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. The UNESCO–UNEVOC Global OER Grant Programme provides 5 grants of up to 5,000 USD to institutions that develop, adapt or curate such resources to promote open practices in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). Applications are invited through an open call for proposals as per the deadline below:

KEY DATES

  • Launch of OER grant programme: 3 December 2019
  • Deadline for proposals: 12 January 2020
  • Grant recipient announcement date: 31 January 2020
  • Project rollout and implementation: between February and September 2020

APPLICATION FORM

To apply, please fill in the online application form at https://unevoc.unesco.org/l/671
For preparatory purposes, you may want to consult this pdf copy of the form.
Get in touch with us if you cannot use the online form to submit your application.

About the UNESCO-UNEVOC OER Grant programme

The Recommendation Concerning Open Educational Resources, adopted by the UNESCO General Conference in November 2019, puts forward the following expectation:

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“In building inclusive Knowledge Societies, Open Educational Resources (OER) can support quality education that is equitable, inclusive, open and participatory as well as enhance academic freedom and professional autonomy of teachers by widening the scope of materials available for teaching and learning.”

It defines as one objective “to develop a global pool of culturally diverse, locally relevant, gender-sensitive, accessible, educational materials in multiple languages and formats.”

With our Global OER Grant Programme we aim 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. Our 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.).

What type of projects are covered?

The OER/OEP must concern a subject area linked to Technical and Vocational Education and Training. We 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.

Although this call for proposals is only issued in English, we do encourage the creation of resources and open practices in other languages. However, we need to be able to assess it, so a summary of the output needs to be made available in English or French (translation can be paid from the grant).

What type of projects / proposals will not be considered?

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

Who can apply?

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.

We 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.

How to apply

To apply, please fill in the online application form at https://unevoc.unesco.org/l/671

Further information

There are plenty of helpful resources on OER and OER development available online. Some key UNESCO and UNEVOC resources listed below provide good starting points:

More information on OER is available on the UNEVOC website.

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