OER Innovation Report
Drivers, Barriers, Challenges and Enablers
Welcome to the first ENCORE+ Innovation Briefing!
This report focuses on improved understanding of stakeholders for whom innovation with and through open educational resources (OER) is relevant, and uses desk research to provide an analysis of the opportunities presented by OER to a range of stakeholders, including educational institutions, faculty, learning designers, educational technology providers, industry and services. Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching, learning and research materials in any medium – digital or otherwise – that are in the
public domain and/or released under an open licence that permits no-cost access, use, adaptation and redistribution by others with no or limited restrictions. They are free at the point of use and ‘free’ in the sense that they provide users with greater freedoms in how resources are shared, used, customised and iterated. Compatible definitions of OER are provided by UNESCO, Hewlett Foundation and OER Commons.
This report is a deliverable for the ENCORE+ project under the work package ‘Supporting Innovation in the European OER Ecosystem’ (D6.1). This work package analyses the conditions under which OER leads to (or supports) innovation in business and higher education contexts. Innovating is a key part of how OERs are used, as resources are typically adapted or transformed for use in a new context. Siloed forms of OER reuse – often limited to a single classroom – can make it harder for others to take advantage of the effective practice of others, limiting the spread of innovation. Routes to understand OER innovation for different stakeholders are needed, and can be provided through an improved understanding of the drivers and enablers of innovation as well as the challenges faced. This report thus develops an understanding of the key features of OER innovation and acts as a foundation for evaluating instances of innovation (D6.4).
Coordinator of this work: The Open University (UK)
