Pondering the Future of OER and Open Education

Episode #152. Saturday May 27, 2023, 11:00 noon Eastern

The notion of open educational resources (OER) as well as opencourseware (OCW) sprung up on April 4, 2001 when Charles Vest, President of MIT, declared let’s make education free and put all our courses on the internet for people to browse and use (see press release). With that one heavily publicized announcement, it seemed that there was a transformative shift or earthquake in the world of education. During the ensuing two decades since that announcement, myriad educational rebels have emerged to develop and promote free and open educational resources (OER) to counter the high price of textbooks, research articles, and courses. They believe that education is a human right, and, as a result, it needs to be more free and open. Two such rebels from outposts in Europe who are experts in the open education world will join us in Silver Lining for Learning on Saturday May 27 at 11 am Eastern. In this episode, we will talk Mark Brown, Chair of Digital Learning and Director National Institute for Digital Learning at Dublin City College in Ireland. We will also be visited by Juliane Granly from Olso, Norway. Juliane is project and development management coordinator with the International Council on Open and Distance Education. She will discuss the ENCORE+ project (https://encoreproject.eu/) which is the European Network for Catalyzing Open Resources in Education. This episode should prove to be informative, lively, and fun.

Mark Brown has over 30-years experience of working in Higher Education and has played key leadership roles in the development, implementation and evaluation of several major university-wide digital learning and teaching initiatives. Before taking up his current position, Mark was Director of the National Centre for Teaching and Learning at Massey University, New Zealand. His is a recipient of a National Award for Sustained Excellence in Tertiary Teaching and remains a member of the New Zealand Academy of Tertiary Teaching Excellence. He is an EDEN Fellow and was recognised in 2017 by the Commonwealth of Learning (CoL) as a world leader in Open, Online and Distance Learning. In 2019, Mark was Chair of the ICDE World Conference on Online Learning, which DCU hosted in Dublin. Mark is an active researcher, has a strong publication record and contributes to a number of leading international bodies working in the area.

Professional Contribution
Mark is a member of the Executive Committee of the European Distance and e-Learning Network (EDEN) and previously chaired (2014-2018) the Innovation in Teaching and Learning Steering Committee for the European Consortium of Innovative Universities (ECIU). He serves on the Supervisory Board of the European Association of Distance Teaching Universities (EADTU) and is a member of the Advisory Board for the US based Online Learning Consortium's Research Center for Digital Learning and Leadership. In Ireland, Mark has previously served (2016-2018) as an Irish Universities Association representative on the Board of the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Mark is past President of the New Zealand Association for Open, Flexible and Distance Learning (DEANZ now FLANZ) and served as Treasurer as well as an Executive Committee member of the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education. ASCILITE is known as the peak professional body for blended, online and digital learning in Australia and New Zealand. Mark continues to have strong links down under and in 2019 was elected to the Executive Committee of the Open and Distance Learning Association of Australia (OLDAA), which publishes the journal Distance Education (Q1).

• Mark Brown homepages: https://www.dcu.ie/nidl/people/mark-brown
• https://www.dcu.ie/nidl/director-nidl
• Mark Brown in LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-brown-dcu/

Juliane Granly is project and development manager in ICDE (International Council for Open and Distance Education), the leading, global membership organisation for open, flexible and distance learning. Juliane holds a Bachelor’s in Business Economics from BI Norwegian Business School and a Masters in International Business and Development from the University of London. She is the coordinator for The ENCORE+ Network (European Network for Catalysing Open Resources in Education), a multi-stakeholder, collaborative network responding to the need for increased collaboration, sharing of best practices and coordinated efforts for increased adoption, use and impact of OER and open education. Juliane has a long background from education in development contexts, including as the director of an education NGO in Uganda. Inclusive and innovative education is at the core of her experience and interests, with a strong focus on access to relevant, quality education for all, and skills development for employment. LinkedIn; Article: ICDE page.

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