A bottom up approach in Latin America and Europe to develop a common area of Higher Education.

1. Open Educational Practices (OEP)
Regional Agenda
A bottom up approach in Latin America and Europe
to develop a common area of Higher Education
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2. OportUnidad is an action-research project with the aim of promoting the adoption of Open Educational Practices (OEP)
in Latin America.
Partners and Support: OportUnidad is led by a group of universities from both Latin America and Europe: Universidade
Federal Fluminense (Brazil), the Universidad Estatal a Distancia (Costa Rica), the Universidad Técnica Particular de
Loja (Ecuador), the Fundación Uvirtual (Bolivia), the Universidad Virtual del Tecnológico de Monterrey (Mexico), the
Universidad de la Empresa (Uruguay) and the Universidad Inca Garcilaso de la Vega (Peru), the EAFIT University
(Colombia). The European partners are the Università degli Studi Guglielmo Marconi (Italy) (Project Coordinator),
the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Spain), the Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa (Portugal) and the
University of Oxford (UK). OportUnidad is supported by the European Commission under the EuropeAid ALFA III
programme.
This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the
sole responsibility of its authors and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union.

3. Open Educational Practices (OEP)
Regional Agenda
A bottom up approach in Latin America and Europe
to develop a common area of Higher Education

4. Context
The Open Educational Practices (OEP) Regional Agenda has been developed through consultations with over 50
partner universities in Latin America. It presents strategic guidelines for openness in Higher Education, outlining
policies and actions aiming at maximising the benefits of the use, reuse and remix of Open Educational Resources
(OER) for university course development as a mean to opening up access to knowledge.
The Agenda includes these recommended dimensions:
Pedagogical Approaches to OER (P), including teaching and learning aspects and links to social
learning, constructive learning with peers;
Technological Solutions for OER (T), including key technologies, standards, specifications (i.e.
metadata, publishing, querying) and infrastructure;
Organisational Frameworks and Procedures (OF), roles of different actors in institutions to build,
reuse and remix OER, and cost-effective procedures for OER;
New institutional funding models and sustainability (FMS), how do OEP contribute to generate new
funding and institutional business models in order to assure the long term sustainability of the initiatives;
Collaborative Models for OER Between Institutions (CM) and communities of interest.
Based on this OEP Regional Agenda, each university (i.e. partner and fellow universities involved in the
OportUnidad project) will define an institutional roadmap, i.e. a contextualisation of the Agenda to the local, cultural
and institutional framework. It is a mid-term strategic plan for the implementation of one or more items of included
in the enclosed Agenda that must be considered as a locally-contextualised plan within a global strategic plan.
The dimensions included in this Agenda must be addressed prioritising the following stakeholders communities
(as defined at the Glossary):
At a Regional, National or Local Level: inter-governmental entities, governments, national accreditation
agencies, and civil organizations.
At an Institutional Level: Student Bodies, Managerial level, Educator community, Librarians, Technical
(IT) staff.
At a Users Level: Students, educators, vulnerable communities.
Open Educational Practices (OEP) Regional Agenda
2 www.oportunidadproject.eu

