OECD - CERI - Open Educational Resources project : The project will analyse and map the scale and scope of initiatives regarding "open educational resources" (OER) in terms of their purpose, content, and funding. It will look into different sustainable cost/benefits models and intellectual property right issues linked to OER initiatives. Furthermore we address questions regarding incentives and barriers for universities and faculty staff to deliver their material to OER initiatives and how to improve access and usefulness for users of OER initiatives. The main activities will be a conceptual analysis of OER, a mapping activity to which everyone is invited to participate by taking an online survey, and expert meetings.

A second forum organized by UNESCO in late 2006 will build upon the initial discussion and the outcome of this OECD Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) study of OER in tertiary education.

• The Current State of Open Educational Resources ( David Wiley )
• The Current State of Open Educational Resources ( at opencontent.org )
  
  
• Open Content Licencing (OCL) for Open Educational Resources ( Brian Fitzgerald )
  
  
• Cultural responses to open licences and the accessibility and usability of open educational resources. ( Richard McCracken)
  
  
• What Makes an Open Education Program Sustainable ? ( Paul M. Dholakia )
  
  
• Models for Sustainable Open Educational Resources ( Stephen Downes )
• Models for Sustainable Open Educational Resources ( at Stephen's web )
  
  
• Informal contribution on Sustainability (rapporteur Dr. Francis Muguet)
  
  
• Guidelines for OER Site Visits (3rd draft)
  
  
• Notes from Malmoe workshop - -
  
  
• A few pictures selected among those taken by Professor Brian Fitzgerald and Dr. Timo Borst

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• OECD Expert Meeting on Open Educational Resources ( 26th - 27th October 2006, Barcelona, Spain )
  
  

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• Final Report GIVING KNOWLEDGE FOR FREE: THE EMERGENCE OF OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES – ISBN-978-92-64-03174-6
• Résumé en Français
  

• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS : The study has been advised by a group of senior researchers who have both provided valuable input regarding the direction of the study and comments on earlier versions of the report. The group consisted of Graham Attwell from Pontydysgu, United Kingdom, Susan D’Antoni from UNESCO’s International Institute for Educational Planning, Knud Erik Hilding-Hamann from the Danish Technological Institute, Francis Muguet from ENSTA, France, Sally Johnstone from University of Winona, United States, and James Dalziel from Macquaire University, Australia. Marshall Smith and Catherine Casserly from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation are appreciatively thanked for their personal commitment and support of the project. Robert Campbell from Blackwell Publishing, Steve Carson from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) OCW, Mia Garlick from Creative Commons, Øystein Johannesen from the Ministry of Education and Research in Norway, and Fred Mulder from the Open University in the Netherlands also commented on earlier versions of the report. Doranne Lecercle have edited the text and made it ready for printing. During the study the Secretariat has co-operated extensively with UNESCO’s International Institute for Educational Planning, but also with the European Schoolnet and the Open eLearning Content Observatory Services (OLCOS), a project funded by the European Commission. The Secretariat also wants to express its gratitude to the Swedish Knowledge Foundation and the regional government of Catalonia for hosting expert meetings and funding expert papers. Acknowledgements also go to the Canadian Council on Learning, the Danish Technological Institute and the National Institute of Multimedia Education in Japan for covering the costs for the case studies carried out in their respective countries. Two case studies were conducted by CERI staff for which the costs were covered by the regional government of Extremadura and the National Distance Teaching University of Spain (UNED). The Secretariat also wishes to thank all the experts who carried out the case studies, listed in Table 1.1, as well as the institutions visited for their assistance regarding the visits. The work was supported by a grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, which is gratefully acknowledged. As one of the first and largest funders of OER, the Hewlett Foundation seeks to use information technology to help equalise access to knowledge and educational opportunities across the world.