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OPAL Initiative launches OER Survey

30-09-2010 (Paris)

EFQUEL Innovation Forum 2010
© EFQUEL

The UNESCO-supported Open Educational Quality (OPAL) Initiative has launched a quantitative survey on the use of Open Educational Resources (OER) in higher and adult education institutions.

Open Educational Resources are 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 has two roles in the OPAL Initiative:

contributing to the establishment of a Consultative Group for Quality of OER to promote use and trust in OER; and

setting up a Clearinghouse for Quality of OER in order to check practices and to create a Register of organizations subscribing to the use of OER and promoting innovation and quality through openness and sharing.

The OPAL Survey is available in four languages (English, Spanish, French and Portuguese) and targets four types of stakeholders:

a policy maker,

a manager/administrator (including an institutional policy maker),

an educational professional, and

a learner.

The results of the Survey will be presented at the OPAL Panel Meeting at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on 8 and 9 November 2010.

You are invited to respond to the Survey and to pass on this invitation to your colleagues and contacts.

The OPAL Initiative, funded by the European Commission, seeks to develop a framework of open educational practices that improve quality and innovation in education. UNESCO is a member of the OPAL Initiative, which includes the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE), the European Foundation for Quality in E-Learning (EFQUEL), the United Kingdom Open University, the Aalto University (Finland) and the Catholic University (Portugal). It is led by the University of Duisburg-Essen (Germany).