<p class="3">This article provides an overview of the current state of repositories of open educational resources (ROER) in higher education at international level. It analyses a series of educational indicators to determine whether ROER can meet the specific needs of the education context, and to clarify understanding of the reuse of open educational resources (OER) provided by ROER. The aim of the study is to assess ROER by combining these two perspectives, and to form a basis for discussion among the universities that are responsible for these repositories.</p><p class="3">The method was based on content analysis and consisted of two phases: an exploration of international sources, and an analysis of 110 ROER using the proposed set of indicators. The results focus on data from the analysis of ROER websites and some models of good practices. They are presented according to three core dimensions for evaluating ROER: general factors to establish types of ROER, a focus on drivers for OER reuse, and a focus on educational aspects.  It was found that most of the ROER that included one or more of the proposed reuse indicators were created exclusively for educational resources. Educational aspects are not yet firmly embedded into ROER. The few repositories that seem to have successfully included them are those that provide other educational metadata and use educational standards.</p>

Gema Santos-Hermosa realiza su tesis doctoral sobre "Desarrollo y uso de los recursos educativos abiertos en la docencia universitaria española" en la Universidad de Barcelona (UB). Documentalista en la Biblioteca Virtual de la Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) y colaboradora docente de los Estudios de Ciencias de la Información y la Comunicación de la misma universidad. Licenciada en historia y en documentación por la UB y master en sociedad de la información y el conocimiento por la UOC. Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC)Rambla Ernest Abadal es decano y catedrático de la Facultat de Biblioteconomia i Documentació de laUniversitat de Barcelona, licenciado en filosofía, diplomado en biblioteconomía y documentación, y doctor en ciencias de la información. Co-director del grupo de investigación "Acceso abierto a la ciencia" (http://accesoabierto.net) y coordinador del grupo de investigación consolidado "Cultura y contenido digitales". Es investigador principal de diversos proyectos del Plan Nacional I+D+I. ResumenSe presenta una revisión bibliográfica, estado del arte, historia, características, desarrollo, proyectos y líneas de investigación de los recursos educativos abiertos (OERs), así como su disposición en repositorios y su uso en la práctica educativa universitaria. Los OERs han tenido dos fases: una inicial, preocupada por el acceso, y otra más actual, centrada en su incorporación a la práctica educativa. Palabras claveAcceso abierto, Recursos educativos abiertos, OER, Repositorios institucionales, Práctica educativa, Educación superior. Title: Open educational resources: repositories and use AbstractA bibliographic review, state of the art, history, characteristics, development, projects and research lines of open educational resources (OERs) are presented, as well as their storage in repositories and their use in university educational practice. OERs have had two phases: an initial one concerned about providing access, and the more current one, focused on their incorporation into educational practice. KeywordsOpen access, Open educational resources, OER, Institutional repositories, Educational practice, Higher education.Santos-Hermosa, Gema; Ferran-Ferrer, Núria; Abadal, Ernest. Recursos educativos abiertos: repositorios y uso. El profesional de la información, 2012, marzo-abril, v. 21, n. 2, pp. 136-145. http://dx.doi.org/10.3145/epi.2012.mar.03 Recursos educativos abiertos: repositorios y uso Los OERs son un denominador genérico que incluye cursos y programas curriculares, módulos didácticos, guías de estudiante, libros de texto, artículos de investigación, vídeos, podcasts, herramientas de evaluación, materiales interactivos (como simulaciones), bases de datos, software, aplicaciones (incluyendo aplicaciones móviles) y cualquier otro material educativo diseñado para uso en la enseñanza y el aprendizaje (OECD, 2007). En este sentido, no deben confundirse con los contenidos del proyecto OpenCourseWare (OCW), un conjunto de materiales educativos de alta calidad organizados en cursos que a me...

This paper presents and analyses solutions where open education and open science were utilised to reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education. The COVID-19 outbreak and associated lockdowns created huge challenges in school and higher education, demanding sudden responses which aimed to sustain pedagogical quality. Responses have varied from conservative to radically innovative. Universally, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted and shocked societies worldwide, and education systems were on the front line. The lockdowns largely stopped face-to-face and formal education in almost all countries, and in most cases, distance learning soon became the ‘new normal’. A central challenge concerned sustaining educational visions and ideals in such circumstances. To better understand the state of the art in the educational landscape, we collected case studies from 13 countries during the first year of the pandemic starting on 11 March 2020 (when the World Health Organization declared a pandemic). This paper presents summaries of the full country reports that were collected and describe lessons learned. Our overall aim was to identify good practices and recommendations from the collected case studies that can be taken forward in the future. We categorised the responses on the three generic educational levels (macro, meso and micro) and identified seven key aspects and trends that are valid for all or most countries: (1) formal education at a distance for first time; (2) similar approaches for formal education; (3) missing infrastructure and sharing open educational resources; (4) diverse teaching and learning methods and practices; (5) open education and access to open educational resources; (6) urgent need for professional development and training for teachers and (7) assessing and monitoring learning environments, teachers and students. Finally, we identified key recommendations on how open education and open science can benefit formal education in schools and universities in the future, namely, improved awareness of open educational practices, provision of ICT infrastructure, embracing and sustaining the practice of open access publications and OERs, capacity building for stakeholders and finally encouraging research and development in the area of open education and open science. We found significant evidence for the proposition that open education and open science can support both traditional face-to-face and distance learning.

Open educational resources (OERs) have become a key element in the development of quality education within the 2030 Agenda. This article discusses the current situation of OER in Spanish universities, analysing their publishing platforms, policies, strategies and incentives for authors. In addition, the characteristics of the existing OERs in institutional repositories are analysed and a proposal for development stages, according to their purpose and level of openness, is presented. This study concludes that, although there is growing interest in OER, there is currently no general awareness of what OER is or what its creation entails. Interdisciplinary cooperation of the professionals involved is, therefore, essential to create OER that can be found, shared and reused.

In terms of scale, shock, and disenfranchisement, the disruption to formal education arising from COVID-19 has been unprecedented. Anecdotally, responses from teachers and educators around the world range from heightened caution to being inspired by distance education as the “new normal.” Of all the challenges, face-to-face and formal teaching have been most heavily affected. Despite some education systems demonstrating resilience, a major challenge is sustaining quality and inclusiveness in formal education suddenly delivered at a distance. In probing these issues, this article profiles international perspectives on the role of open education in responding to the impact on formal school and higher education caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. We proceed by highlighting and analysing practices and case studies from 13 countries representing all global regions, identifying and discussing the challenges and opportunities that have presented themselves. Reports cover the period from the beginning of 2020 until 11 March 2021, the first anniversary of the COVID-19 outbreak as declared by the World Health Organization. In our comparative study, we identify seven key aspects of which three (missing infrastructure and sharing OER, open education and access to OER, and urgent need for professional development and training for teachers) are directly related to open education at a distance. After comparing examples of existing practice, we make recommendations and offer insights into how open education strategies can lead to interventions that are effective and innovative—to improve formal education at a distance in schools and universities in the future.