Foundation Skills/Open Education Resources (OER) and Open Education Practices (OEP)/Open education practices (OEP)


 * Open educational practices (OEP)

The International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) defines Open Educational Practices (OEP) as follows:

"Practices which support the production, use and reuse of high quality open educational resources (OER) through institutional policies, which promote innovative pedagogical models, and respect and empower learners as co-producers on their lifelong learning path. OEP address the whole OER governance community: policy makers, managers and administrators of organizations, educational professionals and learners."


 * If you want to read more about OEP, I suggest Ulf-Daniel Ehlers' article, Extending the Territory: From OER to OEP.

Becoming an open educational practitioner, as you may now realise, involves a philosophical shift in thinking. OEP is a deeper process involving more than just making use of OERs. Of course, the big dilemma for many teachers is why should I change? Please take a look at the list in the next section, and consider how you might change your practice to develop 'openness'. This concept was covered in the previous module.


 * Why use OER and OEP? :

The Wikieducator OER Handbook for educators suggests several benefits of OER (you don't have to read the handbook, but may wish to skim through).


 * OER provide freedom of access for both yourself and others.
 * Because you can freely adapt them, OER encourage pedagogical innovation.
 * Because OER are available free of charge, using them can lower costs to students and organizations.
 * You and your organization may benefit from potential publicity.
 * When you share OER, you are contributing to the global education community.
 * When you share OER, you open a new method of collaborating with your students and colleagues.
 * Your OER may be helpful to future educators.
 * Your OER may be beneficial to underserved individuals in the developed and developing world.
 * Using OER puts you in control and avoids "vendor lock-in" or a situation in which you can only use one company's products.