Presentation of Andreia Inamorato dos Santos from the European Commission Joint Research Centre at the Digital Skills Gap PLA (Peer Learning Activity) hosted by SRCE in Zagreb, Croatia

1. The European Commission’s
science and knowledge service
Joint Research Centre
Going Open: Policy
Recommendations for
Open Education in Europe
Andreia Inamorato dos Santos
European Commission
Joint Research Centre, Seville
8th December 2017
@aisantos
andreia-inamorato-dos.santos@ec.europa.eu

2. 2
A mode of realising education, often enabled by
digital technologies, aiming to widen access and
participation to everyone by removing barriers
and making learning accessible, abundant, and
customisable for all. It offers multiple ways of
teaching and learning, building and sharing
knowledge, as well as a variety of access routes
to formal and non-formal education, bridging
them.
What is (contemporary) open education?
Source: Inamorato dos Santos, A., Punie, Y., Castaño-Muñoz, J. (2016)
Opening up Education: a support framework for higher education
institutions. European Commission, JRC
http://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/bitstream/JRC101436/jrc1
01436.pdf

3. 3
http://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle
/JRC101436

4. 4
What does the framework look like?
For each dimension
of open education,
the framework
brings:
√ Dimension definition
√ Rationale
√ Components
√ descriptors
• 10 Dimensions:
• 6 core: access,
content, pedagogy,
recognition,
collaboration,
technology, research
• 4 transversal:
strategy, leadership,
technology, quality
Opening up education strategic
planning template

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Content dimension - sample

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Content dimension - sample

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OpenEdu Framework workshop, JRC Seville
2016

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Framework: development and implementation
Flexibility, choice and customisation are at the core
of the framework. But what is it that people
really want /need?
Not only framework design process, but also
framework implementation process
“No framework provides definitive answers. The answers
come from the insights generated by the process of
interacting with the framework” (Eades et al, 2010)

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GDPR and Open Education
GDPR matters only when a subject can be identified. Data that
is not about an individual (data subject) is not affected by
GDPR. (e.g. educational materials)
Danger of a reductionist approach to OE:it is not about OER
only. GDPR may not be a big deal for OE. In any case,
educational content which does not identify individuals is not
affected – For all other cases informed consent is key
( & privacy by default and by design)
Where to think further: learning analytics, data on VLEs, LMS,
etc …personalised learning

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OpenEdu Policies
Research on
currency policies for
OE in EU Member
States
Workshops with
policy makers
Policy recommendations
for open education
Case studies on
policies in 28
Member States

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UPCOMING REPORTS - FALL

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Levels of policies

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• Four types
of policies
on Open
Education
Q2 Focusing on
ICT for learning
with some
components of
open education
Q4 Policies from
national open
government plans
with some
components of
open education
Q 3 Educational
strategy policies
with some
components of
open education
Q1 Focusing on
open education,
promoting OER
and open
educational
practices
Source: Policy approaches to open education – Case studies from 28 EU Member States
JRC 2017 in collaboration with Universidad Internacional de La Rioja

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• Four types
of policies
on Open
Education
Q2 Focusing on
ICT for learning
with some
components of
open education
Q4 Policies from
national open
government plans
with some
components of
open education
Q 3 Educational
strategy policies
with some
components of
open education
Q1 Focusing on
open education,
promoting OER
and open
educational
practices

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Policy examples
France’s Fun MOOC
(National, Quadrant 1: OE; OER and OEP)
“In FUN MOOC universities benefit from traffic, learners and
visibility. University membership in FUN MOOC is optional, but it is
beneficial to universities to become members because apart from
these three aspects, there is no cost related to infrastructure
building. They also benefit from the platform's marketing and
communication strategies. Fun MOOCs has 29 members, but under
the umbrella of a 'member' there can be a network of universities. In
total, FUN MOOC has over 200 institutions using the platform, plus
external partners, which are in the range of 40 to date. ”

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• Four types
of policies
on Open
Education
Q2 Focusing on
ICT for learning
with some
components of
open education
Q4 Policies from
national open
government plans
with some
components of
open education
Q 3 Educational
strategy policies
with some
components of
open education
Q1 Focusing on
open education,
promoting OER
and open
educational
practices

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Policy examples
Portugal’s Conta-nos uma história
(National, Q 2: ICT)
Conta-nos uma história is a national initiative for schools with
State government support, which focuses on ICTs. It is a competition,
in which stories are submitted to the initiative's website by the
schools. This initiative fosters the use of media. As producers of
content, students learn to be responsible and critical consumers of
media content. All the content available on Conta-nos uma história is
CC licensed.
( Extract from ‘Policy Approaches to Open Education – Case Studies on 28 EU Member
States’, JRC 2017)

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• Four types
of policies
on Open
Education
Q2 Focusing on
ICT for learning
with some
components of
open education
Q4 Policies from
national open
government plans
with some
components of
open education
Q 3 Educational
strategy policies
with some
components of
open education
Q1 Focusing on
open education,
promoting OER
and open
educational
practices

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Policy Examples
Flanders’ RPL Policy
(National, Q3: Educational strategy policy with OE component)
In the Flanders region in Belgium, open and online education is not
itself a policy objective; it is related to other HE policy objectives,
with regards to accessibility and flexibility, lifelong learning and
innovation in HE. It is seen as a tool that contributes to improving
flexibility and innovation in HE. The legislation in HE covers many
different areas, including some aspects of open (and online)
education, such as recognition of prior learning – RPL (formal,
non-formal and informal learning). Thus, in Flanders, policies on open
education (RPL specifically) are embedded into higher-level policies.
( Extract from ‘Policy Approaches to Open Education – Case Studies on 28 EU Member
States’, JRC 2017)

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• Four types
of policies
on Open
Education
Q2 Focusing on
ICT for learning
with some
components of
open education
Q4 Policies from
national open
government plans
with some
components of
open education
Q 3 Educational
strategy policies
with some
components of
open education
Q1 Focusing on
open education,
promoting OER
and open
educational
practices

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Policy examples
Greece’s Action Plan on Open Government
(National, Q4; policy from national open
government plan)
In Greece, the 3rd National Action Plan on Open Government
2016-2018 has a clear commitment to open education.
The two main projects (initiatives) of open education that were
launched by the Ministry as part of the Action Plan were Open
Academic Lessons and the repository Photodentro. These projects
aimed to create open lessons on all academic levels for everyone.
Some of the policy dimensions of the 3rd National Action Plan on Open
Government 2016-2018 are: open data (access), open materials
(OER), open lessons (pedagogy), open collaboration, open
research, and open source (technology).
( Extract from ‘Policy Approaches to Open Education – Case Studies on 28 EU Member
States’, JRC 2017)

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Creating an Open Education
Ecosystem
 awareness raising
 regulation, legislation and funding
 partnerships
 teachers' professional development
 accreditation and recognition of learning
 open educational resources
 support and infrastructure
 research and evaluation

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Awareness raising
multi-stakeholder approach to develop
an OE ecosystem

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Regulation, legislation and funding
Funding for OE initiatives is an important catalyst for
change because it prompts strategic thinking
followed by practice

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27. 40
https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/open-education/publications

28. 41
Other JRC publications on
Open Education
Validation of Non-formal MOOC-based Learning: An Analysis of
Assessment and Recognition Practices in Europe (OpenCred)
How are higher education institutions dealing with openness? A
survey of practices, beliefs and strategies in five European
countries (OpenSurvey)
OpenCases: Case Studies on Openness in Education
OpenCases: A catalogue of mini cases on open education in
Europe.

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