5. Pedagogical Approaches to OER
Recommendations on pedagogical approaches to OER take into consideration affordances of new Information
and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in relation to teaching and learning processes. They focus on
opportunities for social learning, namely constructive and collaborative learning with peers. Moreover, although
OER are commonly produced to support teaching and learning, they may also be created by students as part
of learning activities; authorship and licensing issues are therefore addressed herein.
This Agenda recommends that Higher Education organisations, within their capacities:
P.1 Incorporate an open approach to knowledge production within education, promoting use, reuse
and remix of educational resources.
P.2 Foster awareness of OER through practical experimentation.
P.3 Pursue inter-institutional collaboration, fostering the emergence of communities of practice
around educational themes and areas of interest.
P.4 Recognise and give credit to knowledge acquired through OEP by means of creating adequate
indicators and metrics to assess competences.
P.5 Pursue academic quality assurance and rigour in the process of OER production.
P.6 Raise awareness of the role of OER supporting educational transformative practices and learning
innovation in order to motivate the distribution of knowledge generation and transference
through OEP.
P.7 Further develop empirical investigation of the pedagogical value of OER, including their impacts
on formal and informal education environments.
P.8 Stimulate the creation of institutional but also regional communities of educators in order to
facilitate the exchange of experience, knowledge transfer and skills development regarding the
importance of OER initiative.
P.9 To address accessibility principles during the design, implementation and use of OER learning
based practices.
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6. Technological Solutions for OER
There are numerous technological solutions for production and publication of OER, the choice of which depends
upon a range of factors, such as scale, audience, and resources available to the initiative. Nevertheless, this
Agenda focuses on key technologies, standards, specifications (e.g. metadata, publishing, querying) and
infrastructure, and recommends that Higher Education organisations, within their capacities:
T.1 Ensure access to reliable Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), a crucial
requirement in the adoption and production of OER.
T.2 Promote an open, inclusive and democratic access to digital technologies (hardware and
software) in order to enhance the use, adaptation and appropriation of ICTs in order to contribute
to enhance and consolidate OER initiatives.
T.3 Implement an adequate technological infrastructure and technical support that facilitate the
development of OER initiatives.
T.4 Incorporate in teachers’ training programmes the use and value of open standards.Promote the
incorporation of open-source systems in the practice of education developing technical skills
and competence to find, use, remix, and contribute with OER as well as to engage with and to
promote OEP.
T.5 Pursue decentralised or federated solutions to knowledge management which facilitate the
creation of inter-institutional and regional OER initiatives that leverage the findability, exchange,
reuse and repurpose of resources within an expanded community of users within and beyond
the educational institutions.
T.6 Adopt open standards, accessibility principles, and bibliometric criteria when publishing OER.
T.7 Structure OER repositories in machine-readable format as to enable proper indexing and
Search Engine Optimisation of resources.
Open Educational Practices (OEP) Regional Agenda
4 www.oportunidadproject.eu

7. Organisational Frameworks and Procedures
Higher Education organisations willing to take part in OER provision are faced with the need to lead profound
changes in organisational frameworks and procedures. Most of these changes take place over time and are
embedded at different levels of the institution: managerial, educational and, cross-cutting these two, at the
cultural level. It is likely that when changes transform the culture of the organisation, longstanding effects are
also perceived by staff members, students and the wider community.
This Agenda recommends that Higher Education organisations, within their capacities:
OF.1 Ensure equal and democratic open access to knowledge.
OF.2 Implement consistent and inclusive OER institutional policies outlining the ways in which the
organisation aims to engage with OER and OEP to foster accessibility best practices, in what
context, involving what departments/people, and how such involvement relates to its overarching
mission and values.
OF.3 Develop a strategic plan of use, production and diffusion of OER in both a systematic and an
integrated way within the organisation.
OF.4 Stimulate the adoption of OEP through institutional and/or financial incentives to staff members
and professional recognition.
OF.5 Foster an OER culture through knowledge management practices that enable an educational
paradigm shift toward openness and collaboration.
OF.6 Diffuse and disseminate OER and OEP within the institution and beyond.
OF.7 Foster and advance academic research on the various organisational challenges associated
with the implementation and use of OER.
OF.8 Develop and disseminate a methodology for production and adoption of OER internally, both in
pedagogical and institutional terms.
OF.9 Respect authors’ rights, and disseminate information about the various licensing alternatives
available.
OF.10 Empower ‘champions’ (innovators and early adopted communities or individuals) to spread the
word to faculty and non-faculty members about the value proposition and benefits of OER.
OF.11 Develop and disseminate institutional guidelines and a clear set of quality criteria for evaluating
OER and the effectiveness of existing OEP.
OF.12 Implement permanent training on collaborative practices of knowledge creation and remix for
both faculty and non-faculty members.
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8. New institutional funding models and sustainability
The diffusion of OER and OEP poses challenges to institutional business models. There are relevant
economic dimensions to pursue for the creation, management, and publication of OERs, many of which are
being currently adopted by different Higher Education organisations worldwide. Although many existing OER
initiatives were built with one-off funding, either due to its marketing value or altruistic notion of widening
access to education, sustainability of these initiatives has become a critical notion which still remains
underdeveloped.
This Agenda recommends that Higher Education organisations, within their capacities:
FMS.1 Actively pursue and manage change in the organisational culture toward an open and
collaborative approach to the educational environment.
FMS.2 Explore new approaches, which without affecting the open access of the educational resources
could provide new revenue sources for the funding institutions and or content providers (i.e.
quality assurance certification; training programmes; customization of open source software or
new accreditations schemes).
FMS.3 Direct economic resources towards OER initiatives.
FMS.4 Pursue new business models that do not rely on restrictive and exclusive access to knowledge,
but rather on potential added value beyond access.
FMS.5 Participate in externally-funded projects aiming at the development of OER and OEP, as well as
seek internal support to related initiatives.
FMS.6 Identify and share those OER initiatives that contribute to ensure the sustainability of institutional
and inter-institutional OER initiatives.
FMS.7 Disseminate the existence of business models that support and promote the consistent
development of OEP.
FMS.8 Develop institutional and inter-institutional flexible certification models that assess, qualify and
recognize the learning outcomes of those who learned through the use of OER and OEP.
Open Educational Practices (OEP) Regional Agenda
6 www.oportunidadproject.eu

