Agradecimientos Hago extensivo un agradecimiento a la rectora encargada Nancy Yolima Hernández López, quien en su momento autorizó la implementación del proyecto y con el equipo directivo facilitó los espacios necesarios para tal fin.

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Open Educational Practices (OEP) have played an important role in assisting educational institutions and governments worldwide to meet their current and future educational targets in widening participation, lowering costs, improving the quality of learning and teaching and promoting social inclusion and participatory democracy. There have been some important OEP developments in Australia, but unfortunately the potential of OEP to meet some of the national educational targets has not been fully realised and acknowledged yet, in ways that many countries around the world have. This paper will gather, discuss, and analyse some key national and international policies and documentation available as an attempt to provide a solid foundation for a call to action for OEP in Australia, which will hopefully be an instrument to assist and connect practitioners and policy makers in higher education.

Addressing the gap between global open educational resource (OER) proliferation and the slow adoption of OER and open educational practices (OEP) in Australian higher education, this paper focuses on a capacitybuilding project targeting academics, academic support staff and educational developers. The conception, design, development, piloting and evaluation of an open, online professional development micro course are detailed, highlighting key aspects of the open design and considerations for sharing and reuse across higher education institutions. The open micro course introduces five key OEP concepts through five contemporary curriculum design topics, using knowledge co-creation activities which engage learners in iterative shaping of the course, and generate artefacts for demonstration and recognition of learning. Opportunities for short to longer term capacity-building which leverage the micro course are also discussed, in response to significant shifts underway in higher education funding and professional development priorities.

Purpose -The main aims of this viewpoint essay are to raise awareness and to provoke discussion regarding important issues surrounding open educational resources (OERs) as a new media for learning.Design/methodology/approach -The issues discussed are based on the authors' critical analysis of a select review of the body of knowledge available.Findings -The discussions here led to the conclusion that, despite the challenges brought by this recent movement, OER resources are here to stay. They have the potential, among other things, to further incorporate Web 2.0 applications in learning environments and to bridge the gap between non-formal, informal and formal education.Originality/value -The reflections of the challenges and benefits of OERs presented here can assist government bodies, educational institutions, decision makers and educators in general whether they are considering adopting this movement or not.