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OER-certification

Find out more about the development and implementation of a procedure to certify and display the competences of teaching staff and activities of higher education institutions in relation to OER

OER certificates for universities and university staff

The Forum Neue Medien in der Lehre Austria (fnma), in cooperation with the Österreichischen Institut für Berufsbildungsforschung (öibf), is developing a procedure to certify and display the competences of teachers and activities of higher education institutions with regard to open educational resources (OER) within the framework of the project "Open Education Austria Advanced".

Find out more

Objectives

The aim is to develop and pilot a convincing, transparent and recognised procedure that succeeds in sustainably promoting and display OER activities and OER competences at Austria's higher education institutions.

Development

The project partners and other stakeholders are actively involved in the development, and several universities have agreed to actively support the development and introduction of the certification as pilot partners.

In the course of the project, a business model is also to be developed to enable the long-term operation of a certification body beyond the end of the project (03/2024).

Criteria for the OER certificates

The criteria for the OER certificates for higher education institutions and their members (teachers and other staff at higher education institutions) have been developed in a national working group and (continue to be) the basis for development (fnma, 2017).

For teaching staff  ("OER Practitioner | OER-Praktiker:in") applies:

  • Participation in an OER further training measure amounting to 25 hours.
  • Publication of three OER

For universities (working title: "OER University") applies:

  • The university has a corresponding OER qualification offer and commits publicly/strategically to free educational resources ("OER Policy").
  • The university has a defined number of OER-certified staff.
  • The higher education institution offers its own OER repository (or a suitable network solution in cooperation with other higher education institutions) in which OER can be deposited.

Certification process

In May 2023, a dedicated website for the OER certificate was published. There you will now find all certificates issued so far as well as extensive information on the process of certification.

Click here to get to the website

Interested in participating?

All interested universities and individuals are cordially invited to participate in the development of the concrete design and processes of certification or to obtain information on the current status. The OER working group of fnma, for example, is one way to be regularly involved and informed.

 Connect with the OER working group of fnma for further information