The dossier is coordinated by Dr. Francisco Rubio, from University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain)

By Elizabeth Millard. The reality behind seven commonly held beliefs about open source and what direction they’ll take your institution.
The Myth: If you use open source, you’re on your own.
The Reality: At Indiana State University, where open source is used for mobile application development, administrators recently launched an app with the help of Modo Labs, which offers mobile solutions and support services based on the Kurogo open source mobile platform. The project has gone so well, officials are looking at open source for development of a content management system, as well as creation of “sandboxes” for students who want to develop their own apps. Santhana Naidu, web services director at ISU, notes that his first experience with open source was 10 years ago, when he was using the Linux open source platform. Then, if he had an issue with the code, he’d have to post a question on online support forums and read through opinions culled from around the world. “That was the experience of many people using open source back then,” he says. “Unfortunately, there’s a belief that it’s still that way. But these days, there are so many companies, like Modo, that provide comprehensive support.” Read more...

The 1st AOU International Conference on Open Learning - Role, Challenges and Aspirations. 25-27th November 2013, Kuwait
The Arab Open University (AOU) in Kuwait is organizing its first International Conference on Open Learning: 'Role, Challenges and Aspirations' and this in collaboration with the Regional Center for Development of Educational Software (ReDSOFT), a leading center in the Arab region that focuses on the development and use of educational software, using multimedia on the internet. The conference will be an opportunity to discuss the new trends in open learning and technology and to recommend solutions to the challenges of open learning and will be of interest to academics, psychologists, researchers, practitioners and decision makers from different countries and institutions.
First Call
In collaboration with the Regional Center for Development of Educational Software (ReDSOFT), the Arab Open University (AOU) headquarter in Kuwait is organizing its first International Conference on Open Learning: Role, Challenges and Aspirations on 25-27 November, 2013 in Kuwait.
This international Conference on open and blended learning will bring together a range of academics, psychologists, researchers, practitioners and decision makers from different countries and institutions.
The conference will be an excellent opportunity to discuss the new trends in open learning and technology and to recommend solutions to the challenges of open learning. The papers will be presented in Arabic and in English (instant translation will be available).
•    The Main Objectives of the Conference:
1-    Increasing awareness about the importance of open learning and its role in development in the world and specifically in the Arab region.
2-    Spreading awareness about quality standards and quality assurance in open learning.
3-    Suggesting solutions to the different challenges (technological, psycho-Social and bureaucratic) in open learning.
•    The Main Themes of the Conference:
1-    Quality assurance in open learning.
2-    Techniques and methods of open learning and the required learning resources.
3-    Success stories in open learning.
4-    Academic accreditation for open learning degrees and institutions.
5-    International trends and experience in open learning.
6-    The role of open learning in development.
•    Workshops
-    Introduction to open and distance learning.
-    Managing the implementation of open and distance learning.
-    Technology in open and distance learning
- For any inquiry, please contact: Miss. Hadeer Ahmad: h.ahmed@arabou.edu.kw. Or: Miss. Yasmin Mahmoud: y.mahmoud@arabou.edu.kw.

By Tony Coughlan Regional Academic, The Open University, t.coughlan@open.ac.uk and Leigh-Anne Perryman, Research Associate at the OER Research Hub, The Open University, leigh.a.perryman@open.ac.uk. Open educational resources (OER) and, more recently, open educational practices (OEP) have been widely promoted as a means of increasing openness in higher education (HE). Thus far, such openness has been limited by OER provision typically being supplier-driven and contained within the boundaries of HE. Seeking to explore ways in which OEP might become more needs-led we conceptualised a new ‘public-facing open scholar’ role involving academics working with online communities to source and develop OER to meet their needs.
To explore the scope for this role we focused on the voluntary sector, which we felt might particularly benefit from such collaboration. We evaluated four representative communities for evidence of their being self-educating (thereby offering the potential for academics to contribute) and for any existing learning dimension, and we found that there was scope for a public-facing open scholar role. We therefore developed detailed guidelines for performing the role, which has the potential to greatly extend the beneficial impact of existing OER, prompting institutions to release new OER in response to the needs of people outside HE. Download the Document.
5. Conclusion
The public-facing open scholar role, located at the intersection of HE and the voluntary sector, has the potential to greatly extend the beneficial impact of existing OER and to prompt institutions to release new OER in response to the needs of people outside HE, not least of all in the voluntary sector, where resources are often scarce. It is envisaged that a public-facing open scholar, in highlighting the existence of relevant OER repositories and showing how resources might be sourced, could contribute to a community further developing their capacity for being self-educating, self-supporting and sustainable beyond the academic’s interventions. It is also possible that following an initial phase of regular work with a community, a public-facing open scholar may then adopt a lower-key relationship with that community, perhaps using a tool such as Twitter to draw the community’s attention to relevant OER when new resources are released.
However, a challenge to the beneficial impact of this new type of academic may be posed in terms of the time required to perform the role and possible clashes with the demands of paid work for the employing university. We share Weller’s (2011) assertion that the time is now right for universities to start recognising digital scholarship as an important part of academic output, according digital scholarship parity with more traditional outputs such as journal publishing.
Furthermore, we propose that universities should formally recognise the activities of public-facing open scholars in reaching out with OER to the benefit of communities outside higher education, perhaps rewarding such activities through the staff appraisal process or by incorporating this role into the job specification of faculty staff. Should such recognition and institutional support for the public-facing open scholar be afforded, a new role for learning institutions may be on the horizon – that of a ‘benevolent academy’ which takes seriously its responsibilities to civic society. Download the Document.

Welcome to MORIL. MORIL is a leading-edge Open Educational Resources (OERs) initiative by the Open and Distance Teaching Universities within the EADTU membership. The MORIL initiative is a multi-country initiative, and is to make educational content more broadly accessible (by means of OERs) to a vast array of both (lifelong) learners and institutional users.
Open courses
A multitude of OER member courses (varying in size) is involved in the initiative, directly aligning with EADTU members' institutional strategy and development. All OER offers are special in nature and differ from the offers of conventional universities in the sense that they consist of pedagogically-rich learning materials, specifically designed and developed for distance learning and intended for independent self-study.
EADTU is preparing for the launch of a first wave of Open Educational Resources (OER), to be disseminated freely and online, throughout Europe in a multilingual format. Preparations for the establishment of a consortium of Open Universities dedicated to Lifelong Open and Flexible (LOF) learning will be finalised. The consortium will focus on two offers online: a non-matriculated study offer for individuals i.e., open tasters, free courses, and a matriculated study offer meant for students i.e., the same courses but now including formal tutoring, assessment and examination.

Overview
How openness of resources can bring new possibilities of learning to on-campus students and also beyond the walls of the institutions?
The OportUnidad project explores the adoption of strategies and channels that embrace the principles of openness and reusability within the context of educational institutions. The project intends to foster the adoption and pilot of open educational practices (OEP), and open educational resources (OER) in Latin America as a bottom-up approach to develop a common Higher Education Area. The initiative also opens the possibility to provide free educational resources for self-learners, in terms of informal and lifelong learning. The OportUnidad project is co-funded with support by the European Commission under the EuropeAidALFA III Programme.
Compendium
Compendium of European Union – Latin America Open Educational Resource’s practices, based on European Union and Latin America experiences: at least 5 European Union OER and 3 Latin-American practices will be analysed and at least 5 interviews will be carried out with OER experts. Open Educational Resources: higher education study cases in Europe and Latinamerica (spanish) (13.09 MB).
Roadmap
Roadmap(s) of open educational practices, as a declination of the Agenda to the local, cultural and institutional framework of the 60 Latin-America Higher Education Institutions selected. Based on the Agenda, each university (i.e. partner and non-partner universities involved in the project) defines an institutional roadmap. It is a mid-term strategic plan for the implementation of one or more items of the Agenda that must be considered as a local-contextualised plan in a global strategic plan.

Towards the creation of a world map of Open Educational Resources initiatives
Can the global OER community design a world map of Open Educational Resources initiatives and build it together? An international online conversation will take place from 12 – 30 November 2012 to explore this possibility.
The global Open Educational Resources movement reaches its ten years with more and more OER initiatives, in more and more countries. The vision of increasing access to the world’s knowledge through making resources open and accessible is beginning to be realized.
But there is still a problem: there is a lack of a comprehensive overview of OER projects in the world – how do I know what is going on in my own country? And how do I find contacts in other countries, or contacts working in my own language?
A map would give us the big picture of the global OER movement. It would help us communicate the story of OER. Furthermore, it could be enhanced with information such as OER initiatives by language, and with links to other maps. And it would help us connect.
An international conversation will take place from 12 – 30 November 2012, send an email to oer-community-request@athabascau.ca and type subscribe in the subject line.
For more information, click here.
A world map of Open Educational Resources initiatives: Can the global OER community design and build it together?
First, an International discussion 12 – 30 November 2012
* Next, local discussions – organized locally
An international online conversation – The objective is to explore whether the OER community worldwide could work together to design and build an OER world map – starting with institutional initiatives and basic information.
A definition – Open Educational Resources are teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use and re-purposing by others. They may be full courses or course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge (William and Flora Hewlett Foundation).
Now a decade of development – a global movement with more and more OER initiatives, in more and more countries. The vision of increasing access to the world’s knowledge through making resources open and accessible is beginning to be realized.
But we still have a problem – we do not have a comprehensive overview of OER projects in the world – how do I know what is going on in my own country? And how do I find contacts in other countries, or contacts working in my own language?
An OER world map – A map would give us the big picture of the global OER movement. It would help us communicate the story of OER. Furthermore, it could be enhanced with information such as OER initiatives by language, and with links to other maps. And it would help us connect.
Community collaboration – Working together the OER community could design and build the map, and then regularly update it. With time, energy and collaboration, the map could become a door to the OER world, helping us communicate with stakeholders and connect with each other.
Week 1: What could an OER world map look like? 12- 16 November
Why map the OER landscape
Essential information and visual presentation
Week 2: Could a world map be built collaboratively? 19-23 November
Organizational approach for collaboration
Ensuring the quality of the information
Week 3: Reflection and next steps - 26-30 November
Design of an “OER World Map”
Organization
Resources available/needed
Next steps
Join the international conversation
Send an email to oer-community-request@athabascau.ca and type subscribe in the subject line.
Share this announcement with your colleagues and networks.
* Plan a parallel or follow up discussion in your own language and network and give your feedback for the final report of all the discussions. Contact: Susan D’Antoni at oermapping@gmail.com.

The annual conference of the Asian Association for Open Universities (AAOU) took place from 16–18 October in Chiba, Japan, and was attended by more than 300 open university presidents, administrators, teachers and researchers. Open Universities are among the largest global providers of learning opportunities in adult education and lifelong learning. A large number of their adult students are professional teachers seeking continuing education and new subject knowledge for career development or to improve the quality of their teaching. The 52 members of AAOU have a combined student body of over 12 million, while three open universities have enrolments of more than 2 million students each. 
The conference focused on the issue of Open Educational Resources (OER). Many open universities in Asia are already engaging with OER, by making learning materials available online free of charge, and collecting and collating existing free online material. These practices have reduced student costs considerably.
In his keynote speech, Mr. Arne Carlsen, Director of the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL), focused on the role of open universities in lifelong learning for all, particularly in relation to inclusion and sustainable development. He referenced the Paris Declaration on OER, adopted at the World Conference on OER, which was organised by UNESCO and the Commonwealth of Learning in June 2012. In another keynote speech, the President and CEO of the Commonwealth of Learning, Ms. Asha Kanwar, invoked many cases of OER at the global level. Ms. Kanwar also spoke about Mass Online Open Courses (MOOCs), and presented an example of a MOOC involving more than 160,000 participants.

IAU has received agreement of funding from the UNESCO Participation Programme 2012/2013 for the organisation of a Validation Workshop which is the first phase of its new Open Educational Resources (OER) project.
The IAU OER project aims to train and support academic librarians to be able to identify, inform, and train the academic community in the use, re-use and production of OER. It is based on IAU's assumption that librarians are the missing link of a greater and better use, reuse, and production of OER worldwide.
With a focus on Africa, the workshop aims to validate IAU's assumption and propose a way forward from the IAU OER Project Concept Note, as well as to raise awareness among academic librarians in the region of OER and the possible roles that librarians can play in their development. To take place in 2013, it is planned to be organised in collaboration with the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt and the Association of African Universities (AAU), Ghana, both organisations being IAU Members. Contact: Amanda Sudic or Isabelle Turmaine.