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Open Education Resources (OER) Applications from Around the World
In a series of insightful descriptions, Contact North | Contact Nord Research Associate Rory McGreal highlights the expanding and diverse applications of OER in post-secondary institutions around the world.
The thirteen examples provide insights into multiple facets of OER development, use and impact:
- Use of OER for teaching and learning;
- Integration of OER into programs and courses;
- Development of OER by individual faculty, as well as teams;
- Adaption of OER to match culture, language, and course content requirements;
- Strategies to involve faculty in the development and use of OER;
- Benefits of OER for student learning and faculty effectiveness; and
- Organizational change resulting from the integration of OER.
The descriptions outline the organizational contexts that motivated the introduction of OER into teaching and learning, as well as details of the policies, practices, development processes, and resources involved. Benefits and challenges for faculty, students and, in some examples, institutions receive particular attention, followed by consideration of the potential of OER in each academic situation.
Contacts are provided for each description and links to further information.
Click on the links below to read the descriptions.
An Institutional Approach to OER Implementation at the University of South Africa (UNISA)
January 16, 2018UNISA committed to the implementation of OER within the university by incorporating support for OER into all relevant policies and processes.
Implementing OER in the Z-Degree Program at Tidewater Community College, Virginia, USA
January 16, 2018Offering zero cost textbooks at TCC presented itself as an opportunity to eliminate an obstacle to student access and success in higher education.
OER and MOOCs at the National Open University of Nigeria
January 16, 2018NOUN referred to the section that encouraged government-funded materials to be released under an open licence and made available and accessible as OER.
OER Implementation in the Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil
January 16, 2018The implementation of OER by UFPR is aimed at reducing regional disparities with the creation and free sharing of OER by its teachers and students.
Open Educational Resources at Notre Dame University, Louaize, Lebanon
January 16, 2018By increasing awareness about the use of OER among faculty, staff and students, and by strategizing the development of OER policies and practices, a new direction was determined.
Open Educational Resources: The Experience of the Wawasan Open University, Penang, Malaysia
January 16, 2018This policy was introduced to encourage a move away from the wrap-around model accompanied by a commercial textbook to a stand-alone course model that would be more economically viable.
The Project Kaleidoscope Open Course Initiative at Mercy College, New York, USA
January 16, 2018With a Next Generation Learning Challenges grant through Educause, the University decided to engage in the Project Kaleidoscope Open Course Initiative (KOCI), a nation-wide collaboration with educators from other colleges with similar student populations.
January 15, 2018There is significant OER activity at Athabasca University. The School of Business is a faculty leader in the university in implementing new technologies and OER.
A Mathematics OER Implementation at Scottsdale Community College, Arizona, USA
January 15, 2018This OER initiative was led by faculty in the Mathematics department, hoping to provide greater access to learning content at a significantly reduced price point, while maintaining quality in the materials.
An OER Implementation in Maskwacis Cultural College, an Indigenous College in Alberta, Canada
January 15, 2018Teachers at the college involved in the initial OER projects expressed a desire to extend their OER work to include other courses, some expressing the desire to continue integrating OER into all their courses.
Open Educational Resources at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
January 15, 2018Students were exposed to a range of open educational practices, including 16,450 who enrolled in courses in which instructors replaced traditional textbooks with open or freely accessible resources.
January 15, 2018The COOL4Ed initiative, through its open textbooks and OER, reduced a financial barrier for students.
January 15, 2018KPU was able to provide faculty with a web-based platform to more easily edit open textbooks, to make digital copies available across a variety of formats, and to provide professional quality print copies of open textbooks at low cost.
