Dr. Brett Shelton, faculty in Department of Instructional Technology at Utah State University
In addition to the institutional and learner benefits of OpenCourseWare (OCW), many university faculty are also realizing material benefits from their participation in OCW. One such OCW participant is Dr. Brett Shelton, an assistant professor in the Department of Instructional Technology at Utah State University (USU), and executive director of the Creative Learning Environments Laboratory at USU.
When discussing his reasons for publishing his course on USU's OCW initiative, Dr. Shelton notes, "I hold a personal interest in trying to make educational resources as widely available to as many people as possible. The more my materials are used and circulated, the more I think it will help me make a difference as an educator and researcher."
On a more personal note, Dr. Shelton adds, "The personal benefits to me are not only altruistic ones, as the more my materials are used and referenced, the larger the impact I will have within my professional community. I also really enjoy having a 'permanent place' for my materials that I can always point to for potential students, current students, and professionals interested in my work. It's a great repository, and I appreciate its permanency apart from the Web sites that I am in charge of maintaining."
The process of collecting his materials in one place has also been of enormous benefit for Dr. Shelton, as well. "In normal circumstances, I sometimes wonder if anyone is accessing my materials in either professional or informal environments for their use, so the idea of OCW is exciting: that people are using these resources I provide in ways I have not imagined. I also think having the organization of these materials is of great benefit – students have the entire repository in a single place, rather than having to search multiple areas and figure out how each separate element fits together.
"With OCW, they have one professional's idea of how things fit together, which may help them make sense and build the 'big picture' for themselves more easily."
