Integrating OER into open educational practices

Abstract

Open educational resources (OER) have been debated inside and beyond the OER movement, and considerable investments have been put into the creation of OER and OER repositories. A challenge remains: learners and teachers are still not using OER extensively. Reasons for this are complex and multifaceted (pedagogical, technical and organisational). The present chapter extrapolates components of a technological framework and considers a strategy that can be used for integrating OER more effectively into both formal and informal learning contexts. This strategy was adopted by the Open Educational Quality Initiative (OPAL). This initiative demonstrates the worldwide trend to include “practice” as part of OER. After arguing that better understanding and implementation of OER at individual, institutional and national level are needed, the chapter describes the set of guidelines that OPAL produced. These guidelines draw on an extensive review of worldwide OER initiatives undertaken as part of the EU-funded OPAL project, including examples from both developed and developing contexts. The guidelines aim to facilitate the promotion and take-up of OER in two ways: first, by providing stakeholders with a framework against which to benchmark their current OER work; and second, through a matrix to encourage and support them to develop a vision and an implementation plan. Together, these tools can enable individuals and organisations to make more effective use of OER and help them embed OER throughout the curriculum. The chapter concludes by describing how OER practices are recorded as “best” practices and receive recognition through the OPAL Awards