Open Policy

A collection of open policy resources that the Open.Ed service has developed and contributed to. All resources have been released under open licence and are available for re-use with attribution.
University of Edinburgh OER Policy
The University of Edinburgh has an OER Policy that outlines the institutional position on OER and provides guidelines for practice in learning and teaching. The policy, approved by the University’s Learning and Teaching Committee, encourages both staff and students to engage with the use and creation of OER and open knowledge, to enhance the quality of the student experience while at the same time making a significant contribution to the cultural and digital commons. This CC licensed policy is adapted from policies already in use at the University of Leeds, Glasgow Caledonian University and the University of Greenwich.
- Open Educational Resources Policy, CC BY NC SA, (PDF)
Open With Care
OER16 keynote by Melissa Highton, Director of Learning, Teaching and Web Services and Assistant Principal Online Learning at the University of Edinburgh. In this keynote Melissa discusses the challenges for leadership in open educational resources, the role of universities in open knowledge communities and reflects on the returns and costs associated with institutional investment. ‘There are shared areas of the internet, where we all have a civic responsibility to contribute and participate. The big cultural organisations such as universities have an important role to play’.
- Open With Care, video (YouTube), CC BY
- Open With Care, video (Media Hopper Create), CC BY
Open Education and OER – A guide and call to action for policy makers
This ALT call to action, written by Maren Deepwell (ALT) Martin Weller (The Open University), Lorna M. Campbell (OER Service, University of Edinburgh) and Joe Wilson (City of Glasgow College), highlights to education policy makers and professionals how Open Education and OER can expand inclusive and equitable access to education and lifelong learning, widen participation, and create new opportunities for the next generation of teachers and learners, preparing them to become fully engaged digital citizens.
University of Edinburgh Case Studies
Creating a Culture of Open
An interview with Melissa Highton on developing and supporting a culture of openness at the University of Edinburgh.
- Creating a Culture of Open, CC BY
Active Evolution: Enabling Cultural Change at Edinburgh University
An interview with Stuart Nicol on the development of the institution’s OER Policy.
The Distance Travelled
Reflections on open education policy in the UK since the Cape Town Declaration, presented at the OER17 Politics of Open conference.
- The Distance Travelled, video , CC BY
- The Distance Travelled, transcript, CC BY
- The Distance Travelled, slides, CC BY
Open Scotland
Open Scotland is a voluntary cross sector initiative that aims to raise awareness of open education, encourage the sharing of open educational resources, and explore the potential of open policy and practice to benefit all sectors of Scottish education. Open Scotland is supported by the University of Edinburgh and the ALT Scotland SIG.
- Open Scotland Blog, CC BY.
The Scottish Open Education Declaration
The Scottish Open Education Declaration is a deliverable the Open Scotland initiative. This declaration builds on the UNESCO 2012 Paris OER Declaration but the scope has been widened to focus on open education more generally, rather than OER specifically.
The Scottish Open Education Declaration is shared as an open draft under a CC BY SA 4.0 licence and we encourage all those with an interest in education in Scotland to comment on the draft and engage with the debate.
- Scottish Open Education Declaration 1.0, blog, CC BY SA 4.0.
- Scottish Open Education Declaration webinar, video, CC BY.
These works by Lorna M. Campbell and Stephanie (Charlie) Farley of The University of Edinburgh are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution licence 4.0
Header Image: Policy by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Alpha Stock Images