What is Open Education?
Open Education is a global initiative aimed at breaking down barriers to education by promoting universal access to learning. This movement emphasizes the creation and sharing of accessible, affordable educational resources, ensuring that knowledge is freely available to all.
Creative Commons and Open Educational Resources (OER)
Creative Commons champions the idea that educational resources should be freely accessible under open licences. This approach enables anyone to use, modify, and build upon these works, fostering collaboration and innovation in education. In New Zealand, this includes materials funded by the Ministry of Education and those created by educators in the public education system.
By openly sharing resources, teachers can avoid duplicating efforts, focusing instead on customizing the best available materials for their students. This collaboration reduces redundancy, enriches educational experiences, and saves time.
Open textbooks also bring significant financial relief to students. In the U.S., for instance, textbook prices surged by 812% between 1978 and 2012, far outpacing inflation. In response, many governments and funding bodies now require that publicly funded textbooks be licensed under Creative Commons to ensure affordability and accessibility.
New Zealand’s Leadership in Open Education
New Zealand has emerged as a global leader in the open education movement. From primary schools like Warrington School to institutions such as Lincoln University and Otago Polytechnic, New Zealand educators are releasing high-quality resources for global use.
Many tertiary institutions in New Zealand are part of the Open Educational Resources Universitas (OERu), a not-for-profit network offering free online courses to learners worldwide. Additionally, New Zealand schools are adopting Creative Commons policies, with over 40 schools embracing this approach as of March 2014.
New Zealand academics are also at the forefront of open textbook development. For example, a team at Otago University successfully produced a Creative Commons-licensed Media Studies textbook, setting a benchmark for collaborative educational publishing.
Government Support for OER in New Zealand
The New Zealand Government actively supports the release of open educational resources (OER) within the state education sector. The New Zealand Government Open Access and Licensing (NZGOAL) framework advocates for Creative Commons licensing across both tertiary and pre-tertiary organizations. This framework ensures that taxpayer-funded resources are accessible to all.
For more information on NZGOAL and its role in fostering open access, visit our Open Government page.