This UNESCO planning document is now available as a Wiki page (a pdf version is also available and several translations are underway). The discussion of six priority issues facing OER development gives a useful summary of what has been done and what needs to be done. ____JH
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"Awareness raising and promotion and communities and networking, emerge as the main priorities for promoting the advancement of the OER movement. Third-ranked capacity development is essential to enabling creation and reuse of OER, while the fourth issue, sustainability, points to the importance of ensuring that OER initiatives find their way into existing and new approaches to extending flexible learning opportunities and knowledge sharing. The flagging of quality assurance raises a concern, one that reflects the broader issue of accessing information on the web. Without the control processes of the publishing industry and the selection process of the library or resource centre, users may be on their own in determining the quality of a resource. The very openness of access to OER means that the traditional structures of education systems which support and protect the learner may be absent.
The sixth issue, copyright and licensing, is of growing concern. Resources intended for release as OER, but which contain copyrighted material, pose a problem. Either copyright clearance must be obtained, or the material must be replaced or eliminated. Furthermore, the license assigned to educational resources determines the degree to which they may be openly and freely used. Alternate open licenses have been developed (such as those from Creative Commons), and their use is growing. Developers and users would benefit from guidance to help them better understand the implications of the license they select for their materials or that has been applied to the materials they wish to use."
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