This document discusses open educational resources (OER) and innovation in three parts. First, it provides context on how OER were an innovation in response to copyright. Second, it examines theories of innovation and how OER diffusion and adoption relates to these theories. Finally, it outlines several OER research projects and how they explored and supported innovation with and through OER in areas like textbooks, MOOCs, and policy development.

1. Understanding OER
and Innovation
OERxDomains, 22nd April 2021
Dr. Robert Farrow
Open Education Research Hub
Institute of Educational Technology
The Open University, UK
rob.farrow@open.ac.uk
@philosopher1978

2. 2
SUMMARY
WP7: QUALITY
• What is WP7? Aims, activities and deliverables
• D7.1 Quality Management System
• Proposed Next Steps

3. How can we understand
innovation in open
education?

4. Open Educational
Resources (OER) are an
innovation, but what they
respond to (copyright) was
also an innovation.

5. Copyright was introduced
to regulate IP in the age of
mechanical reproduction:
Incentivising creative production
Preserving the integrity of creative
works
Establishing rules for the economic
exploitation of works

6. Sustainability 2020, 12, 7053; doi:10.3390/su12177053

7. [O]ne impediment is traditional thinking that educational innovation exists
within formal educational institutions (e.g., schools, institutes, universities)
and not in other formal or informal environments. Moving beyond this
thinking presents a niche of opportunity to generate lines of research and
publications related to the processes of formal and informal learning
within networks, considering multiple relationships with educational
institutions and other sectors.
Another challenge of great incidence is “openness,” the capacity to bring
together diverse sectors (educational, social, enterprise, cultural) for
collaboration and dissemination. In this landscape, the field of open
education is fertile, both for training in educational innovation and for
promoting innovations within the framework of the open educational
movement with practices of production, use, dissemination, and
mobilization.
Here, the open education movement is visualized as a dynamic
phenomenon, in constant evolution, that starts from the simplest idea of
taking advantage of resources to share a common good, namely,
knowledge. However, open education can also mean something more
complex: developing educational practices that contribute to the
necessary improvements in education, management, and research
required by external changes.
Sustainability 2020, 12, 7053; doi:10.3390/su12177053

8. 8
Weller (2014) suggests that motivations for moving towards openness are difficult to
be categorical about since they are so heavily influenced by context.
Costa (2014). Digital scholarship practices. Compiled and adapted from Weller (2011)
OER21xDomains
UNDERSTANDING OER AND INNOVATION

9. http://oerhub.net/

10. Project Co-PILOT

11. Keyword Hypothesis
Performance OER improve student performance/satisfaction
Openness People use OER differently from other online materials
Access OER widen participation in education
Retention OER can help at-risk learners to finish their studies
Reflection OER use leads educators to reflect on their practice
Finance OER adoption brings financial benefits for students/institutions
Indicators Informal learners use a variety of indicators when selecting
OER
Support Informal learners develop their own forms of study support
Transition OER support informal learners in moving to formal study
Policy OER use encourages institutions to change their policies
Assessment Informal assessments motivate learners using OER
http://oerhub.net/reports/

12. 12
PROJECT INNOVATION ASPECT
OER Research Hub (2012-2016)
http://oerhub.net/research-outputs/reports/
First global investigation of key claims made
about OER
UK Open Textbooks (2017-2018)
http://ukopentextbooks.org/
Replacing textbooks with openly licensed
equivalents, supporting pedagogical innovation
BizMOOC (2016-2019)
https://moocbook.pressbooks.com/
Leverage MOOCs for business training and
development
OER World Map (2014-)
https://oerworldmap.org/
Facilitate exchange of data, experiences and
ideas between different people and Open
Education communities
European MOOC Consortium: Labour Markets
(2019-2022)
https://emc.eadtu.eu/emc-lm/
Leverage MOOCs for labour markets: upskilling,
(re-training), responsiveness, scalability
Global OER Graduate Network (2016-2021)
http://go-gn.net/
Supporting doctoral research into open
education; exploring openness as a research
vector
OER21xDomains
UNDERSTANDING OER AND INNOVATION

