Since the birth of the World Wide Web, educators have been exchanging ideas and sharing resources online. They are all aware of the turmoil in higher education created by freely available content, including some hopeful developments charted in this issue. Interest has grown steadily over the past decade in making a university-level education openly available to students around the globe who would otherwise be overlooked, and recommendations for how to do this are well documented (e.g., UNESCO, 2002; OECD, 2007). Initiatives in the United States (Thille, 2012), Canada (Stacey, 2011b), Africa (OER Africa, n.d.), and the United Kingdom (JISC, 2012) are easily accessed and case studies abound (e.g., Barrett, Grover, Janowski, van Lavieren, Ojo, & Schmidt, 2009). Supporting the widespread availability of OER is a goal that Athabasca University (AU) has embraced through association with the Commonwealth of Learning and by becoming a charter member of the OER University (OERu, 2011). The use of OER in AU programs has strategic local implications that go beyond the five reasons for institutions to engage in OER projects described by Hylén (2006). Recently at AU explorations have begun into the potential of using OER in course design and production. (Abstract by authors)

This Guide comprises three sections. The first – a summary of the key issues – is presented in the form of a set of ‘Frequently Asked Questions’. Its purpose is to provide readers with a quick and user-friendly introduction to Open Educational Resources (OER) and some of the key issues to think about when exploring how to use OER most effectively. The second section is a more comprehensive analysis of these issues, presented in the form of a traditional research paper. For those who have a deeper interest in OER, this section will assist with making the case for OER more substantively. The third section is a set of appendices, containing more detailed information about specific areas of relevance to OER. These are aimed at people who are looking for substantive information regarding a specific area of interest. (Abstract by authors)

The main objective of the study is to establish, qualitatively and quantitatively, the extent and practice of OER use by institutions and individuals in the developing parts of Asia, with a view to enhancing and promoting collaboration in the region for the purposes of sharing curriculum, learning materials, learning tools and delivery strategies. The interest in OER is based on the inherent value of freely available knowledge resources to the world’s poor and marginalised populations. The research study has resulted in a significant contribution to the understanding of OER and their use in Asian distance education, through this book and its associated website, www.oerasia.org.

In recent years, the term Open Educational Resources (OER) has emerged, aiming to promote open access to digital educational resources that are available online for everyone at a global level [1]. The term was first adopted by UNESCO [2], which has defined Open Educational Resources (OERs) as the “technology-enabled, open provision of educational resources for consultation, use and adaptation by a community of users for non-commercial purposes”. With regard to this broad definition, a number of narrower definitions of OERs have been proposed by different OER initiatives, which consider OERs similar to [3]: “full courses, open courseware and content, educational modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests and assessments, open source software tools, and any other tools and materials used to support teaching or learning”. (Abstract by authors)

The teaching of thinking skills has been emphasized in many ways in the Malaysian education system. Although efforts have been done to assist the teachers to teach HOTS, the impact to change students learning is minimal. One of the major reasons identified is the availability of resources based on Malaysian context. A study was conducted on the development of OER to host Bahasa Malaysia, English and History resources designed for Malaysian classrooms. The development of OER aimed to provide these resources to teachers. The study involved six teachers and 92 students of a suburban school in Malaysia. Observations, questionnaires and interviews were used to gauge the teachers’ use and expectations of the OER. The findings presented in this paper focus on the OER as well as the HOTS elements in the OER. Findings suggest that although teachers show positive attitude in using OER, they need to be trained to use OER in a way that suits their respective students. (Abstract by authors)

"At the moment the OER movement is taking its first steps beyond a culture focused around "my site" towards a culture that is focused around "our commons." Most people who create OER sites have a sense of who they expect their users to be and what needs those users have. This is all to the good, if it is not to the exclusion of those users whose needs--or innovations--we have totally failed to imagine." - by author

The use of open education resources has become more commonplace in classroom teaching and this has been an observable and growing trend. The accessibility of the same materials further reinforces the change in roles of the teacher, from gatekeeper of knowledge to learning facilitator. Our research question is that if a student has free and easy access to the same materials that are being used to teach them in class, how does this affect their perceptions when they are presented with this material in the classroom environment? What are their perceptions regarding the perceived value for money, efficacy and authority of the material? This research specifically investigated the use of open education videos in the classroom environment and their incorporation into an associated space in the virtual learning environment. The research questions of this investigation surrounded the practical, technical and pedagogical issues that arise from the incorporation of these resources within class and online course materials as well as exploring student perceptions about the use of this material in the class and online. (Abstract by authors)

Attitudes are changing in education globally to promote the open sharing of educational courses and resources. The aim of this study was to explore staff awareness and attitudes towards ‘‘open educational resources’’ (OER) as a benchmark for monitoring future progress. Faculty staff (n6) were invited to participate in semi-structured interviews that facilitated the development of a questionnaire. Staff respondents (n50) were not familiar with the term OER but had a clear notion of what it meant. They were familiar with open content repositories within the university but not externally. A culture of borrowing and sharing of resources exists between close colleagues, but not further a field, and whilst staff would obtain resources from the Internet, they were reticent to place materials there. Drivers for mobilising resources included a strong belief in open education, the ability of OER to enhance individual and institutional reputations and economic factors. Barriers to OER included confusion over copyright and lack of IT support. To conclude, there is a positive collegiate culture within the faculty, and overcoming the lack of awareness and dismantling the barriers to sharing will help advance the open educational practices, benefitting both faculty staff and the global community. (Abstract by authors)