Open Education 2016

This session will introduce attendees to the establishment of an open policy by two state-government agencies in Washington: the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges System (SBCTC).

Presenters in this session will introduce SBCTC and OSPI as two examples of how open policies might be crafted and implemented. Even though the end goal of applying an open license to course or instructional materials is the same, the creation, rollout, and implementation need to address the unique needs of the organizations. This session will address both different stages in the process and differing needs of stakeholders in Higher Ed and K-12.

SBCTC has had an open policy in place since 2010 and will speak to the the benefits, challenges, and lessons learned over the course of implementation. OSPI just put an open policy into place earlier this year and will address the initial concerns, development process, and stakeholder needs that have shaped the early stages of instituting an open policy.

Specifically, in 2010, SBCTC instituted the statewide Open Licensing Policy as an explicit measure to support that planning principle and to begin to use SBCTC-sponsored or managed initiatives to create momentum and competency around OER throughout the system. This policy is focused strongly on educational access, specifying that "All digital software, educational resources and knowledge produced through competitive grants, offered through or managed by SBCTC, will carry a Creative Commons Attributions license."

OSPI's developing Open Policy focuses on defining the copyright owner for any materials created by employees, grantees, and contractors and clarifying the requirement for open licensing of those materials used in educational programs. This policy will allow school districts, Educational Service Districts, and members of the public, to realize the educational impact from the substantial investments the state, the federal government, and foundations have made (and will continue to make) towards open educational resources.

Together, both agencies consider these policies as starting points for a more expansive/far reaching Open Policy that will eventually support not only the internal works, but also all resources produced by fellow state government agencies. Presenters will discuss the longer term goals of additional state agency outreach and uptake.

http://tinyurl.com/OpenEd2016-Open-Policy