 * Small businesses
 * Professional bodies (retaining membership)

What must volunteers do?

 * Facilitate peer-to-peer learning
 * Generic student suppport through the learning sequences - e-tivities
 * Help build capacity
 * Help learners develop as more independent and experienced OER learners

Criteria for selecting volunteers?

 * Digital literacies including e-moderation and e-facilitation
 * Proficiency in medium of instruction <- could we clarify a bit more what is expected?
 * Cultural sensitivity

How do we connect volunteers with learners?
Here are some initial thoughts to get us started:
 * Outstanding issue -- need to consider appropriate technology and processes
 * one option is self selection by building personal profiles of AVI reflecting: past and current experience and expertise, indicating through badge or star system experience in facilitating OER learning in the OERu community to enable OER learners to self select a volunteer (potential issue some volunteers could be selected more than others and not able to cope with requests for support)
 * another option is to match the volunteers with the level of support provided based on their skills and experience ( similar to Wikieducator badges)

Other

 * Honour system --- referals
 * AVI is the social networking space to support OERu learners - "Yammer"?
 * Layered pyramid support model -- first port of call FAQ, P2P support, AV, OERu "Guru"
 * Introduction to the community, how the community works, etc --- building capacity for success in AVI.
 * 80-20 rule -- AVI only deal directly with 20% of the problems.
 * Consider adapting Learnign4Content capacity building model for training of AVIs
 * Will implement an agile and incremental development model.
 * Not a critical path component.
 * Should AVI provide career guidance?

Aims of the activity (longer term)
To develop a financially sustainable system for Academic Volunteers international (AVI)

Objectives

 * To nurture the devlopment of a the critical mass of volunteers for needed self-orgasnisation and scalable growth
 * To Select, modify or adapt an appropriate OSS system(s) for social networking, microblogging, FAQs etc.
 * To remix and develop OERs as resource for capacity building of volunteers
 * Develop online training opportunities for volunteers using WikiEducator's Learning4Content model

Narrative description of what you will do
"FAQs' --> P2P learner support --> AVI facilitation --> Guru moderator status (WikiEducator Badges?) provide guidelines for course designers for the development of FAQ database
 * We will design a community ecosytem for proving a pyrimaid of volunteer support starting from
 * For the prototype approach existing communities and founding anchor partners to assist with recruiting the categories of volunteers
 * Develop usecase scenarios for the AVI Social Network, identify and select OSS social networking engine,
 * Secure funding for code refinement if necessary.
 * Design solutions for recruitment, how a self-selection model could operate and capacity building for digital literacies and e-moderation.,
 * Trial the model / system in parallel with the OERu protoype(s) (assuming anchor partner scholarships for participing OERu learners).

What inputs are required?

 * Staff time for design and development of the model
 * Funding for strategic development of support technologies

Decision proposal(s) for OERTen partners for this activity including who and when.

 * Draft a framework proposal for the AVI for consideration and adoption by the OERu anchor partners by 31 December 2011 with a core development team of a minuimum of 3 anchor partner members, Convened by Vasi Donchev with support from Graham Bell, Herbert Thomas and Wayne Mackintosh (Volunteers most welcome.)
 * Develop a funding proposal by February 2012 for NextGen 3B.
 * Recruitment, training etc for go-live date.