OER in Ireland
History of OER
The concept of OER has long been advocated for, as is evident from the publication of the Cape Town Open Education Declaration (2007), the UNESCO Paris OER Declaration (2012), the UNESCO Ljubljana OER Action Plan (2017), the UNESCO OER Recommendation (2019) and the establishment of the UNESCO OER Dynamic Coalition in 2020, to support the implementation of the areas identified in the 2019 Recommendation.
Similarly, in Ireland, the National Forum has advocated for open education, which encompasses OER, since 2014. It has created a suite of tools and resources to empower HEIs in Ireland to adopt, adapt and create OER, which are available on their website.
Jhangiani et al. (2024) provide an excellent overview of OER in Ireland, in their recently published sectoral white paper from N-TUTORR. They provide a series of OER recommendations, including the importance of: improving OER discoverability; supporting OER publishing; and investing in dedicated staffing positions, such as OER librarians [1]. Ireland has also been included as a good practice model in recent UNESCO OER implementation guidelines.
An Irish university, Munster Technological University, also hosted the 15th annual OER conference in March 2024, in association with the Association for Learning Technology (ALT). The conference keynote presentation, by Catherine Cronin and Laura Czerniewicz, is available to view here:
Video credit: Catherine Cronin and Laura Czerniewicz (2024) Conference Keynote: The future isn’t what it used to be: open education at a crossroads. Video recording available at: https://www.youtube.com/live/d_SjjZYiTE8?si=9ARhUdqT8iWFPe3D&t=1403 CC BY4.0. Additional resources available at: https://catherinecronin.net/conferences/post-oer24-keynote/.
Let’s start exploring OER!
This web book is a living document, which will evolve during the 2024/2025 academic year.
The content is organised into three broad thematic areas: digitally enhanced learning OER; inclusive curriculum design OER; and teaching, learning and assessment OER. There is some thematic cross-over amongst entries, as some OER could be included in more than one subject area. Users can browse the contents of the book and also use the search box in the top-right of each page to navigate this resource. We recommend using this resource in tandem with our TUS OER index.
Image credit: three men laughing while looking in the laptop inside room photo by Priscilla Du Preez. Unsplash license.
- Jhangiani, R., Farrelly, T., Ó Súilleabháin, G. (2024) Open Education Practices in Higher Education: Focusing on Responsiveness, Innovation & Inclusivity. N-TUTORR. ISBN: 978-1-7395019-2-1 Available at: https://www.transforminglearning.ie/publications/open-education-practices-in-higher-education ↵
