Open Educational Resources (OER) have the potential to solve global education crises by dramatically reducing education costs. Governments and universities need to take action to move the OER agenda forward. Governments should implement optimal OER policies and frameworks developed with universities. Universities should develop OER strategies and leadership for open education, partner with open and conventional universities, build competencies through research, and flip classrooms for personalized learning using OER. Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have increased momentum for OER adoption.

1. Open Educational Resources (OER):
Tomorrow’s Main Educational Provider?
IAU 14th General Conference,San Juan
Puerto Rico, USA
27-30 November 2012
Gard Titlestad
Secretary General
ICDE

2. To be adressed:
Governments: Universities:
• Move on the OER agenda • Take the responsibility!
• Optimal policy framework for • Strategies and leadership for
OER, incentives for OER, develop Open Education, for Open
in dialogue with universities Education Practices
• Implement the UNESCO • Overview and organisation.
declaration in a contextual way • Partnership between Open
• Map the landscape, facilitate and Conventional universities
infrastructures. • Build competencies –
• Facilitate initiatives for research, participate in research
new knowledge on effect and • Flip the classroom for student-
impact of OER and on delivering oriented and personalised
high quality OER learning

3. What is ICDE?
• the leading global membership organization for open and
distance education
• an NGO official partner of UNESCO, and shares that agency’s
key aim – the attainment of quality education for all
• member focused – ICDE is an organization which will involve
members in decision making, in cooperative action and in
cooperative problem solving.
• transparent – Members will be able to follow the activities
and decisions of ICDE.
• ICDE believes that in pursuing education as a universal right,
the needs of the learner must be central.
• senior management in member institutions is actively
involved in ICDE

4. Appr. No. of students
650.000
The ICDE
250.000
Executive Committee
400.000
40.000
3.500.000

5. Open Educational Resources - OER and
Open Educational Practices - OEP
Heard about OER?
Know what OER is?
Familiar with OER and OEP?

7. Open Educational
Resources
“... are digital learning resources offered online freely and
openly to teachers, educators, students and independent
learners in order to be used, shared, combined, adapted,
and expanded in teaching, learning and research.”
(OECD 2011)
“... are teaching, learning and research materials in any
medium that reside in the public domain and have been
released under an open licence that permits access, use,
repurposing, reuse and redistribution by others with no
or limited restrictions.”
(UNESCO 2011)

8. The vision
… At the heart of the movement toward Open
Educational Resources is the simple and
powerful idea that the world's knowledge is a
public good
… and that technology in general and the
Worldwide Web in particular provide an
extraordinary opportunity for everyone to
share, use, and reuse it.
Hewlett Foundation

9. ”For the first time in human history we
have the tools to enable everyone to
attain all the education they desire.”
(Wiley, Green, & Soares, 2012)
Dramatically bringing down the cost of education with
OER: How open education resources unlock the door
to free learning.

10. Expectations to OER
“OERs have the potential to solve
the global education crisis and
contribute to sustainable economic
growth”
Sir John Daniel, former CEO for Commonwealth
of Learning and David Killion, US ambassador to
UNESCO said in Guardian in July 2012

11. Why should universities bother?

12. OER can increase the
impact of investments
in knowledge
High quality education Open Access – open science
Research based education Research based OER
Resource based education Research based teaching
Open education
OER
Innovation in education – open innovation
Innovate the learning system – flip the classroom
Knowledge supply for innovation

13. OER can increase the
impact of investments
in knowledge
High quality education Open Access – open science
Research based education Research based OER
Resource based education Research based teaching
Open education
OER
Innovation in education – open innovation
Innovate the learning system – flip the classroom
Knowledge supply for innovation

14. Drivers for OER
• The benefits from Higher Education – a gold mine
• Demand for access to Higher Education
• Financial problems, costs
• Failure of the current educational system, drop
outs/push outs
• The need for innovation in HEI – innovation in
education
• Students
Reinventing education: OER an
important building block

15. EDUCAUSE: ECAR STUDY OF UNDERGRADUATE
STUDENTS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, 2012

16. EDUCAUSE: ECAR STUDY OF UNDERGRADUATE
STUDENTS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, 2012
19% 57%

17. Governments (OECD) on OER

18. Benefits and challenges of OER
Benefits Challenges
Open and flexible learning Language and cultural
opportunities sensitivity
Efficiency and quality of
Connectivity
learning resources
Cost-efficiency Quality
Innovation Copyright and licensing
Systemic transformative
Sustainability
capacity
Hylén, J. et al. (2012): OECDs “Open Educational Resources: Analysis of Responses to the OECD

19. Relevance of benefits of OER
Hylén, J. et al. (2012): OECDs “Open Educational Resources: Analysis of Responses to the OECD

20. ICDE SCOP 2012 – a workings group´s
reflections on OER
o Quality assurance concerns – how do DE institutions which
are already scrutinized for being DE institutions ensure that
OER they adopt does not undermine their existing QA systems
(the answer is to ensure that they go through the same QA
mechanisms as other course materials)
o Cost recovery
o Locating OER - it is difficult for institutions to locate OER
that is appropriate for their needs (call for more work on
facilitating use of search facilities for OER).

21. From the UNESCO OER
Declaration
• Foster awareness and use of OER
• Encourage the development and adaptation of
OER in a variety of languages and cultural
contexts
• Encourage the open licensing of educational
materials produced with public funds.

22. MOOCs
”A massive open online course (MOOC) is a type
of online course aimed at large-scale
participation and open access via the web.
MOOCs are a recent development in the area of
distance education, and a progression of the
kind of open education ideals suggested by
open educational resources.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOOC

23. MOOC
Mania
MOOCs have not only
created a discussion on
disruptive change in HEI,
but also increased the
momentum of OER.
The Chronicle's special report on Online Learning 2012

24. Coursera
and more!

25. So, why bother?
A wake up call is needed
for governments, for
universities

26. To be adressed:
Governments: Universities:
• Move on the OER agenda • Take the responsibility!
• Optimal policy framework for • Strategies and leadership for
OER, incentives for OER, develop Open Education, for Open
in dialogue with universities Education Practices
• Implement the UNESCO • Overview and organisation.
declaration in a contextual way • Partnership between Open
• Map the landscape, facilitate and Conventional universities
infrastructures. • Build competencies –
• Facilitate initiatives for research, participate in research
new knowledge on effect and • Flip the classroom for student-
impact of OER and on delivering oriented and personalised
high quality OER learning

27. Thank you!
titlestad@icde.org
www.icde.org