#OpenEd21

The European Network of Open Education Librarians (ENOEL) is part of SPARC Europe’s efforts to make open the default for research and education in Europe. While some European Higher Education libraries have taken on the OE challenge, others are yet to do so. The network is there to help all those striving to support Open Education at different levels of maturity. As a result of a Hewlett Foundation grant, the network is focussing on activities to help implement the UNESCO OER Recommendation. It is growing fast with members from more than twenty European countries.

This session will focus on how a network can stimulate more international action with its members, speaking to how they are getting engaged in activities with their peers: driving experienced members to share their OE expertise and newcomers to connect and contribute while learning more about OE. The panel will bring together network members from different countries to share their experiences in developing a set of activities within the network itself, initiated and steered by them. They will also reflect on the specific context of an international, European network in which most of the members use English as a second language and come from diverse cultural and geographical backgrounds.

Presenters will describe the process and the results of activities that started in Spring 2021, including:

• Interviews with European Open Education Champions- librarians interview active OE advocates and practitioners: students, teachers, pedagogues, practitioners, talking about OE: why it is important, what they do to move this forward, what still needs to be done, and more
• ENOEL practitioners under the spotlight- members of the network share their experience as librarians and their specific applied OE expertise while enabling others to ask questions and consider replicating their practices
• OE drops- small chunks of knowledge on OE themes, issues, definitions, tips & tricks, etc. designed and recorded by members in a short (2-3 mins) video format
• Thematic Working Groups to 1)organize and curate OE resources for the network and the wider public in general; 2)design and share advocacy tools about the Unesco OER Recommendation; 3)build an Open Education learning path for EU librarians.
• Aside from sharing interim results, the panel will also provide ENOEL members the chance to share how they felt while facing ups and downs in these activities and how they managed to face challenges together. More details will be provided during the session.

After participating in this session, attendees will be able to:

• Recognize how to embrace similar opportunities and tackle similar challenges in their own network
• Identify and select tools and strategies to raise awareness of OE that can be adapted in other contexts
• Generate ideas to plan actions in their local contexts, keeping the effort required under control
• Consider the intangible results that come from international networking and recognize these as important achievements
• Value opportunities to explicitly share feelings and personal perceptions, whether positive or negative, as part of the experience of working collaboratively at a distance