9. Collaborative Models for OER Between Institutions
One of the outcomes of OER initiatives is that it allows for local and global collaboration via the Internet, both
between staff and across institutions. Through the offer of OER, universities have started to have clearer
policy statements about the use of content of their websites. The adoption of institutional endorsement of
common licensing can activate and facilitate a more dynamic and better-coordinated participation of the
content producers.
OER provision and use is also perceived as an opportunity to expand learning beyond the boundaries
of traditional education. The increasing availability of OER allows these initiatives to reach wider online
communities, thus strengthening institutional presence and new forms of academic recognition and authority.
Nevertheless, the OER discussion is not without its challenges. A broader appropriation of OER by the
academic community is still undergoing a process of consolidation, and will require organisations to face and
cooperate in overcoming inter-institutional and multi-cultural boundaries.
This Agenda recommends that Higher Education organisations, within their capacities:
CM.1 Further cooperation with other institutions pursuing OER initiatives, fostering community
building and peer-based collaboration.
CM.2 Adopt open licences that enable cooperation between institutions and individuals through reuse
and remix of educational resources, with clarity in terms of author rights and conditions of use.
CM.3 Participate in initiatives aiming at developing flexible quality assurance mechanisms to assess
and evaluate educational resources.
CM.4 Ensure that open standards are used in all online repositories, ensuring not only accessibility,
but also interoperability with existing platforms.
CM.5 Stimulate the consolidation of active, national and/or regional communities (i.e. educators,
decision makers, senior educational manager and/or technology administrators) who are
interested in the development and sustainability of OER and OEP.
CM.6 Promote the collaboration with other national and international initiatives (i.e. consortiums,
world wide federations, initiatives promoted by UNESCO, etc.) that enhance external liaison
and the participation in worldwide OEP initiatives.
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10. Glossary
Governments. They can usually play an important role in setting policies for higher education systems. They have an
interest in ensuring that public investments in higher education make a useful and cost-effective contribution to socio-
economic development. Most governments also support some universities financially.
Higher education institutions. They can play a critical role in supporting their teaching staff in the creation of effective
teaching and learning environments for students and providing ongoing opportunities for professional development.
Academic staff. Are vital agents in ensuring the quality of teaching and learning delivered to students; they are central
to the teaching and learning experience of students.
Student bodies. They promote the emerging changing student roles and they have to play a role in shaping the quality
of their educational experience.
Quality assurance/accreditation bodies and academic recognition bodies. The quality assurance bodies play an essential
role in fostering a quality culture through the assessment of programmes and reviews of institutional quality assurance
mechanisms. Recognition bodies should also have an understanding of the role of OER in higher education to ensure
the fair recognition of qualifications.
Vulnerable group. People who are long-term unemployed, and also others who are inactive but not registered as
unemployed. It should include workers who are in some form of employment but are at a high risk of losing their jobs.
Students. The “on-campus” students that will benefit from the open educational practices that brings learning processes
and their outcomes closer to what they need to participate successfully in a dynamic knowledge-based society and to
enter the job market.
Open Educational Resources (OER).“Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching, learning, and research
resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits
their free use or re-purposing by others. Open educational resources include full courses, course materials, modules,
textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to
knowledge”
Atkins, D.E., Brown, J.S. & Hammond, A.L., 2007.A review of the open educational resources (OER) movement:
Achievements, challenges, and new opportunities, Report to The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Available
at:www.hewlett.org/uploads/files/Hewlett_OER_report.pdf
Copyrights licenses. During the actions in the project we will consider as “open” license those from Creative Commons
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses), Open Source Initiative (http://www.opensource.org/licenses) and also
Customized Licenses. Customized licenses refers to institutional and individuals licenses that have chosen to craft their
own license - and that frequently use borrowing terms from the standardized licenses, allowing free use or re-purposing
of educational resources.
Bissell, A., and Park, J. (2008). What Status for Open? An Examination of the Licensing Policies of Open Educational
Organizations and Projects, a report from ccLearn (Creative Commons) to The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation,
http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/11700
Open Educational Practices (OEP). “OEP are defined as practices which support the (re)use and production of
OER through institutional policies, promote innovative pedagogical models, and respect and empower learners as
co-producers on their lifelong learning path. OEP address the whole OER governance community: policy makers,
managers/ administrators of organisations, educational professionals and learners” (OPAL, 2012, p. 6).
OPAL (2012).Open Educational Quality Initiative (OPAL) a project funded with support from the European Commission.
Progress Report (Public Part); Report version: Final; Date of preparation: 10.1.2012. Available in http://www.oer-quality.
org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/D1.4_Project_Report_pub_PrintFinal_Public.pdf
Open Educational Practices (OEP) Regional Agenda
Participant Institutions
8 www.oportunidadproject.eu

