Open Education Handbook/Open Advocacy

Convincing policy makers requires making both a business and a social case for open education. Advocates need to help policy makers to see that open education matters and that open policy effectively supports open education.

Open policy advocates need to present a coordinated case to policymakers that 21st century legal and technical tools can be used to significantly improve the effectiveness of investments in publicly funded resources. For instance:

When policy makers understand the power of open policies, they can avoid the lock-in of stale frameworks and existing financial models, so they can maximize the positive societal impact of publicly funded resources.
 * The global reach and increasing speed and bandwidth of the Internet
 * The decreasing cost of hardware and marginal costs of digital storage, copying and distribution
 * Open licensing and the popularity of mobile devices are making content more easily accessed

Many open advocates use the OER Advocacy Coalition email group to share their experiences and form strategies for change.

There are some good arguments for open education in the videos from the Why Open Education Matters video competition.

Further resources

 * EC Opening Up Education
 * OER Africa Policy
 * POERUP Research Project into OER policy in the EU