Connecting the dots: linking Open Access and Open Educational Practices to enhance Open Educational Resources and Repositories adoption among Higher Education Institutions

Abstract

The Interdisciplinary Nucleus of Open and Accessible Educational Resources (OER Nucleus) of the University of the Republic (UdelaR) in Uruguay, integrates the open practice of research groups from different fields combined with the participation of civil society organizations, educational institutions and governmental sector. The adoption of Open Education strategies, and in particular OER adoption, requires actions that contribute to change educational practices, as well as the development of infrastructures that support OER’s life cycle. One of the OER Nucleus research lines integrates information and communication technologies (ICT) with teacher training, towards an improvement in the use and collaborative creation of Open and Accessible Educational Resources and Open Repositories. This paper presents preliminary results of the actions carried out in this line, providing substantive evidence for the development of a sustainable OER Repository and strategies for OER adoption at the university. The convergence between Open Access and OER repositories is analyzed, as well as the requirements for adapting institutional repositories for the implementation of OER collections. Finally, future strategies for the adoption are presented, based on the development of Open Practices.