Frequently Asked Questions

  • The Open Education Association Development Project (opened.org) is a national initiative dedicated to shaping a future where resources and practices throughout our education systems are openly shared and reflective of the learners they serve. Through collaborative action and strategic coordination, the project seeks to elevate recognition of open education throughout the United States, bridge gaps between existing efforts, and foster connections that empower a greater collective impact for learners.

  • The project is starting with a field-wide survey to identify needs and gaps that can be addressed through national-level action. Based on the results, the project will take targeted steps to address strategic priorities, which may include raising the visibility of open education among key audiences, developing resources to support advocacy and fundraising, and creating new ways to recognize outstanding open education work. The project will also work to build collective spaces and structures to better connect members of the field with resources, information, and each other.

  • The project emerged from more than a year of conversations across a variety of community forums that coalesced around a shared need for greater national coordination on open education at the U.S. national level. Facilitated collaboratively by DOERS, SPARC and the regional interstate higher education compacts (MHEC, NEBHE, SREB and WICHE), these conversations ultimately shaped a vision for a national initiative that is articulated in the Proposal for National Coordination on Open Education. The principles, objectives, and vision outlined in this proposal form the framework of the project.

  • The Proposal for National Coordination on Open Education outlines a set of guiding principles that will guide the Steering Committee and project’s work:

    • Engage transparently and openly with the open education community, meaningfully integrating feedback and participation at all levels of work.

    • Operate at the national level while remaining aware of the diverse contexts of states and regions, including how activities and messages may impact states differently.

    • Collaborate with existing organizations and communities in the open education space, seeking to complement and uplift their work where welcome, while respecting their agency and individual missions.

    • Avoid duplication of existing efforts, focusing on activities that fill gaps and catalyze opportunities that benefit the field.

    • Center equitable and inclusive practices to avoid replicating harmful structures, while acknowledging the inequities in the systems we navigate.

  • The project is led by a national Steering Committee. The members were selected by the Interim Steering Committee for the Proposal for National Coordination on Open Education, considering factors such as geographic diversity, job roles, and experience in open education. Recognizing that it is not possible to represent every perspective on a small committee, the project is committed to engaging diverse voices throughout its work to ensure decisions are shaped by broad input.

  • The project is funded by a two-year grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, which is administered by SPARC under the Steering Committee’s oversight. SPARC was selected to administer and staff the grant because of its successful track record of incubating community-led projects, including the Open Education Conference.

  • Both the Interim Steering Committee and current Steering Committee deeply considered a name that could capture both the national, field-wide nature of this work, as well as its collaborative focus. Ultimately, the concept of developing a shared association among those working in open education resonated most strongly, which is reflected in the name. 

  • Developing a sustainability plan is part of the two-year grant from the Hewlett Foundation. Right now, we are focused on assessing the needs and gaps in the field in order to determine the project’s structure and priorities. As this becomes clearer, the project is committed to engaging the community in shaping the long term plan for this work.

  • The gap that this project seeks to fill is specific to the U.S. national context, so that is where the work will focus. That said, the project welcomes engagement from people anywhere in the world—especially our neighbors in Canada—and will be intentional about harmonizing with and supporting international efforts, including the UNESCO Recommendation on OER and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. 

  • The project’s initial focus is on U.S. higher education, but it openly welcomes and will actively seek to build connections with the K-12 education space. Opportunities for these connections include the use of OER in dual enrollment and teacher training programs. 

  • The foundations of this project acknowledge that there are many groups and individuals working to advance open education in a multitude of ways, yet there are also many gaps and common challenges that these efforts face. This project is intentionally designed to fit within the space around existing open education efforts, working to build bridges and address needs that can lift up everyone’s work. The project is taking time to survey the field before developing any major programming to ensure it complements and avoids duplicating existing efforts.

  • A foundational principle of this project is to meaningfully integrate community feedback and participation at all levels of work. As a first step, the project will be conducting a survey of the field throughout the spring of 2025, which will include an online survey, individual interviews, and online forums. In designing programmatic activities based on the results, the project will consider how to structure these activities to engage community members from diverse perspectives. 

  • Everyone who is working to benefit learners through open education activities is welcome to participate in shaping this project. Here are the best ways to get involved: