AN OER Research agenda

Subtitled ‘Reflections of an international community of interest’
Presented by Peter Bateman for Susan D’Antoni.
OER = open educational resources
More information from http://oerwiki.iiep-unesco.org
UNESCO is involved in fostering a culture of peace. Some of the things the organisation does are: provides a platform for intellectual leaders for educational innovation and reform, acts as a laboratory of ideas, acts as an international catalyst and promotes the implementation of successful educational practice.
There is a distinction between information societies and knowledge societies. Knowledge societies cannot be reduced to information societies because knowledge is not merchandise. Knowledge is one of the keys to human and sustainable development. The digital divide, between those with and without access to ICT, is often coupled with an older and deeper knowledge divide.
In 2005, UNESCO created an OER community, meeting through online forums. The community currently has 600 members distributed through 98 countries. Over half of them are from higher education institutions, almost 40% hold high-level positions and about a fifth are teaching professionals.
The community has discussed the most important issues for the advancement of the OER movement. People from developed and developing countries have different opinions on these. Raising awareness is a very high priority for the community. Higher education institutions are seen as the lead organisation for OER, followed by international organisations, national government and academics.
Priorities for the community are: advancing the movement, enabling creation and re-use and removing barriers.