Get ready for Open Education Week!

Next week, March 5-10, 2012, is the inaugural Open Education Week and organizers from the OpenCourseWare Consortium are planning an International array of events designed to "raise awareness of the open education movement and open educational resources." You can participate in any of the scheduled events and use the resources provided without charge.

What does "open" mean?

The University System of Georgia provides this helpful definition of open education resources (OER): "instructional materials that are freely available for use, reuse, remixing, adapting, and sharing." From textbooks and learning objects to academic journals and full course content, open education resources include a wide variety of materials. OERs may also be single items such as images, recordings, and text. The use of OERs can impact online higher education in a number of ways, including extending access to additional learner populations and reducing costs for institutions and students alike.

Resources that are open may be free to access, but can also have other levels of permissions available. Many OERs are made available to the public for use through Creative Commons licenses offering six ways in which creators can grant permissions to use their work without charge. These licenses convey the originator's intent in terms of how they should be given credit for the work (attribution), how the original material may be reused (derivatives), how remixed versions of the work will be made available (share alike), and if the original or remixed version of the work can be used by others for commercial purposes (non-commercial).

Exploring Open Education Week Activities

Contributions from over 100 sources are included and events are scheduled to take place all over the globe. Here is an overview of what you can expect to find:

• Events and Webinars: Organizations that have shared plans to participate in Open Education Week can be found on the main site. Check the posted schedule to see what may be happening in your local area, as well as online. (Be sure to calculate the times for your location!) Links to online activities will also be made available as we get closer to the event dates.
• Discussions: Create your own login to the Open Education Week site by connecting with your Twitter, Facebook, or Google account. This will allow you to join in the discussions that will take place online and leave comments on the blog posts. With a registered login you also have the opportunity to set up an individual profile and share posts from your own blog as part of Open Education Week.
• Projects: Search the presentations that have been posted to find out more about what individuals, companies, schools, and various types of organization are contributing to the pool of resources available online. Here you'll find virtual tours, videos, slideshows, and links to additional OER projects.

Connect, Collect, Create, Share

Use Open Education Week to find out more about the open education movement. Look for OER materials to supplement your coursework as a student who may want additional information about a specific topic, or as an instructor interested in augmenting existing course content with open resources. Also think about how you might share your work with other instructors and students though use of Creative Commons licenses. Your contribution, small or large, would add to the collection of resources available to all.

Beyond exploring the website and events, organizers encourage you to "share your thoughts on open education, the projects you are working on, your educational setting or organization, or any other information about open education." You can also contribute "what you have learned, your opinions, what you find interesting, and who you have met. Let others know what you are saying."

Follow the action throughout the week with these additional resources and networking opportunities:

• Open Education Week's Facebook page
• Twitter hashtag: #openeducationwk.

Join us!

Inside Online Learning and OnlineCollege.org are participating in Open Education Week with a special topic during #IOLChat on Wednesday, March 7^th.  Join us via Twitter at 12pm ET to further discuss the use of open educational resources in online learning.