Survey Invitation: National Open Education Needs Assessment

The Open Education Association Development Project is a new national initiative to strengthen open education in the U.S. through strategic coordination and collaborative action. As one of our first steps, we are conducting a national survey to better understand the current needs, challenges, and priorities of the open education field.

The survey is open to anyone engaged in open education — whether you’re an educator, librarian, administrator, or advocate. Your input will help identify areas where national-level action can make the greatest impact to advance open education efforts in service of learners.

The survey takes about 10 minutes to complete and will remain open until April 4, 2025. All responses are confidential and will be analyzed in aggregate to inform future strategies and programming.

The survey is administered by Bay View Analytics and is supported by funding from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. While our primary focus is the U.S. context, people from all countries are welcome to participate.

We want to hear from you! Please take the survey and share the invitation with anyone who may be interested.

Announcing Next Steps on U.S. National Coordination on Open Education

We are excited to announce the Open Education Association Development Project (opened.org), a national initiative to advance open education efforts across the United States for the benefit of learners. Answering a community-developed call to action for greater coordination at the national level, the project will seek to increase recognition of open education nationally, bridge gaps between existing efforts, and foster connections that empower the open education field to have a greater collective impact. 

Supported by a two-year grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Open Education Association Development Project will begin in spring 2025 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 will be led by a national Steering Committee that is committed to ensuring the project engages transparently with the community, works collaboratively without duplicating efforts, and respects the diverse contexts of existing initiatives. The foundations of this work were shaped through more than a year of conversations facilitated across a variety of community forums by DOERS, SPARC and the regional interstate higher education compacts (MHEC, NEBHE, SREB and WICHE). SPARC will serve as administrator of the grant under the Steering Committee’s oversight.

As articulated in the Proposal for National Coordination on Open Education, the Open Education Association Development Project’s long-term vision is a future where educational resources and practices throughout our education systems are openly shared and reflective of the learners they serve. With an initial focus on U.S. higher education, the project will dedicate itself to serving the open education field as a whole, working to build a shared association where people, organizations and open education efforts can connect and collaborate toward a more sustainable future.

As the work gets underway, everyone who is interested is invited to sign up for updates and opportunities to get involved. Updates will also be posted on opened.org.

Get Involved

Kickoff Webinar: Join us for a webinar on March 10, 2025 to learn more about the project!

Interest Form: Complete the interest form to sign up for updates

Share Comments: Share your thoughts using our comment form or email us at contact@opened.org