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Opening Educational Practices in Scotland

Opening Educational Practices in Scotland

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:

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.


OScottish Funding Council logo EPS gratefully acknowledges the financial support of
the Scottish Funding Council without which the project
could not have existed.

 


  • Resources for Open Educational Practice

    Resources for Open Educational Practice

    Resources for Open Educational Practice

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    Material

    10 hrs

  • OEPS reports and briefings

    OEPS reports and briefings

    Opening Educational Practices in Scotland project reports and briefings

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    Material

    1 hr

  • Becoming an open educator

    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.

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    Course

    20 hrs

  • How to make an open online course

    How to make an open online course

    A short guide to how to create a good open online course.

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    Course

    15 hrs

  • Supporting collective learning in workplace and community settings

    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.

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    Course

    4 hrs

  • Gender equality in STEM

    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.

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    Course

    24 hrs

  • Global trends in death and dying

    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.

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    Course

    6 hrs

  • My Seaweed Looks Weird: An Introduction to Seaweed Parasites

    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.

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    Course

    2 hrs

  • Rapid Open Course Development: Dyslexia UK

    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).  

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    Article

  • Open Badges for Student Led Learning: The University of Edinburgh

    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.

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    Article

  • edShare@GCU: Advocacy for sharing in the open

    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. 

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    Article

  • Creative Open Everyday Practice: Thinking Differently at UHI

    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.   

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    Article

  • Setting the standard: students as co-creators of OER at Dundee University

    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.”

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    Article

  • Using OER to Test Assumptions: Wikibooks and Digital Media at The University of Stirling

    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.

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    Article

  • Going open to support students: Open Access and Flipped Learning at Glasgow University

    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)

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    Article

  • Active Evolution: Enabling Cultural Change at Edinburgh University

    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. 

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    Article

  • Creating a Culture of Open: University of Edinburgh

    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…

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    Article

  • Martin Hawksey: openness, blogging and the power of connection

    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”

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    Article

  • Social Innovation Academy: Promoting openness and collaborative learning

    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.

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    Article

  • All about the Practice: Openness at University of Glasgow (Kerr Gardiner)

    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.

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    Article

  • Joining the Dots: Widening Participation at Strathclyde University

    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.

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    Article

  • Open Educational Practice in Schools

    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.

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    Article

  • Learning in the workplace - Scottish Union Learning

    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).

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    Article

  • Building Confidence: Impact of the open course Caring Counts

    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. 

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    Article

  • OER and OEP policy at 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”.

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    Article

  • Marion Kelt on Glasgow Caledonian University’s OER Policy

    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.

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    Article

  • Growing open educational practice in Scotland: Open Scotland and the Scottish Open Education Declaration

    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.

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    Article

  • Building an OER in partnership - Understanding Parkinson's

    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.

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    Article

  • Collaborating to build “a city of information literacy, a city of Wikipedia”: Ewan McAndrew, Wikimedian in Residence

    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.

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    Article

  • Glasgow Caledonian ‘Games On’ open online event

    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’.

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    Article

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