What's getting in the way of sharing?

Barriers -- what are they and how to avoid them? Like many things we want to do in life, there are little obstacles that can get in the way of sharing. When it comes to educational resources, that little obstacle typically looks like this: ©. But don't worry, we'll help you up and over this one.

Deciding on a process

As you confirm who you will work with, you'll begin to formulate thoughts around how you want to collaborate to create and publish OER. A few things to think about are how you'll communicate, what tools you'll use to build content, and how open you'll be about sharing your process with others. You have a couple of approaches you can take:

• DIY and simply have fun exploring the process of creating open content.

• Use an existing process (either model your work after something or join a group already creating OER -- post a comment in the discussion to see if someone has a few tips).

The University of Michigan developed a particular way to collaborate between staff, students, and faculty. Below is an illustration of the process -- just an idea to get you thinking of how you can work with others.

* Tool tips

There are nearly three and a half bazillion collaboration tools and open communities for you to sink your teeth into. Here are some of our favorites (post your own favs in the discussion):

Collab tools

• Google Drive (docs, spreadsheets and presentations)

• DropBox (files of all shapes and sizes)

• OpenEtherPad (collaborative editing)

• P2PU (course building)

• Trello (project and task managing)

• GitHub (software developing)

Communities (aka, Peoples)

• P2PU (learning enthusiasts)

• ccMixter (music remixers)

• subreddits (something you care about exists, trust us)

• students for free culture (free culture community)

• P2PU mentorship program (1:1 mentoring, or 1:many)

• Meetup (local groups)

• email someone (don't forget the simple solutions: just talk with someone you know)

What do you know?

Do you have experience with any of these tools or communities? Do you have questions about these tools or communities? Let's chat about them in the Discussion.