The COVID-19 pandemic has raised significant challenges for universities. Digital inclusion "of all learners regardless of their circumstances, learning prerequisites and needs" is a major challenge (Walgenbach, Compes & Lambrich 2019: 9, authors' translation). Starting with accessibility and related concepts such as digital…

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are frequently portrayed as "agents of change" in higher education (HE), impacting on institutional practices, processes and structures throughout HE. However, these courses do not "fit" neatly with the established aims and functions of universities, and accounts of technology-led change in…

The UK Open University has a large, highly distributed workforce, particularly within its part-time teaching staff who work mainly from home and who live across the UK and Ireland. In these circumstances it is a challenge to provide professional development which allows for situated learning, peer interaction and community building. In this paper…

This paper positions discussion of learning designs in the broad context of reuse and repurpose. It proposes that not enough attention has been given to the "purpose" of reuse and the motivation of those who choose to share or use reusable learning resources. There is a need for both a broad and deep understanding of what occurs when…

Higher education institutions are recognising the clear benefits of open educational resources, and academics are engaging with the development of these resources. This paper presents a case study of OERs being developed using the live, current BloodhoundSSC world land speed record project as a basis. The paper outlines the rationale for the…

The field of Social Research Methods is shared not only by the social sciences, but by many other disciplines. There is therefore enormous scope for the creation and re-use of open educational resources (OERs) in this area. However, our work with social scientists on a number of recent projects suggests that barriers exist to OER creation and use…