Dan Dubien Open Arenas Presentation OEP SIG
Channel: Adrian BK
Date: 25/08/2019

According to UNESCO, demand for higher education increases globally by approximately 1% each year (Marginson, 2016). This demand will stimulate further coevolution of educational organizations and educational technologies. Along with the increasing demand for higher education is a desire for equality, which can be partially attained through access to higher education (Marginson, 2016).
One option for helping to fill this demand is to use open educational resources (OERs) which are defined as ”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” (UNESCO, 2011). OERs are widely available as are guides for their adoption (e.g. UNESCO & COL, 2015). However, OERs are not widely used, and there remain questions as to how to increase their adoption by institutions (Kaatrakoski, Littlejohn, & Hood, 2017).
This presentation describes a case study of an anonymous institution which has developed OERs in partnership with the OERu. The OERu uses an open business model with transparent planning processes aimed at sustainability. It is “[a]n international network of recognised partner institutions from five continents – providing top-quality tertiary courses to students everywhere” (OERu, n.d., para. 1). This research aims to examine how the institution developed OERs. Data about organizational culture and processes were collected through interviews with OER developers, analysis of literature pertaining to the institutions and online planning documents, and analysis of course content.
Davis’ (2018) arena of change with technology in education was used to map the institutions’ practices within a global organizing framework to better inform partners about the complex changing educational ecosystems within which they are embedded. Davis' framework was combined with Cox and Trotter's (2017) OER adoption pyramid to map barriers and enablers (called stressors in the analysis) on an arena in an effort to enable planning for innovation in educational technology. The findings aim to support the OERu and its partners to fulfill their vision of providing affordable access to education.