As we move forward to our next phase as the Open Research Centre, it’s time to take a quick look at some of our “Hub Highlights” from the past 2.5 years:

  • With over 7,000 respondents spread across 182 countries, our research has generated the largest dataset on OER use in the world through work with our collaborators. Read a summary report;
  • We loved talking, connecting and learning from everyone we met whilst out on the road or participating virtually in events. Visiting every continent except Australia and Antarctica we participated in over 20 conferences and gave over 40 papers throughout the OER Research Hub’s duration;
  • We were delighted to win not one but two awards! We were awarded an Open CourseWare Consortium award for excellence in open research in 2014. We went on to share our open research practices by creating and running the first course on open research on Peer 2 Peer University’s School of Open. The course was later awarded an Open University Engaging Research Award 2015;
  • We curated and created over 300 pieces of evidence on the impact of OER and mapped OER policies;
  • Building, extending and connecting networks we doubled the number of collaborations through the project’s duration and ran a successful open and linked fellowship scheme.

Personal highlights from across the team:

Beck Pitt: Where to start?!? It’s been an incredible couple of years and I’m immensely privileged and proud to work with amazing people across the world, and our team here at the OU in Milton Keynes. Having the opportunity to visit colleges, universities and other institutions where people are using OER, and to hear about how its making a difference has been a definite highlight.

Rob Farrow: One of the greatest things about this project has been the chance to make meaningful connections with so many fine people all around the world.  It can really give you a sense of being part of something much bigger than any one context of impact.  I particularly enjoyed some of the field work I did on the Pacific cost of the USA in late 2013 when I got to visit with several community colleges as well as connect with leaders in the OER world.

Bea de los Arcos: If there’s one thing that makes the last 2.5 years memorable for me, that is the generosity of everyone I’ve had the pleasure to meet, especially the teachers who invited me into their classrooms, who were happy to have a chat in the middle of a busy school day. I’ve been incredibly lucky to get to know a lot of amazing people, at home and beyond, and some of them I’ll count among my friends for a lot longer than any project’s funding.