Supporting OER re-use in learning ecosystems Erasmus Project

Project Title

Supporting OER re-use in learning ecosystems

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships addressing more than one field

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2014

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Open and distance learning; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

This strategic partnership aimed at targeting the support for the production and adoption of OER, as a strategic priority identified by the European Commission, but has also been addressed as a global level. The identified area in need of further development, OER, has also been pointed out in research studies that show that there are several obstacles to overcome a limited approach to using and contributing to the development of OER. The uptake of OER, not only as a supplement in higher education, and other educational levels, has so far displayed that there is still a lack of pedagogical skills and official policies. It is against this background that our strategic partnership targets the underlying theoretical views and attitudes among teaching professionals in higher education to be able to develop a teacher training course, a MOOC available online for the development of competences to adopt OER in an open educational practice (OEP), for a more sustainable option for professionals to develop new skills linked to the uses and development of OER. These two dimensions we found in our partnership between the six partners, was crucial to understand as part of the same learning ecosystem of practitioners, to be able to develop and design new features in an already existing OER repository, KlasCement, together with designers, which also had a dedicated teacher network built on OER development and sharing. Though KlasCement is developed for compulsory education, the partnership saw clear correlations to higher education, that is, teacher professionals share views and attitudes to sharing, and gamification of OER. Our objectives included the following: 1) Co-creation of guidelines for training of adult educators on OER reuse, which was achieved as a collaboration led by Allison Littlejohn, GCU. 2) Development of training materials and teacher training in OER reuse and digital skills through an Open Online Course. This was led by the Open University and was so successful it won an award in 2016. The course has been given in Polish and Swedish (in both Swedish and English), besides the first English version. The third objective was to contribute to 3) More dynamic OER infrastructures by means of embedding social networking and gaming mechanics in OER repositories. This objective turned out to be a challenge since teachers’ responses in surveys, together with analysis of user data, and previous experiences by the LORO-team (OUUK) clearly indicated that professional teachers, not only in compulsory education, were not in favour of either social networks and gaming features as part of OER and OEP. KlasCement developed and designed other ways forward in relation to OER and OEP, that aligned with how teachers expressed their interests and wishes for features to be available. These new features have been tested and have received positive feedback not only in words, but detectable in user data available in KlasCement. The fourth objective consisted of three Multiplier events, two in Brussels and one in Krakow, 4) Stimulation and support for policy development regarding OER uptake through three multiplier events, online and face-to-face expert seminars resulting in policy recommendations. The three events attracted several key persons, from the local, international and global arena, from the OER, OEP, and OA (Open Access) fields, and all seats were taken very quickly after announcements were made. The European partnership involved three Higher education institutions (GCU, OUUK, UGOT), a Ministry of Education supporting a large OER repository – KlasCement which half-way into the project, became part of the Belgian NA and therefore could not continue in the role of partner, a private company specialising in OER and social networking/gaming; W2L, and a non-profit organisation leading the field in open licensing and open education, Fundacja Projekt Polska – Centrum Cyfrowje. This cross-sectoral approach enabled new perspectives, and the objectives targeted were dealt with in new ways, and diverse expertise could become integrated to further the identified issues. The strong partnership also added weight and credibility to the policy work done in the Multiplier events.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 225085 Eur

Project Coordinator

GOETEBORGS UNIVERSITET & Country: SE

Project Partners

• THE OPEN UNIVERSITY
• THE GLASGOW CALEDONIAN UNIVERSITY
• FUNDACJA PROJEKT: POLSKA
• KlasCement
• AIKATERINI ZOUROU & SIA EE