Open Educational Resources are teaching, learning or research materials that are in the public domain or released with an intellectual property license that allows for free use, adaptation, and distribution.

In partnership with key European institutions, UNESCO is a member of the (Open Educational Quality (OPAL) Initiative to develop a Framework of OER Practices that improve quality and innovation in education.

UNESCO contributed to the international dimensions of the Report, especially policy development and institutional capacity building, and will also be responsible for its wide dissemination.

Institutional policies for OER are still a long way from impacting on educational institutions, according to findings from the OPAL quantitative survey. The perception by respondents that OER lead to institutional innovation still does not translate into implementation at the organization level. This is further compounded, on the one hand, by the very modest levels of support to factors that induce or enable the implementation of Open Educational Practices (OEP) in educational institutions, and on the other hand, by the level of importance attached by respondents to institutional policy barriers to the use of OER.

The report presents the following key findings in relation to supporting factors for OER.

Policy support for OER:

Support and recognition for OER projects and initiatives is necessary in institutional policy in higher education and adult education.
Support for localization, adaptation and translation of existing OER and support for implementing appropriate licensing schemes are viewed as very important.
Infrastructure, access and availability are seen as necessary conditions.
Promotion of quality assurance for OER is viewed as necessary.

Role of networks and partnerships for the diffusion of OER in institutions:

54% of all respondents stated that partnership with other organizations is a supporting factor for the use of OER.
Future OER-related support initiatives should focus their attention more on partnerships with other institutions.

Demand for specific quality assurance processes for OER

The report shows that systematic quality assurance mechanisms for OER are lacking in higher education and adult education in Europe.
Educational professionals give voice to considerable insecurity about how they can demonstrate the value of OER.

Keywords

analysis · copyright · education · EFQUEL · higher education · ICDE · OER definition · OPAL · Open Educational Resources · Open University · plan · policy · research · statistics · UNESCO