Open education has been gaining visibility and momentum as part of open government initiatives — from open licensing of publicly-funded educational materials, to transparency in education funding, to leveraging open technologies and practices to increase the efficiency and efficacy of instruction. One important avenue for advancing these conversations is the Open Government Partnership (OGP), a multilateral initiative of more than 60 countries through which national governments make commitments to being more open, accountable and responsive to citizens. At least three countries involved in OGP have specifically adopted commitments to open education in their open government plans, the United States, Slovakia, and Spain, and numerous others are considering moving in this direction through an informal working group formed during the 2015 OGP Summit. Leading examples of OGP commitments in education include three international OER pilot programs run by the U.S. Department of State, and an initiative in the Slovak government to develop a procurement process for openly licensed educational resources. Alongside OGP, open education has also emerged in other international policy conversations, including the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. This lightning talk will explore the connection between open education and open government, and opportunities for civil society members and government officials alike at the local, national and international levels.

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Advancing OER through
Open Government
Nicole Allen, SPARC
@txtbks #oer16
www.slideshare.com/txtbks
www.sparcopen.org
Except where otherwise
noted...

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www.opengovpartnership.org

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Open Government Partnership
1. Endorse Open Government Declaration
• Increase transparency
• Support civic participation
• Implement anti-corruption standards
• Increase access to new technologies
2. Two-Year National Action Plans
• Specific, measurable commitments
• Independent reporting

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Open Education in OGP
National Action Plans

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There is a growing body of
evidence that the use of open
education resources improves
the quality of teaching and
learning…The United States
is committed to open
education…”

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“…the United States will
openly license more
Federal grant supported
education materials and
resources, making them
widely and freely
available.”

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Open Education in OGP
National Action Plans

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Slovak OGP Commitments (OER)
● Identify digitally available educational resources at the
Ministry of Education, Science and Sport that can be
released openly, and evaluate existing repositories at the
Ministry for the purpose of establishing a central repository
to publish OER.
● Analyze the procurement process for educational resources
in primary and secondary education and run a pilot
program of a new proposed procurement process that
would enable the release of such materials under an open
license.
● Propose and implement awareness measures for open
educational resources.
● Join multilateral activities in Europe and beyond that
support the creation, improvement, sharing and reuse of
open educational resources.

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Slovak OGP Commitments (OA)
• Identify and evaluate existing repositories at the Ministry
for the purpose of establishing a central repository for
storing scientific publications, including text and data.
• Work together with affected institutions to identify barriers
to Open Access implementation and conduct an analysis of
requiring that publications be provided to the public in a
free and open manner.
• Propose a mechanism for voluntarily publishing data related
to scientific publications as Open Data.
• Inform Slovak educational and research institutions about
the benefits of Open Access.
• Cooperate with other countries on the creation of Open
Access strategies and share knowledge gained in Slovakia.

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Making the Case
● Civic Engagement
● Transparency
● Efficient use of Public Funds
● Harnessing New Technologies
● Access to Knowledge
● International Cooperation

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Advocacy Strategies
● Engage Inside Champions
● Start with Strong Language
● Identify Existing Opportunities
● Consult Stakeholders
● Consult Experts
● Plan for Implementation

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opengoveducation.org

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Nicole Allen
nicole@sparcopen.org
@txtbks | @sparc_na
www.sparcopen.org