Open Education Practices: A User Guide for Organisations/Introduction

This is a guide for educational developers, teachers and coordinators, with interest in open educational resources and practices, and the use of popular social media in education and research. It initially drew on documentation and analysis of experiences at Otago Polytechnic - it being the first Polytechnic in New Zealand to officially engage in open education resources and practices in the period 2006 - 2009. There is now an ongoing effort to include the work of other organisations embarking on open education practices.

NB: If you have documented experiences of open educational development from other institutions that might fit into this book, please get it touch, we'd love to add it.

The guide is separated into three main sections: 1. Introduction; 2. Development; and 3. Recommendations. Each section contains information about significant organisational developments, case studies, return on investment calculations, research and opinions about organisational culture, and educational outcomes. Finally, recommendations for organisations are extracted from this information, and wherever possible, responses from executive staff from the organisations are included here.

We hope you find this compilation interesting and informative. Most importantly that you are able to use it to assist you and your organisation to discuss or develop open education and research practices that strive to improve access and flexibility for people seeking learning and assessment.