Deadline: 12 January 2020
In November 2019, UNESCO Member States adopted a Recommendation on Open Educational Resources (OER) – a key tool for the achievement of SDG4. As a follow-up to this recommendation, UNESCO-UNEVOC has launched its First Global OER Grant Programme for the development of such resources for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).
Global OER Grant Programme aims to promote OER and motivate the global TVET community to develop OER and related initiatives and practices. A study commissioned by UNESCO-UNEVOC in 2018 on the use of OER in TVET found that the OER concept was still widely unknown among TVET stakeholders. At the same time, it was seen as highly promising for improving access to high-quality TVET. This call for proposals is directed to institutions (e.g. TVET schools, training providers, teaching and learning centres, teacher training institutions, libraries, OER working groups, etc.).
Open Educational Resources (OER) – learning, teaching and research materials in any format and medium that reside in the public domain – and Open Educational Practices (OEP) around the creation, use, and management of OER to improve quality and innovate education are cornerstones of modern day education and training.
Type of Projects
The OER/OEP must concern a subject area linked to Technical and Vocational Education and Training. They explicitly welcome the development of resources not only for formal education streams but also for informal settings. The grant may be used for, but is not limited to:
- Creation of new OER for TVET including textbooks, online courses, curricula, animations, multimedia resources, etc.
- Adaptations, localizations, and repurposing of existing OER on the basis of existing resources, for example, adaptations and translations of existing OER, including textbooks, online courses, curricula, animations, multimedia resources, etc.
- Creation or introduction of platforms for sharing of OER/OEP
- Turning existing (closed) resources into open resources
OER training can be part of the proposal, but ultimately there needs to be a tangible output with an open license that contributes to Open Educational practices in TVET.
Grant Information
The UNESCO–UNEVOC Global OER Grant Programme provides 5 grants of up to 5,000 USD to institutions that develop, adapt or curate these resources to promote practices in TVET.
Ineligible Projects
The focus of the Grant is on the development of OER and OEP allowing users to freely retain, copy, modify, remix, and/or redistribute open content. Proposals containing the following will not be considered:
- Purchase of hardware or tools
- Projects that do not aim for an output that can be shared with the wider TVET community
Criteria
The Global OER programme is open for institutions only. Individuals with innovative ideas are welcome to partner with local institutions, as payments can only be made to institutions (including NGOs). Preferably, the implementation is carried out in cooperation or with support of a UNEVOC Centre. A selection committee comprising of Robert Schuwer (Fontys University, Netherlands), Ben Janssen and other international partners will evaluate proposals meeting the following criteria:
- the final product has to be a tangible output that can be shared with the global OER community (an open resource or a guide on Open Educational Practices that can be followed as example by others) via UNESCO-UNEVOC
- the output has to be released with an open licence, such as a Public Domain or Creative Commons license, which conforms with the 5R requirement, i.e. allows others to freely retain, copy, modify, remix, and/or redistribute the content
- the expected contribution to a learning outcome should be described clearly
- the proposal clearly describes how the requested grant will be used and what expenses it will cover
- proposals need to indicate the in-kind contribution and any other resources necessary to complete the project, such as the assistance of students, instructors and trainers, instructional designers, multimedia developers, librarians, copy editors etc.
They encourage collaboration of multiple institutional partners. In this case, the applicant must designate a lead representative for the project and submit the proposal through the lead partner. Make sure that the role of the project partners is clearly defined.
For more information, visit https://unevoc.unesco.org/go.php?q=First+UNESCO-UNEVOC+Global+OER+Grant+Programme