Are We There Yet? Narratives of Institutional Maturity & Open Ed Practices from Australian Higher Ed
Channel: Open Education Southern Symposium
Date: 2021-09-22

Australian universities, like their international counterparts, can place their activities on a broad continuum of open educational practices with varying levels of preparedness, planning, engagement with and support of staff, and evaluative processes. Open education, however, is a key interest of universities with social justice foci, and cohorts of students that are first-in-family, low socio-economic status, as well as incarcerated students, and those studying in rural and remote Australia. External influences such as Federal targets for inclusion, participation, retention, and employability, the impacts of COVID-19 on access to learning resources, and the continued gap in reliable internet access for regional Australia have acted as drivers for innovation, and used as leverage for OEP adoption.

This discussion - structured using the Capability Maturity Model (Paulk, Curtis, Chrissis, & Weber, 1993) - examines the stages of development of three Australian universities serving regional, remote, and online students from diverse backgrounds. Specifically, it will cover OER adoption and publishing, best practices, student success, funding and building communities for engagement, building on existing relationships and trust, and learning and teaching priorities such as accessibility and authentic assessment practices.

The session will be of particular interest to those establishing a culture of openness in higher education, and staff seeking to communicate maturity of open practices to a range of stakeholders. Examples through practice-based cases will form a narrative of shared experience with institutional nuance and flavour that will be transferable across contexts. The presenters will finish the discussion by reflecting on the nature of ‘successful’ open practices and future markers for engagement.

Presenter:
Adrian Stagg
Alice Luetchford
Nikki Andersen
Samantha Elkington-Dent