Although open educational resources (OER) are high on the agenda of social and inclusion policies and supported by many stakeholders, their use in higher education (HE) and adult education (AE) has not yet reached the critical threshold. This has to do with the fact that the current focus in OER is mainly on expanding access to digital content, without considering whether this will support educational practices, and promote quality and innovation in teaching and learning. To provide educational opportunities for all citizens we suggest therefore, extending the focus beyond access, to include ‘innovative open educational practices’ (OEP). In an analysis of publicly-funded and foundation-funded OER initiatives worldwide, Stacey (2010) shows that the focus of current, well-known OER initiatives is on the creation and publication of OERs. Use and reuse are still somewhat underrepresented; strategic aspects like business models or incentive strategies for creation use and reuse are not broadly touched upon (Stacey 2010). In this situation, a model of factors that outlines the surrounding and influencing elements for the creation, use, sharing and reuse of OER for individuals, organisations and policy is indispensable. Such a model has to suggest the shift from a phase in which the preliminary focus is on opening access to resources, to a phase in which the primary aim is to embed OER into learning and teaching practices.

Keywords

lifelong learning innovation · OER use and reuse · open educational practices (OEP)