21 October 2013 Lincoln University joins open education partnership

Lincoln University has today (21 October) announced its membership of the Open Education Resource university network (OERu) as a gold-level anchor partner.

The OERu is a programme of the Open Education Resource Foundation aimed specifically at universities around the world who are working to make quality teaching resources available globally at no cost.

“Open Access essentially means making publically-funded resources (like many of those produced within a university) publically available,” says Penny Carnaby, Lincoln University’s Professor of Digital Knowledge Systems. “The New Zealand government’s open data policy is seen globally as one of the most progressive by any government. We are leading the way in this space as a country and Lincoln University is very pleased to now announce our status as an anchor partner in the OERu network.

“Within the University’s recently-publicised Strategic Plan there is a clearly-stated reference to giving open access to course materials.  Making our intellectual capital available publically isn’t new to Lincoln with many, many published papers and our successful demonstration farms feeding back to industry, but what we are talking about with open access and our membership of the OERu is making available all relevant teaching material and research data for the use of others now and for posterity.  It is strategically significant for the University and for education in New Zealand.  We are very proud to be part of the movement that is leading the way in education into the future.”

The OERu is a philanthropic collaboration run by the OER Foundation, itself operating as an independent, not-for-profit organisation that provides leadership, international networking and support for educators and educational institutions to achieve their objectives through Open Education. The OER Foundation in New Zealand is part of the global initiative towards open access to education, having signed the Cape Town Open Education Declaration. The Cape Town declaration came from an initial forum of educators from around the world who convened in 2007 to accelerate efforts to promote open resources, technology and teaching practices. The declaration commits signatories to the principles of opening up education to all through access to teaching resources. 

Lincoln University introduced an Open Access Policy earlier this year. “The Open Access Policy does not replace the University’s IP policy as it is recognised that some material will not be suitable for public release due to commercial sensitivities. It also doesn’t supersede any copyright issues as owners of the material will be able to license it under Creative Commons, ascribing how the material can be used. What it does do is give a framework for Lincoln to open up teaching and research material to enable access by a far larger, global audience for the greater education of mankind.”