OER.Pro
General Overview
The aim of OER.Pro is to promote Open Educational Resources (OER) at EUniWell universities, encouraging teachers and students to incorporate and create OER, and equipping them with the necessary skills and knowledge for using OER in academic practice. The project includes a targeted OER promotion and information campaign as well as specific training for academic teachers and students.
Purpose and Significance
University teaching must be sustainable, inclusive, and freely accessible to benefit both students and teachers. Open Educational Resources are crucial in this context, offering new perspectives for all social groups and enhancing equal opportunities through fair access to publicly funded education. With OER, students can access new courses without the need to travel, study at times convenient for them, and explore courses offered by other universities. Additionally, the broader availability of educational materials can strengthen international cooperation in teaching, making the process more collaborative.
OER.Pro aims to complement the measures of the EUniWell Open Education Working Group.
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Implementation Method and Timeline
OER.Pro is a joint project involving the University of Konstanz, Nantes Université, the University of Cologne, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Semmelweis University, the University of Florence, and the University of Murcia. The University of Konstanz is responsible for coordinating and implementing the project.
The project will begin with a status quo analysis and an exchange of information and experiences. Local coordinators will collect examples of OER usage at the participating universities, determine the extent to which teaching staff already create and reuse OER, and identify the support they need. This will be followed by a live workshop to exchange ideas and plan further measures.
Next, a broad social media campaign will highlight the benefits and potential of OER for visible international teaching and the importance of open teaching for community well-being, inspired by the EUniWell Working Group’s reflections on the topic published on EUniWell’s Open Education blog.
A second live workshop will focus on specific OER-related topics based on the needs identified in the preceding analysis. Both workshops will take place on-site to foster an active community that supports each other and maintains the network even after the project ends. The existing networks will continue their work and, if possible, establish a permanent further training programme for EUniWell.
Expected Outcomes
Opening up teaching makes the didactic process of EUniWell transparent and visible both inside and outside Europe, promoting EUniWell to highly qualified and talented applicants worldwide. Through OER.Pro, the project team expects continuous improvement of teaching materials through their broad use, review, and further development at the participating universities. Linking and highlighting existing teaching materials will facilitate collaboration and enhance the quality of teaching across the Alliance.
Contact:
Dr. Paulina Helmecke, Team Open Science, University of Konstanz
