If you would like to create or share open educational resources on OER Commons using Google Drive or GSuite, there are a few things to keep in mind. We are providing this guidance to help users make the best decision for their particular situation, but don't lean either way for or against the use of Google Drive.
Use cases
Here are a few situations where using Google Drive might be useful solution:
Sharing an editable/"source" format of a resource to facilitate remixing
If the resource was originally created in Google Drive and then saved in an immutable form like a PDF or image file, providing others with access to both forms helps ensure that the OER landscape supports and allows for remixing. This in turn lets educators take a resource and modify it to be more suitable for their learners.
Users without Google Drive can recreate a resource in Open Author, giving the resource a place to live, and also letting users remix the Open Author version directly. If a resource was originally created in Google Docs, the content can be easily copied into Open Author which preserves nearly all of the formatting. Remixes of resources created in Open Author let users easily find the original work that the remix is based off of, ensuring proper attribution.
Sharing multiple files that make up a single resource
Some resources like course packets may contain multiple files or folders: lesson notes, accompanying slides, hand outs, syllabi, etc... In this instance, if the resource has already been organized with properly labeled file and folder names, the link to the top-level folder containing the items can be shared as the resource itself, either by using the "submit from web" option or by adding the link as an attachment to an Open Author resource.
Please note: this is only an appropriate option in cases where all of the files and folders belong to a single resource. Per our submission guidelines, "a resource is appropriately granular to facilitate ease of user access to specific teaching or learning content (i.e. we do not index links to top pages of large databases, we index direct links to individual learning resources)." If you submit a link to a Google Drive location that is just a collection of multiple resources, it will be rejected. If you or your organization have a large number of resources that you'd like to add to OER Commons, please contact us, and we'll be happy to discuss options for bulk collection additions.
Sharing files that are too large to be shared as attachments in an Open Author lesson
The Open Author platform allows users to upload files as attachments, but attachment file sizes are limited to 500MB. If your attachment is larger than that (e.g. a PDF textbook containing lots of high-resolution images), Google Drive may be a suitable hosting option for you.
Permissions
Make sure that the items you're sharing have actually been made public. There are a few sharing options to choose from depending on what you're trying to share; generally the best option is to make resources available to the public. When you do so, Google will create a link that you can share with others.
After making a resource available to the public, it's also important to specify how people can interact with it. When a resource is shared, the owner of the resource can choose whether to let others view, comment, or edit it. Giving others the "viewer" role is a safe way to let others view your resource without worrying about it getting changed. Other users who also have a Google Drive account can make a copy of the resource into their own drive to make any changes.
You can find specific instructions on how to share items from Google Drive in Google Drive Help:
Location
When deciding to use Google Drive, consider where the resource will live long-term. Institutions that provide their staff with Google accounts should designate a location on a shared drive where resources should be saved rather than the user's own "My Drive" space. If the resources exist in their account's "My Drive" and the staff member leaves the institution without moving the resource to a shared space, it can be very hard to retrieve and manage those resources. This is also the case for resources that are created in a person's own (non-institutional) Google Drive space.
Individuals (e.g. not creating resources on behalf of another organization) can also create and share resources from Google Drive. In this case, the user likely won't have access to a shared drive, and may want to designate a folder in their account's drive space specifically for sharing files with others.
Other considerations
While using Google Drive is an option to be aware of, it's also important to recognize that it is not for everyone:
- Some aren't comfortable using tools created by Google for privacy, ethics, business or other reasons
- Some may be prohibited by their institutions' or organizations' IT or other policies from using it
- Some may simply not have a Google account and have no desire to create one,
It's also important to note that in the past, Google has made changes to resources on Drive which effectively removed these resource from OER Commons (if they were added to OER Commons as a link rather than recreated in Open Author). We believe this is a rare occurrence, and while OER Commons staff have done our best to work through these issues and continues to do so as they arise, we do not have control over Google-hosted resources and can't guarantee their continued availability.
Answers to technical questions about Google Drive can be found in Google's Help Center.