The Opening Educational Practices in Scotland project (OEPS) aimed to facilitate best practice in open education in Scotland through development of a peer support network, an online hub for the duration of the project and awareness raising activities. OEPS also enhanced the Scottish tertiary education sector’s capacity and reputation in developing publicly available online materials supported by high quality pedagogy and learning technology.
The project was funded from 2014-2017 and is assisting a number of organisations to create online courses for learners. Some of these courses are shared in this collection, as is a collection of good practice case studies and guidance on open educational practices.
Some of the courses developed in partnership are published in their own collections:
- Parkinson's UK
- Dyslexia Scotland and Addressing Dyslexia Toolkit
- The OpenScience Lab experiments for secondary school children
In addition, OEPS was involved in co-authoring How to make an open online course.
See also the free resource for teachers Grow your own loaf created by the Royal Highland Education Trust, inspired by the OEPS project and hosted online as the result of the availability of a free open platform which the OEPS project has helped improve.
The badged courses in the The OU in Scotland collection carry OEPS project designed badges. These courses were
developed when the OEPS project began and the process of their creation has
influenced some of the production processes and methods trialled by the OEPS
project when working with external organisations. In addition, some OU in
Scotland produced courses which are hosted on OpenLearn also had an important
influence on the OEPS project.
OEPS was shortlisted as a finalist in the Global Game Changers Awards in the Collaboration for Change category.
O
EPS gratefully acknowledges the financial support of
the Scottish Funding Council without which the project
could not have existed.
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Open ©opensource.com via Flickr CC BY-SA under Creative Commons - ShareAlike 3.0 International
Resources for Open Educational Practice
Resources for Open Educational Practice
Material
10 hrs
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Alfonso Sintjago (asintjago) under Creative Commons - ShareAlike 3.0 International
OEPS reports and briefings
Opening Educational Practices in Scotland project reports and briefings
Material
1 hr
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Anna Page under Creative Commons - 3.0 International
Becoming an open educator
This course, which was produced as part of the Opening Educational Practices in Scotland (OEPS) project is aimed at anyone who is curious about how free and open might change our approach to teaching and learning and has been designed for administrators, educators and facilitators in all sectors.
Course
20 hrs
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Bryan Mathers under Creative Commons - NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 International
How to make an open online course
A short guide to how to create a good open online course.
Course
15 hrs
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Pete Cannell under Public domain license
Supporting collective learning in workplace and community settings
This course provides support for anyone involved in organising informal learning in the workplace or in community settings, by developing the collective use of open educational resources.
Course
4 hrs
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https://openclipart.org/detail/195741/science-explosion under Public domain license
Gender equality in STEM
Gender Equality in STEM is designed for teachers of late primary and early secondary pupils. There is no requirement to have a background or role related to STEM. The course aims to reduce barriers for participation in STEM subjects by female students through challenging gender stereotyping and building STEM capital in the classroom, using an inquiry-based approach. This free online course is designed not only to deliver information but to contribute towards transformational change in schools.
Course
24 hrs
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FreeGreatPicture.com under Public domain license
Global trends in death and dying
What is death like around the world? How do we know what the causes and circumstances of death are globally? Are these changing, and if so, why? We will try to find the answers to these questions in this short module.
Course
6 hrs
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Ronald Simbajonhttps://commons.wikimedia.org/ wiki/ File:Ice-ice_disease_on_Kappaphycus.jpg under Creative Commons - ShareAlike 3.0 International
My Seaweed Looks Weird: An Introduction to Seaweed Parasites
This short course is part of a planned suite of short courses on seaweed aquaculture developed by the Scottish Association of Marine Science (SAMS) to explore best practice in seaweed cultivation.
Course
2 hrs
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Copyright: Dyslexia Scotland
Rapid Open Course Development: Dyslexia UK
In March 2017 OEPS, Dyslexia Scotland and Education Scotland launched the first of three open courses Introduction to Dyslexia and Inclusive Practice. The course is badged and uses a reflective log to help learners develop their understanding of dyslexia and inclusive practice, covering topics such as current legislation and how to support those with dyslexia. Two further open courses (Supporting Dyslexia and Inclusive Practice and Dyslexia: Identification and Support) which build on the skills acquired in Introduction to Dyslexia…, will be available during September 2017 and January 2018, respectively. All courses are available via the openly licensed course platform OpenLearn Create and were co-developed with The Open University (UK).