11. 1 CETYS Universidad
2 Conectando Pasos
3 Fundación Universitaria del Área Andina
4 Fundación Uvirtual (Bolivia)
5 Pontificia Universidade Católica do Paraná
6 Universidade Estácio de Sá – UNESA (Brazil)
7 Universidade do Sul de Santa Catarina - Campus UnisulVirtual
8 Universidad Autónoma de Manizales
9 Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos
10 Universidad Católica de Santa Fe
11 Universidad Católica de Santiago de Guayaquil
12 Universidad Católica del Uruguay
13 Universidad Católica Redemptoris Mater
14 Universidad Central de Venezuela
15 Universidad Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario
16 Universidad de Colima
17 Universidad de La Empresa
18 Universidad de la República de Uruguay
19 Universidad de La Sabana
20 Universidad de Los Lagos
21 Universidad de Montemorelos
22 Universidad del Norte
23 Universidad del Quindío
24 Universidad del Salvador
25 Universidad EAFIT
26 Universidad Estatal a Distancia (UNED) de Costa Rica
27 Universidad Inca Garcilaso de la Vega (Peru)
28 Universidad Metropolitana de Ciencias de laEducación
29 Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
30 Universidad Pedagógica Nacional
31 Universidad Señor de Sipán
32 Universidad Tecnológica de El Salvador
33 Universidad Tecnológica de Honduras
34 Universidad TECVirtual del Sistema Tecnológico de Monterrey
35 Universidad Técnica de Ambato UTA
36 Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja (UTPL)
37 Universidad Veracruzana
38 Universidad Virtual del Estado de Guanajuato
39 Universidade Estadual de Maringá
40 Universidade Federal de Itajubá (UNIFEI)
41 Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora
42 Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF)
43 Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
44 University of Lisbon
45 University of Oxford
46 Università degli Studi Guglielmo Marconi
47 Universidad Tecnológica de Honduras
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12. This publication is also available in Portuguese and Spanish.
Open Educational Practices (OEP) Regional Agenda
10 www.oportunidadproject.eu