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Why openness in education? Why open education?
These questions have been asked by many since the label “open” was applied to education and coined in 1998 by David Wiley.[1] Four years later, UNESCO created the term “open educational resources (OER)” at its 2002 Forum on the Impact of Open Courseware for Higher Education in Developing Countries to describe a new global phenomenon of openly sharing educational resources. [2] This international organization, “the only United Nations agency with a mandate to cover all aspects of education,” believes that building strong education systems around the world will help to eradicate poverty, promote peace, and encourage sustainable development. [3]
There are several resources that examine both OEP (open educational practice a.k.a. open pedagogy) and OER (open educational resources). Some of these are listed below.
- BCcampus Open Education
- Open Ed Manitoba
- eCampusOntario
- CCCOER’s Why Open Education?
- SPARC Open Education