An OER Protocol: Guidelines for Publishing OER

The first draft version of this Protocol was developed by Saide for the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) based on work done for OER Africa's Health OER Network, as well as experience in digitising and uploading the Saide Teacher Education series . Tessa Welch and Sheila Drew provide background on the purpose of the Protocol and invite calls for comment on the draft.

DHET has put in place a European Union funded Strengthening Foundation Phase Teacher Education Programme. In terms of the contract with the institutions participating in the programme , all materials produced will be released as Open Educational Resources (OER). This will facilitate sharing across institutions, improvement of quality through peer review processes, and ensure that materials developed with public money are made available as widely as possible. The purpose of the Protocol is to guide the Department in managing the publication of these materials as OER on their Teaching Development website.

We thought that there was merit, however, not only in a DHET-specific Protocol, but a generic version that institutions could customise/version for OER publishing of materials produced at or through their institution. We tested this idea in an OER workshop with a team of librarians, IT specialists and academics involved in producing a Food Safety course at the University of Cape Coast in Ghana. As one of the appendices to the Protocol, we attach the Workshop activity on the Protocol that we used.

The response to the process at the University of Cape Coast was enthusiastic, and so we offer this Protocol and set of guidelines for you to comment on and/or customise/version for your needs in your institution.

Although, in terms of the Creative Commons Attribution license, you don't have to ask our permission to adapt, copy, distribute, the Protocol, we would really appreciate it if you would give us feedback on what you think of it and how you may use it. We'd also love to feature your versions of the Protocol on the OER Africa website.