Open education resources and higher education academic practice

Abstract

PurposeThis paper aims to report on an externally‐funded project and forms part of its dissemination.Design/methodology/approachThe objectives are achieved through a theoretical framing of the project and an alignment of these with the contexts for the project – namely the Professional Standards Framework of the HEA, its use in postgraduate programmes of Academic Practice in England and the development of teacher resources by the IT in Teacher Education association. Findings – The result of the design process is a nine‐unit course which carries 30 credits on the English Higher Education Framework at level 7. Research limitations/implications – The limitations of the paper are that it reports only on the design and production of a course of postgraduate education. It does not report on the actual implementation as this has not yet happened at the time of writing.Practical implicationsThe intention is for this course to be adaptable for use in a range of different contexts. This is facilitated by its design being carried out with a community of practitioners supported by an online space for discussion and development.Originality/valueThe design of a course using a collaborative community drawn from across higher education institutions is considered to be original. The paper is of value to all those working in higher education, those working on programmes of academic practice and those interested in the use of Open Educational Resources (OERs) in such contexts.