The OER Research Hub has been investigating the impact of OER, using eleven hypotheses, and a mixed methods approach to establish an evidence base. This paper explores the findings relating to teaching and learning. The findings reveal a set of direct impacts, including an increase in factors relating to student performance, increased reflection on the part of educators, and the use of OER to trial and supplement formal study. There are also indirect impacts, whose benefits will be seen after several iterations. These include the wide scale reporting of adaptation, and the increase in sharing and open practice that results from OER usage.

The pilot phase of the UK Open Textbook project reached completion in April 2018. This article discusses the project, what open textbooks are, and why they are an untapped opportunity for universities, colleges and schools. The North American models of open textbook creation and uptake (adoption) are designed to help reduce university student financial worries and enhance learning opportunities, and provide muchneeded resources for schools (or the K12 system in the US and Canada). The ability to repurpose books leads to innovative and engaging pedagogies including students as co-authors. Yet in the UK, the level of discussion and awareness of the opportunities afforded by open textbooks, and the existence of a small number of UK initiatives, is poor. The aim of the UK Open Textbook project was to raise awareness and host activities to encourage the adoption of open textbooks. The results of the project are discussed, along with the policy, cultural and practice changes required to scale up these approaches. Why should our learners miss out?

Changes in learning and teaching due to COVID-19 have prompted higher education (HE) institutions to develop strategies and skills related to technology-supported education, creating development opportunities that help staff teach and support students in online or blended situations. Using open educational resources (OER) meant training could be developed and localised quickly. However, there has been little research into the use of OER to meet urgent, unanticipated teaching needs. This paper provides a critical reflective account of learning design for the use of OER in a national capacity development initiative in Kenya as part of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) funded Skills for Prosperity Kenya project. Development of this OER was led by The Open University in partnership with 37 Kenyan universities. The initiative was designed to develop the knowledge and skills of educators, educational leaders, and support staff. The contribution of this paper is that it identifies challenges encountered when adapting OER for use in a technologically low-resourced context, showing how these can be addressed successfully at different learning design stages. Challenges were identified using the 7Cs of Learning Design (Conole, 2014): conceptualise, create, communicate, collaborate, consider, combine and consolidate. The paper concludes with recommendations for design practice and creating and remixing OER.

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