Article
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Beck Pitt under Creative Commons - 3.0 International
Open Badges for Student Led Learning: The University of Edinburgh
Peter Evans (@eksploratore) is based at The University of Edinburgh’s Institute for Education, Community and Society in the School of Education. He teaches on the MSc in Digital Education and researches into professional learning in open online environments and digital education.
Article
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Volker Hohl under Creative Commons - ShareAlike 3.0 International
edShare@GCU: Advocacy for sharing in the open
edShare@GCU is Glasgow Caledonian University’s (GCU) repository of educational resources. Its origins can be traced back to the Spoken Word Project, which ran from 2003 to 2008, led by GCU in collaboration with BBC Information and Archives, and a number of universities in the US. “The idea was to take television and radio broadcasts from the BBC and make them available so that they could be used for classroom teaching” says Marion Kelt (@mugpunter7), Research and Open Access Librarian at GCU.
Article
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Sheila MacNeill under Creative Commons - NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 International
Creative Open Everyday Practice: Thinking Differently at UHI
Keith Smyth (@smythkrs) is Professor of Pedagogy and Head of the Learning and Teaching Academy at the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI). The Learning and Teaching Academy supports the development of learning and teaching practices, and engagement in educational scholarship and research, across the network of thirteen Academic Partners (including colleges and specialist research institutes) that comprise UHI. Covering a geographic area roughly the size of Belgium, UHI uses a blend of digitally enabled and face-to-face approaches to engage with learners, staff, local groups and communities across the Highlands and Islands region, and with wider communities beyond the region.
Article
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Copyright: Natalie Lafferty
Setting the standard: students as co-creators of OER at Dundee University
“Openness to me is about sharing, reciprocation. I think it’s about accessibility.”
Article
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Yoav Sion under Creative Commons - NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 International
Using OER to Test Assumptions: Wikibooks and Digital Media at The University of Stirling
Greg Singh is Programme Director of Digital Media at The University of Stirling and a lecturer in media and communication. The Digital Media programme at Stirling is an integrated programme in conjunction with Forth Valley College and covers a range of practical and critical evaluation skills, including production, technical skills and entrepreneurial skills as well as the research-led academic study of issues such as connectivity, digital literacy, data research and social media marketing.
Article
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Copyright: Bernd Porr
Going open to support students: Open Access and Flipped Learning at Glasgow University
Bernd Porr (@BerndPorr) is a pioneer in the creation of open access videos and use of the flipped learning approach at the University of Glasgow. A member of the School of Engineering, a long time open access advocate and creator of “the fastest walking robot in the world” Bernd has created a suite of open access videos for students to watch as part of his Digital Signal Process (DSP) course (view the course material)
Article
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Copyright: University of Edinburgh
Active Evolution: Enabling Cultural Change at Edinburgh University
Stuart Nicol (@nicolvision) is a Learning Technology team manager at University of Edinburgh. He is part of a section that focuses on “…user facing support for learning services across the university” and he has been involved in some of the complimentary initiatives that have been developed by Edinburgh and which help its staff and students use, find, create and share their open practices and resources with others. These include the open.ed OER platform (“a one-stop shop Hub”), an OER policy and a support service for educators and students as well as support for Open Scotland and a Wikimedian in Residence.
Article
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Anna Page under Creative Commons - NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 International
Creating a Culture of Open: University of Edinburgh
…I would always suggest a vision should be supported by a policy, and a policy should be supported by a service and a service should be supported by recurrent funding…
Article
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Teaching Open Source Practices, V2 ©opensource.com via Flickr CC BY-SA under Creative Commons - ShareAlike 3.0 International
Martin Hawksey: openness, blogging and the power of connection
“I’m interested in how we can do things more in the open just so that they can benefit others”
Article
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Copyright: People Know How
Social Innovation Academy: Promoting openness and collaborative learning
Founded in early 2013 by Glenn Liddall, the Edinburgh based charity People Know How tackles inequality from the standpoint of Social Innovation, working to empower individuals and organizations to unlock their ideas and fulfil their potential. During 2015 -2016 People Know How developed and piloted the Social Innovation Academy, a five month programme that matched 12 volunteers with four community organisations. These volunteers were trained to carry out community consultations, social research, and community development using a variety of openly licensed materials from OpenLearn, the Open University’s repository of free learning. The programme was designed to be of benefit to everyone involved: participants who learn new skills and get to put them into practice; volunteers providing training and support; and community partners looking to respond to a social issue / challenge.