13. Theories of innovation

14. Archimedes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka_(word)#/media/
File:Archimede_bain.jpg

15. 15
New
possibilities
or
constraints
Artifacts
New
requirements
Tasks Task-Artefact Cycle
(Carroll et al., 1990)
OER21xDomains
UNDERSTANDING OER AND INNOVATION

16. 16
Diffusion of Innovations (Rogers, 2003)
• Focused on spread of new technology & practices
• Adoption is required for innovations to sustain
• Relative advantage; compatibility
OER21xDomains
UNDERSTANDING OER AND INNOVATION

17. 17
Diffusion of Innovations (Rogers, 2003)
• Focused on spread of new technology & practices
• Adoption is required for innovations to sustain
• Relative advantage; compatibility
OER has 5% K12
market share in USA
https://www.onlinelearni
ngsurvey.com/reports/k-
12_whatweteach.pdf
OER21xDomains
UNDERSTANDING OER AND INNOVATION

18. 18

19. 19
SUBSTITUTION AUGMENTATION MODIFICATION REDEFINITION
Open Textbooks Use Open
Textbooks in
place of
proprietary
versions
(More than $1
billion saved in the
USA)
https://sparcopen.
org/news/2018/1-
billion-in-savings-
through-open-
educational-
resources/
Freely shared and
accessible online
Enhances access,
reduced
dependency on
grants and loans
Producing
revised/remixed
versions of
lessons, textbooks
and
supplementary
resources
Collaboration
across institutions
Rethinking the
textbook as the
standard
organisation of
curricula
OER21xDomains
UNDERSTANDING OER AND INNOVATION

20. 20
European Network for Catalysing Open Resources in Education
ENCORE+
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1036281.pdf

21. 21
Coughlan, T., Pitt, R. & Farrow, R. (2019) Forms of innovation inspired by open educational resources: a
post-project analysis, Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, 34:2, 156-
175, DOI: 10.1080/02680513.2018.1552579
OER21xDomains
UNDERSTANDING OER AND INNOVATION

22. How do we support innovation
with and through OER?
Raise awareness of open alternatives
Empower individuals in ways that enable them to
exercise their autonomy
Encourage experimentation in pedagogy and
practice
Develop constructive, critical learning cultures
Think and act at the level of the ecosystem
Leverage the power of networks

23. Farrow, R. (2017). Open education and critical
pedagogy. Learning, Media and Technology 42 (2): 130-
146. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2016.1113991
Deimann, M. & Farrow, R. (2013). Rethinking OER and
their use: Open Education as Bildung. International
Review of Online and Distance Learning 14(3).
http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1370/25
42
Farrow, R. (2016). A Framework for the Ethics of Open
Education. Open Praxis, 8(2).
http://dx.doi.org/10.5944/openpraxis.8.2.291

24. ENCORE+ (2021-2024)
European Network for Catalysing
Open Resources in Education

25. 25
European Network for Catalysing Open Resources in Education
ENCORE+
The European Network for Catalysing Open Resources in Education
(ENCORE) is an innovation initiative to respond to European policy priorities of
opening up and modernising the European Higher Education sector through
the creation of a coordinated European OER area for innovation.
ENCORE will support uptake of OER through business and academia by
taking a leading role in sharpening existing value propositions and
implementation strategies for OER in academia and, for the first time,
transferring them to the world of work - thus bringing both sectors together
into a Knowledge Alliance leading to a European OER area.

