This 6-month project ran between April and October 2012 and was funded by JISC as part of the OER Rapid Innovation Strand. The main output of this project was a browser-based online tool using linked data approaches, which enables easy integration of OERs with other types of online content. The tool further extends the established SIMILE Exhibit web application framework and the tools developed collaboratively between the SIMILE team at MIT and the ESRC/EPSRC ‘Ensemble‘ project in the UK.

Named ‘Autokitty’ after the original prototype built during the Ensemble project, the lightweight application  allows teachers and students to non-destructively aggregate a variety of open online content into ‘presentations’ or structured narratives centered around playback of one piece of audiovisual media. There is an example here. For the moment the application works with YouTube videos but we are investigating integration with other types of content too. Blog posts which chart the course of the project are tagged #ukoer and #oerri. The Autokitty toolkit and associated documentation can be found below.

You can use Autokitty by registering a free account online here. Alternatively you can download the source code and host the application locally. This, alongside the packager application and all the current manuals for both are available on the downloads page.

Autokitty is entirely free to download and use, we ask only that you let us know if you use it! We are also interested to hear from users of Autokitty about the various uses they find for the tool, bugs which need fixing and possible avenues for future development: contact k.litherland@ljmu.ac.uk.

Sessions on the development and use of Autokittywill also be included in our free Video Tools Workshop in January.