Article
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Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net) under Creative Commons - ShareAlike 3.0 International
All about the Practice: Openness at University of Glasgow (Kerr Gardiner)
Kerr Gardiner is Head of Learning Technology and Media Production at The University of Glasgow, Learning and Teaching Centre. His team focuses on learning and teaching and Kerr is responsible for e-learning tools, leading a university project to develop post-graduate teaching and campus based online courses.
Article
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Student Participation in open source projects ©opensource.com via Flickr CC BY-SA under Creative Commons - NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 International
Joining the Dots: Widening Participation at Strathclyde University
Stephanie McKendry is the Widening Access Manager at Strathclyde University. In post since early 2014 over the past two years Stephanie and her team have developed a widening access strategy for the University, which was agreed mid-2015 time.
Article
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Copyright: The Open University
Open Educational Practice in Schools
This short article explores some of the practicalities and questions we have encountered while working with free and openly licensed content in Schools.
Article
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Beck Pitt under Creative Commons - 3.0 International
Learning in the workplace - Scottish Union Learning
This case study takes the form of a reflective look at two workshops. The first, run by Wendy Burton, Development Officer with Scottish Union Learning (SUL) at the OEPS Advisory Forum in October 2014 and the second by myself at the SUL Conference in Dundee in November. SUL is the learning arm of the Scottish Trades Union Conference (STUC) and was formed in 2008 bringing together the work of the STUC Skills and Lifelong Learning Team and TUC (Education).
Article
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Beck Pitt under Creative Commons - 3.0 International
Building Confidence: Impact of the open course Caring Counts
Lesley Bryce was one of the first carers to participate in the Open University’s open course Caring Counts: A self-reflection and planning course for carers which first launched in June 2014.
Article
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Copyright: The Open University
OER and OEP policy at The Open University
The Open University has always offered free to use content to the public, as it is part of the OU Royal Charter to use “the advancement and dissemination of learning and knowledge … to promote the general wellbeing of the community”.
Article
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Volker Hohl under Creative Commons - ShareAlike 3.0 International
Marion Kelt on Glasgow Caledonian University’s OER Policy
In 2015 Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) was the first Higher Education institution in Scotland (and one of the very few in the UK) to approve an Open Educational Resources Policy. I risk making her blush but I won’t lie if I say that this very important document saw the light of day mainly thanks to the efforts of Senior Librarian Marion Kelt.
Article
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Lorna Campbell under Creative Commons - 3.0 International
Growing open educational practice in Scotland: Open Scotland and the Scottish Open Education Declaration
Lorna Campbell has been involved in open educational technology since 1997.
Article
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Copyright: Parkinson's UK
Building an OER in partnership - Understanding Parkinson's
This case study describes how the OEPS project worked with Parkinson's UK to build an open online course.
Article
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Stinglehammer (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons under Public domain license
Collaborating to build “a city of information literacy, a city of Wikipedia”: Ewan McAndrew, Wikimedian in Residence
Ewan McAndrew works as the Wikimedian in Residence at The University of Edinburgh. Contributing to the University’s aim to enable “open culture” his role aims to be the “first residency catering for the whole university” by engaging with staff across the academy and beyond to help advocate open knowledge and explain why this is important. Wikipedia is one of the most well known open educational resources (OER) and has seen considerable rise in usage and acceptance since its inception in 2001 with over 290 languages represented on the platform.
Article
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Glasgow Caledonian University under Creative Commons - 3.0 International
Glasgow Caledonian ‘Games On’ open online event
The Commonwealth Games in Glasgow during 2014 provided the catalyst for the Blended Learning Team at Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) to develop an open event called ‘GCU Games On’.
Article