26. 26
European Network for Catalysing Open Resources in Education
ENCORE+
Needs which ENCORE addresses Outcomes
Need 1: European multi-stakeholder
engagement platform for OER linking
business and academia.
European catalyst network to strengthen an
integrated and community-based European
vision of the future European OER area.
(WP2)
Need 2: Analytical consolidation of
approaches and solutions of OER
Repository Technologies.
Integrated future architecture of a European
OER-RT infrastructure. (WP3)
Need 3: Validated policy
recommendations which are based on
broad consensus and experiences.
European guidelines for effective OER
policies for business and academia. (WP4)
Need 4: Community-based broad
consensus for open education quality.
European Open & Community-based Quality
Review Framework for OER. (WP 5)
Need 5: Validated innovation and
business models for OER.
European OER business and start-up
community including business models.
(WP 6)

27. Core aspects Defender-like approach Prospector- like approach
Products and services We deliver and/or support core institutional
provision
We offer something different, complementary or
alternative to the main provision
Target group We target an existing market We are targeting a new (or non-traditional) market
Communication channels We interact with learners through traditional
channels
We interact with learners through new or
innovative relationship channels (physical or
virtual)
Legacy or new value
chain
We develop, produce and deliver the provision
by making the most of legacy knowledge
We develop, produce and maintain our offering
through exploration of new approaches and
innovation
Competitive advantage Our competitive advantage comes from
traditional competences (e.g., market
knowledge, expertise, improvement of existing
technology)
Our competitive advantage comes from new,
unfamiliar, competences (e.g., new or emerging
technologies, innovation in working practices)
Networks We operate primarily within traditional
institutional or cultural parameters
We operate primarily in non-traditional or
(dynamic) networks (e.g., alliance, joint-venture)
Profitability and
sustainability
We maintain profitability through incremental
cost cutting and efficiencies
We maintain profitability through new processes to
generate revenues, or cost-cutting in existing
processes
OOFAT BUSINESS MODEL STRATEGY
Orr, D., Weller, M., & Farrow, R. (2018). Models for online, open, flexible and technology-enhanced higher education
across the globe – a comparative analysis. International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE). Oslo, Norway.
Available from https://oofat.oerhub.net/OOFAT/. CC-BY-SA.
UNDERSTANDING OER AND INNOVATION

28. Defender-like strategies
• The fixed core model – maintaining core, innovating on the edges
• The outreach model – maintaining core, but focus on new
relationships with their target group
• The service-provider model – focus on target group, innovating on
the edges
Prospector-like strategies
• The entrepreneurial model – innovating in all areas
• The entrepreneurial model with fixed core – innovating in all areas
apart from the core
OOFAT BUSINESS MODEL EMERGENT PROFILES
UNDERSTANDING OER AND INNOVATION

29. 49 cases that provided full data
INCLUSIVITY AND EXCLUSIVITY OF CORE PROCESS
UNDERSTANDING OER AND INNOVATION

30. 30
European Network for Catalysing Open Resources in Education
ENCORE+
WP6 will act as an innovation pivot for the project and the OER community as a whole.
Creation of an OER innovation evaluation framework
• Develop theory/model of innovation
• Piloting and refinement of framework/tool
Working with the WP3 and WP4 teams to highlight and amplify innovation cases
• Establishing key criteria for cases of interest
• Benchmarking technical innovation
• Connecting with external stakeholders
• Developing OER repository value proposition
Desk research to identify drivers, enablers, barriers and challenges for innovation
through OER and provide evaluation criteria for identifying outstanding examples of
OER innovation.
• Literature review
• Validation
Publishing a series of ENCORE OER Innovation Briefings on a six-monthly basis.
These will summarise relevant examples of innovation while sharing outcomes from the
comprising tasks.

31. 31
European Network for Catalysing Open Resources in Education
ENCORE+
M6
OER
Innovation
Briefing 1
M9
OER
Innovation
Briefing 2
M10
OER
Innovation
Circle 1
M12
Innovation
Evaluation
Toolkit
M15
OER
Innovation
Briefing 3
M16
OER
Innovation
Circle 2
M18
OER
Innovation
Report
M21
OER
Innovation
Briefing 4
M22
OER
Innovation
Circle 3
M27
OER
Innovation
Briefing 5
M28
OER
Innovation
Circle 4
OER
Innovation
Showcase
M36
OER
Innovation
Briefing 6

32. encoreproject.eu

33. THANK YOU
rob.farrow@open.ac.uk
@philosopher1978
https://iet.open.ac.uk/
oerhub.net