I am excited about this and have volunteered to be a course mentor. Whenever someone hears me talking about OER coming from the community rather than a publisher, this is what I mean: the University of Nova Gorica and UNESCO Chair on Open Technologies for OER and Open Learning are launching a new, free and exciting international online “Open Education for a Better World” mentoring program.
The first round will take place from January to July 2018. Candidates with concrete ideas for open e-learning courses aligned with SDG goals were invited to apply by Oct. 20th of this year. Fifteen instructors will be chosen to be guided online towards the development and implementation of their course.
Together with a course mentor, they will design and implement an open e-learning course that will benefit many at no cost to participants. Applications from all over the world for courses in different languages were expected.
What I like about this project is that it short-circuits all the “sustainability” hand-wringing by relying on good old-fashioned collegiality. This is my chance to give back to the academic community. I was blessed back in the early 90s by meeting teachers early in my career who freely and openly provided me with their expertise, materials, and support. I want to pay it forward and this looks like a great opportunity.
Related articles
- Siemens and Downes on “Preparing for the Digital University” (geoffcain.com)
- New Student Orientation – Orienting, Not Informing (davecormier.com)
- Five Essentials for Change Mangagement (geoffcain.com)
