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Successfully utilising open educational media

The Executive Board approved an Open Educational Resources Policy, which came into effect in March 2020. Open educational media are part of the ZHAW strategy on education and digital transformation in the context of establishing a sharing culture.

Open educational media and Open Educational Resources (OER) are highly important, especially in online classes. They comprise a remarkable range of material including presentation slides, learning scripts, worksheets, educational movies, images, audio files, and even entire lectures such as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). By using open licenses (Creative Commons), the author allows the subsequent users to access the material with hardly any restrictions. The users can therefore use the material and adapt, change or supplement it according to their specific learning contexts and their target audience. Being able to unlock and share educational material has several advantages, one of which is that it makes it possible to avoid developing the same material multiple times. In addition, by collaborating with subject matter experts and students, the educational material can be constantly updated, extended and further evolved. Last but not least, instructors can demonstrate their own expertise in a subject matter through their teaching activities.

University Library offers expert knowledge

Various internal and external platforms are available for publishing OER. The ZHAW Open Educational Resources policy defines what is considered open educational material and which aspects must be taken into account when producing, licensing and using this material. The University Library serves as the point of contact inside the ZHAW. Lecturers at the ZHAW who want to use open educational material in their lessons or produce them themselves are advised and supported by the University Library through a wide range of courses and personalised advice.