OERu/Getting started with OERu/Introducing OERu video signpost

The OERu is a bold and ambitious international initiative which aims to provide more affordable access to higher education using open education approaches in a sustainable and scalable way.

Reflection

Wanna help shape OERu futures?

The OERu is first and foremost a philanthropic collaboration aimed at widening access to credible credentials especially for learners who due to lack of funds or provision in their home countries may be denied the privilege of a tertiary education. We are using open education approaches as a response to the challenge.

A distinctive feature of the OERu is the opportunity for anyone to help us in achieving the goal of widening educational opportunity for all. Imagine for a moment that you were tasked to design an "OERu".

• What factors do you consider most important for future success of the OERu?
• Is it possible to design a sustainable and scalable model for widening access to more affordable education?

On 23 February 2011, the OER Foundation convened an open meeting where the concept of the OERu was first proposed and discussed. With funding support from UNESCO, we were able to stream the meeting live on the Internet with opportunities for remote participants to engage. We asked Sir John Daniel, former President of the Commonwealth of Learning and former Vice Chancellor of the Open University for advice to guide our thinking and discussions during the inaugural OERu meeting.

Media

Open but tough
Transcript of the video available on the Internet Archive

We have included a recording of the video presented by Sir John Daniel at the inaugural meeting of the OERu. The video has been selected as an introductory catalyst to think about the OERu context and requirements for future success. Daniel used the following engineering analogy:

"If a structure is too rigid it will break under stress, but if it is too flexible it will collapse under stress. Engineers therefore seek toughness: structures that will bend without breaking when you put stress on them." He offers to points of advice namely:

1. The OERu should adopt toughness as a principle for its design.
2. If the OERu wants to be credible it should not innovate on two many dimensions at once.