E-Learning Papers have published its issue number 23 entitled “Open Education: Changing Educational Practices”. You can download it from this link. In the Editorial section, Ulf-Daniel Ehlers and Tapio Koskinen, says:

The idea of open education has spread to hundreds of educational institutions, foremost higher education and adult learning institutions, across the globe. “Giving away knowledge for free” (OECD 2007) seemed like a revolutionary idea, it fascinates educators, interests learners, scares publishing houses and challenges educational organisations who view selling produced knowledge as their core-business. OER as a term was first used by UNESCO in 2002, since then the concept has spread epidemically. Today OER are a widespread reality, they are produced, shared, used and re-used by educators and learners and often accessible through large databases, the most recent one being the initiative of the African Virtual University http://www.avu.org.

The publication of this issue of eLearning Papers coincides with a global meeting initiated and led by the OER Foundation, hosted in New Zealand, which an international group of educators and educational activists are attending. The aim of the meeting is to install the first global OER University. In Europe, Initiatives like the Open Educational Quality Initiative (http://www.oer-quality.org) and the OERTest project are working on a culture shift in higher education and adult education to raise acceptance and educational transformation through OER.

Ulf-Daniel Ehlers, Tapio KoskinenUlf-Daniel Ehlers, Tapio Koskinen