OpenER, a Dutch initiative in Open Educational Resources

Abstract

Over the period 2006–2008, the Dutch Open Universiteit Nederland conducted an experiment in which Open Educational Resources (OER) were offered in an effort to bridge the gap between informal and formal learning and to establish a new style of entry portal to higher education with no barriers at all. OpenER received considerable attention both in terms of visitors and in the media. About 10% of the visitors reported that OER influenced their decision to start some formal learning track at academic level. Lessons learned were both from users and from inside the Open Universiteit. The experiment changed the attitude towards OER within the university itself and led to a growing awareness in the Netherlands of the value of OER in general, in other educational levels as well as among policy‐makers and politicians. © 2009, The Open University.