Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the many people who have participated in this research and have supported and enabled me in various ways throughout the TOUCANS project:

• Prof. Patrick McAndrew – my SCORE mentor at the Open University who helped me shape the research and gave me invaluable input throughout the project.
• Jonathan Darby – coordinator of the SCORE programme at the Open University who was also a sounding board for me during the project.
• Dr Alejandro Armellini at the Beyond Distance Research Alliance, University of Leicester – my reality checker, who cast a fresh eye over my raw data and helped me summarise my findings.
• Dr Angela Murphy (University of Southern Queensland), who co-created the survey instrument with me. Angela will also be using the data from the survey for a broader evaluation of the OERu.
• Colleagues at the University of Leicester who trialled early versions of the survey – Prof. David Hawkridge, Dr Palitha Edirisingha, Dr Paul Rudman, Dr Ming Nie and Brenda Padilla. Also Ali Ewing from University of Northampton.
• Dr Vivien Rolfe, Fred Garnet, Prof. Andy Lane, Prof. Graham Gibbs, Terese Bird and Stephen Walker, who responded to the survey (and agreed to be attributed for their contributions).
• Wayne Mackintosh of the OER Foundation, who facilitated communication between the OERu community and me around the research.
• The SCORE support team – Janet Dyson, Tracey Everard, Tracey De Beer and Tim Seal, who kept the SCORE fellows on track.
• The other SCORE fellows, who gave me inspiration and feedback along the way.

People who participated in the OERu interviews:

• Prof. Terry Anderson (Professor and Canada Research Chair in Distance Education, Athabasca University, Canada)
• Dr Elizabeth Archer (Specialist: Institutional Research at the University of South Africa)
• Kevin Bell (Innovation Team: Leader of Learning and Development, Southern New Hampshire University, USA)
• David Bull (Director: University Preparatory Programs, University of Southern Queensland, Australia)
• Irwin DeVries (Director, Instructional Design, Thompson Rivers University, Canada)
• Vasi Doncheva (Flexible Learning Manager, Northtec Polytechnic, New Zealand)
• Wayne Mackintosh (Director: International Centre for Open Education, Otago Polytechnic, New Zealand, and Founding Director of the OER Foundation)
• Prof. Rory McGreal (Associate Vice-President, Athabasca University, Canada)
• Prof. Joyce McKnight (Associate Professor, State University of New York/ Empire State College, USA. Speaking in her personal capacity as a scholar.)
• Terry Neal (Flexible Learning Manager, Open Polytechnic, New Zealand)
• Paul Stacey (Director, Curriculum Development, BC Campus, Canada)
• Herbert Thomas (Electronic Learning Media Team Leader, Canterbury University, New Zealand)
• Prof. Sandra Wills (Executive Director, Learning and Teaching, Wollongong University, Australia)

People who participated in the UK HEI interviews:

• University of Leicester: Christine Fyfe (PVC), Dave Hall (Registrar), Prof. Grainne Conole (Director, BDRA)
• Open University: Andrew Law (Dir, Open Media), Jonathan Darby (Dir, HE Shared Solutions)
• University of Salford: Prof. Martin Hall (VC)
• University of Edinburgh: Prof. Jeff Haywood (CIO)
• University of Nottingham: Prof. Wyn Morgan (Dir, Teaching & Learning)
• JISC (personal capacity): Amber Thomas and David Kernohan
• University of Derby: Julie Stone (Head, University of Derby Online)

Institutions that participated in the survey:

• Bournemouth University
• Coventry University
• De Montfort University
• Institute of Education (London Knowledge Lab)
• King’s College London
• Leeds Metropolitan University
• Loughborough University
• Middlesex University
• Newcastle University
• Open University
• Southampton Solent University
• University of Bath
• University of Cambridge
• University of Huddersfield
• University of Leeds
• University of Leicester
• University of Manchester
• University of Nottingham
• University of Oxford
• University of Southampton
• University of Surrey
• Plus eight others that requested anonymity*

* Where two or more people responded from a single institution and at least one respondent requested attribution for the institution, the institution is named in the above list.