Abstract
For fifteen years, Australian Higher Education has engaged with the openness agenda primarily through the lens of open-access research. Open educational practice (OEP), by contrast, has not been explicitly supported by federal government initiatives, funding, or policy. This has led to an environment that is disconnected, with isolated examples of good practice that have not been transferred beyond local contexts.This paper represents first-phase research in identifying the current state of OEP in Australian Higher Education. A structured desktop audit of all Australian universities was conducted, based on a range of indicators and criteria established by a review of the literature. The audit collected evidence of engagement with OEP using publicly accessible information via institutional websites. The criteria investigated were strategies and policies, open educational resources (OER), infrastructure tools/platforms, professional development and support, collaboration/partnerships, and funding.Initial findings suggest that the experience of OEP across the sector is diverse, but the underlying infrastructure to support the creation, (re)use, and dissemination of resources is present. Many Australian universities have experimented with, and continue to refine, massive open online course (MOOC) offerings, and there is increasing evidence that institutions now employ specialist positions to support OEP, and MOOCs. Professional development and staff initiatives require further work to build staff capacity sector-wide.This paper provides a contemporary view of sector-wide OEP engagement in Australia—a macro-view that is not well-represented in open research to date. It identifies core areas of capacity that could be further leveraged by a national OEP initiative or by national policy on OEP.
Highlights
Open educational practice (OEP) is a fast-evolving but still-emerging area of study
This paper provides a contemporary view of sector-wide OEP engagement in Australia—a macro-view that is not well-represented in open research to date
This paper presented key findings from a desktop audit seeking to establish a national picture of OEP in Australian universities
Summary
Open educational practice (OEP) is a fast-evolving but still-emerging area of study. For the purpose of this paper, OEP is “a broad descriptor of practices that include the creation, use, and reuse of open educational resources (OER) as well as open pedagogies and open sharing of teaching practices” (Cronin, 2017, p. 2).In Higher Education, OEP can increase access to education by lowering student costs (Conole, 2013), reducing course development costs (Conrad, Mackintosh, McGreal, Murphy, & Witthaus, 2013), improving teaching collaboration (D’Antoni, 2008), and providing access to resources. Open educational practice (OEP) is a fast-evolving but still-emerging area of study. For the purpose of this paper, OEP is “a broad descriptor of practices that include the creation, use, and reuse of open educational resources (OER) as well as open pedagogies and open sharing of teaching practices” This paper contributes to research exploring OEP in Australian Higher Education, by presenting key findings of a desktop audit covering 40 Australian universities. The paper first provides background by introducing existing literature, and OEP initiatives globally and within Australian Higher Education. This is followed by an overview of the study, data collection method and analysis, and the study’s findings. The paper concludes by discussing how the findings relate to current literature, the study’s practical implications, and suggestions for future research
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
