Guidelines for Open Educational Resources (OER) in Higher Education
The guidelines outline key issues and suggestions for integrating OER into higher education to support quality teaching and learning. The aim of this document, prepared by the Secretariat, is to encourage educational stakeholders to invest in the production, adaptation, and use of OER, and to improve the quality of curricula and teaching. more
A Basic Guide to Open Educational Resources (OER)
This Guide comprises three sections. The first – a summary of the key issues – is presented in the form of a set of ‘Frequently Asked Questions’. Its purpose is to provide readers with a quick and user-friendly introduction to Open Educational Resources (OER) and some of the key issues to think about when exploring how to use OER most effectively. The second section is a more comprehensive... more
Open Courseware, Open Content, Open Practices, Open Learning: Where are the Limits?
The first part of the paper reports on the outcomes of a joint UNESCO-COL project Taking OERs beyond the OER Community: Policy and Capacity. Its purpose was to expand understanding of the potential of OERs among university leaders and quality assurance officials in Africa and Asia, who have low awareness of this phenomenon. The project concluded with an intergovernmental policy forum where... more
Open Educational Practices and Resources: OLCOS Roadmap 2012
As a Transversal Action under the European eLearning Programme, the Open e-Learning Content Observatory Services (OLCOS) project carries out a set of activities that aim at fostering the creation, sharing and re-use of Open Educational Resources (OER) in Europe and beyond. OER are understood to comprise content for teaching and learning, software-based tools and services, and licenses that... more
Recommended Practices for Packaging and Distributing OER
OER may be distributed in a variety of formats, including electronically online, removable media (e.g. CD/DVD, or USB), and/or paper hard copies. In order to maximize its reach and visibility, OER is often distributed online which introduces new considerations such as managing file size and selecting appropriate descriptive data (commonly referred to as metadata). File size is an especially... more
Strategic Management of Intellectual Property Rights for OER in UK Higher Education
This paper is written in the context of the JISC and Higher Education Academy Open Educational Resources Programme (Phase 2), and aims to address some of the background issues regarding management of intellectual property rights (IPR) in UK universities. In particular, this guidance aims to assist institutions by prompting strategic decisions that may need to be taken in relation to the... more
From Open Educational Resources to Open Educational Practices
This article provides an analysis of the size, shape and model of various OER initiatives. more
Beyond OER: Shifting Focus to Open Educational Practices. OPAL Report 2011
This study presents the findings of a quantitative study on the use of Open Educational Resources (OER) and Open Educational Practices (OEP) in Higher Education and Adult Learning Institutions. more
Fostering Cross-institutional Collaboration for Open Educational Resources Production
Although there are over a quarter of a million open courses published by an increasing number of universities, it remains unclear whether Open Education Resources (OER) is scalable and productively sustainable. The challenge is compounded when OER is examined in the light of its potential to allow both educators and learners in developing countries to contribute geographically bound learning... more
Free to Learn: An Open Educational Resources Policy Development Guidebook for Community College Governance Officials
Open Educational Resources (OER) offer higher education governance leaders a cost-efficient method of improving the quality of teaching and learning while at the same time reducing costs imposed on students related to the purchase of expensive commercial textbooks and learning materials. Leading scholars around the world are already participating in the OER movement even without support from most... more
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