The topic of OER policy is more present at universities than ever before. From individual small and large state initiatives such as the OER Content Buffet funding line in NRW to the publication of the BMBF’s OER strategy in July 2022: the topic has recently received a strong political tailwind. While Reutlingen University’s OER policy was the only one of its kind in Germany just a few years ago, there is now a whole list of policies nationwide that needs to be constantly updated. The current status is shown here:
- OER Policy of Reutlingen University (Baden-Württemberg)
- OER Policy of the Emden-Leer University of Applied Sciences (Lower Saxony)
- OER Policy of the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences (North Rhine-Westphalia)
- OER Policy of Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences (North Rhine-Westphalia)
- OER Policy of the University of Duisburg-Essen (North Rhine-Westphalia)
- OER Policy of Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (North Rhine-Westphalia)
- OER Policy of the Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts (North Rhine-Westphalia)
- OER Policy of the University of Applied Sciences for Health in Bochum (North Rhine-Westphalia)
- Open Science Policy of the Ruhr University Bochum (RUB) (North Rhine-Westphalia)
- OER Policy of the German Institute for Adult Education — Leibniz Centre for Lifelong Learning (DIE) (North Rhine-Westphalia)
As there is no OER policy register in Germany to date, this list may not be complete and should serve more to provide information on the latest developments.
Of course, the rapid policy growth is primarily due to political initiatives and funding lines. twillo has also made a contribution to this, however. By publishing and distributing our sample OER policy, universities have been provided with a template that they can use as a guide when creating their own policies. The sample template is released with CC Zero and can be used freely and without attribution, i.e. the text modules and structure can be adopted unchanged. Many universities have already used our sample template. We hope that our template will encourage even more universities to dare to create their own OER policies. After all, an OER policy creates an organizational and legal framework for the use of OER and is therefore essential for its sustainable anchoring in teaching.
At twillo you will find a wide range of advice on the topic of OER policy: workshops, individual advice, network meetings (the next one on January 17, 2023). You are welcome to take advantage of this and contact our support team: info@twillo.de
Or listen to Yulia Chalina and Norbert Kleinefeld from Elan e.V., who talk to Carolin Eisentraut in detail about the topic of OER policy.
🎧 Audio language: German