With support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, UNESCOs International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) is planning a series of activities to increase awareness, and support capacity building and informed decision-making related to the provision and use of openly available course content.
An initial Internet forum will take place from 24 October 2 December 2005 linking an international group of providers, users and interested individuals from developed and developing countries to explore the concept of open course content, its context, current initiatives and issues and implications of its use.
Information-sharing and informal discussion of the main concerns raised in the final session of the forum will continue throughout 2006 in a Community of Interest.
The discussion will feed into a complementary study to be undertaken by the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to map the scale and scope of Open Educational Resource (OER) initiatives in tertiary education.
This is the third in a series on key issues related to the use of ICT in higher education. Open course content -course elements and materials that are freely available on the Internet for consultation, use and adaptation- constitutes an important resource for higher education institutions.
However, if there is little or no awareness of availability, it cannot be exploited, and, even with awareness of availability, there are challenges and barriers to its effective use.
Further information or an application to participate in the discussion can be obtained from Susan D'Antoni at the IIEP. Participation will be limited to ensure broad representation of countries and key stakeholders.
However, a website will be created to make the documentation available to all who are interested in the topic and the issues.
Source: UNESCO
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