Towards Sustainable OER Practices: The Case of Bachelor Nursing in the Netherlands

Abstract

From 2017–2020, 15 universities collaborated to create and share OER for a bachelor nursing program. A study was undertaken to analyse the impact of the project activities leading to the commitment to work towards sustaining the initiative. The project was described using the ESH model (Weggeman, 2000). Two sub-studies provided the results on the positive and negative impact of specific project activities and the impact of the project on the desired behaviour of educators, sharing and reusing OER. Rogers’ theory of diffusion of innovation is used to interpret the results (Rogers, 2003). The main findings of the study are that defining and using a quality model for OER was crucial for the success of the project. For sustaining the activity after project ending, decision makers were involved immediately from the start. The management style with many responsibilities for the project members had a positive indirect impact on project outcomes.