Contributed by Jan Hylén, OECD
As a part of the OECD/CERI study on Open Educational Resources (OER) a second expert meeting was held in Barcelona, Spain in October 2006. During the discussions on motivations, benefits and barriers for institutions producing OER, it became clear that, although altruistic motives are important, many institutions view OER as an important strategy to address new challenges posed by growing competition and new technological developments. Not all institutions represented at the meeting had a clear view of how their strategy would be designed and implemented.
Marshall Smith and Catherine Casserly presented, “Open Educational Resources: Revolutionizing Theories of Learning” which focused on the potential of OER for developing education materials and for opening up the possibilities of vastly accelerating learning. Several speakers highlighted OER’s role in an overall scheme to improve quality, widen access, and stimulate innovation. OER should not be looked as merely a technical or pedagogical innovation but as an important vehicle to advance quality, promote the use of ICT in education generally, and to enhance lifelong learning both on the local, national, and international levels. A final report will be published by OEC/CERI during the first half of 2007. Click here to view more.