About

Welcome to this open micro course for learning and teaching practitioners in higher education, in which five open educational practice (OEP) concepts are introduced and explored through five key curriculum design topics. In making practical connections between contemporary curriculum design and the open education movement, we will explore the opportunities afforded by open educational practices and help to shape them in the process. The course runs over five weeks (notionally 20 study hours in total), and is structured around six suggested learning pathways which comprise activities, readings, sharing of ideas and resources, and reflection centred around your own learning and teaching context. The learning pathways comprise:

  • Introduction
  • Learning outcome frameworks
  • Learner contexts
  • Design for learning in open education
  • Resources and technologies
  • Assessment and OEP.

You can work through the six learning pathways in sequence, completing all activities, or sample topics and activities based on your professional development needs. Visit the course overview for more detail of the OEP concepts and learning pathway topics, in addition to the intended learning outcomes. For more details of the micro course and suggested study strategies, please read the learners' guide in full.

The learning pathways above contribute directly and indirectly to two major tasks:
Task 1: Curation and peer feedback
Task 2: Micro course reflection.
Refer to the learners' guide for information on how your learning might be recognised after full completion of the micro course.

This pilot micro course, funded by the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT) and developed by the University of Tasmania and University of Southern Queensland, includes an evaluation component to guide future improvements. As a participant in the pilot, you are also invited to take part in the evaluation of the micro course when submitting Task 2: Micro course reflection. Participation is entirely optional, and explained fully in the Information sheet (pdf) provided as part of the ethics approval granted by the Tasmanian Social Sciences Human Research Ethics Committee (Ref. H0014560). If you have any questions regarding the evaluation, or other aspects of the course, contact Dr Carina Bossu Email.

Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge the project funding provided by the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT), and the Tasmanian Institute of Learning and Teaching, University of Tasmania (UTAS). We thank the project team for their many contributions to the pilot course: A/Prof Natalie Brown, Dr Robyn Smyth, Luke Padgett and Beale van der Veer. Sincere thanks too to Dr Wayne Mackintosh and Jim Tittsler of the OER Foundation, for their guidance and hosting support. Warm thanks too to Dr Jo-Anne Kelder (UTAS) for guiding us on the evaluation design. Course authoring and development by Wendy Fountain and Dr Carina Bossu (Project Leader). The views expressed in this course do not necessarily reflect those of the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching.