Open educational resources are teaching, learning and research materials that are freely accessible digitally in the public domain or are subject to an open licence. They are known as Open Educational Resources (OER). The open educational resources can be used, reused, modified and shared by others with few or no restrictions.
The national and international importance of OER
UNESCO believes that universal access to information through high-quality education contributes to peace, sustainable social and economic development and inter-cultural dialogue. Open educational resources offer a strategic opportunity to improve the quality of learning, the sharing of knowledge and enhance policy dialogue and capacity building around the world.
All member states, including the Netherlands, have signed the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Educational Resources. The Dutch government has committed to further developing OER in the Coalition Agreement: ‘Open science and open education will become the standard, on the condition that national security is not compromised in the process.’
Types of open educational resources
There are many different kinds of open educational resources. A few examples:
In 2022, Daniël Wigboldus, Chair of Radboud University’s Executive Board, received the SURF Education Award for his role in initiatives in the Koersteam Versnellingsplan Onderwijsinnovatie met ict (Direction Team Acceleration Plan Educational Innovation with ICT) to put Digital and Open Educational Resources on the map in a national sense.
What the jury said about Daniël::
‘The fact that there is a national approach to digital and open learning resources is a very special thing: this does not seem to be happening in the countries around us yet. Daniel planted the seed for this approach, and has also been involved in its further cultivation.’
OER’s added value for lecturers
Open educational resources improve the quality of education by providing
OER's added value for students
