Competence requirements define what kind of knowledge and skills the users of open educational resources, the authors of open educational resources and the open education influencers should have. Competence requirements can be used, for example, when organisations plan training courses that provide competence in open education.
The competence requirements are cumulative: the authors of open educational resources are also required to master the competence requirements for the users of open educational resources, and the open education influencers are also required to master the competence requirements for the authors of open educational resources.
Users of open educational resources
The users of open educational resources understand the basic concepts of open education and are able to set them in a wider field of open science and research, are able to find and use open educational resources in their own teaching, respecting the copyrights and licensing clauses, and are able to assess the quality of open educational resources. In more detail, users of open educational resources are required to:
- be able to explain basic concepts of open education, such as concepts of open educational resources, open educational practices, open-source code and open technology;
- understand the links between open education and the framework of open science and research;
- understand the importance of open education for the higher education and research community and the rest of society;
- know how to use educational resources and other materials in their own teaching and preparing their own educational resources in compliance with the terms and conditions set by copyrights and general licensing clauses;
- know the best channels for finding open educational resources;
- know how to use the Library of Open Educational Resources to find open educational resources;
- know how to identify various forms and formats of open educational resources;
- know how to utilise other open materials in their own teaching and for preparing their own educational resources;
- understand the impact of the accessibility and quality of educational resources on learning outcomes,
- understand the grounds used for assessing the accessibility and quality of open educational resources with the help national criteria; and
- understand how open educational resources can be peer-reviewed.
Authors of open educational resources
The authors of open educational resources know how to prepare, publish and describe open educational resources, understand data protection and information security issues related to open educational resources, and can demonstrate their merits in the preparation of open educational resources. In more detail, authors of open educational resources are required to:
- understand what kind of rights and obligations the Copyright Act imposes on the authors of educational resources;
- understand how data protection affects the preparation of open educational resources, such as the permits required for using photos;
- understand information security issues related to open educational resources;
- know how to give others access rights to materials with different licences,
- know how to use the tools for the preparation of open educational resources, in particular those based on open-source code and open technologies;
- know how to use national quality criteria for open educational resources in the preparation of their own educational resources,
- understand how accessibility requirements and the Accessibility Directive apply to open educational resources;
- know how to enter the metadata on open educational resources to the Library of Open Educational Resources;
- know how to publish open educational resources in the Library of Open Educational Resources;
- understand the principles according to which merits are gained on open educational resources; and
- know how to include open educational resources in their own list of publications.
Open education influencers
Open education influencers are familiar with open educational practices, know how to co-develop open educational resources and open online courses, and are familiar with networking practices and practices applied to gaining merit in open education. In more detail, open education influencers are required to:
- know how to apply different open educational practices;
- understand how data protection affects open educational practices, for example, through data protection risks on open platforms;
- understand what is required for preparing open online courses and MOOCs;
- know how to engage students in preparing educational resources;
- understand practices related to co-developing educational resources, such as agreements on rights and responsibilities;
- are familiar with networks related to open education and educational resources;
- know how to use, for example, Open Badges in demonstrating the competence achieved in open education;
- understand the principles according to which merits are gained in open education; and
- know how to record the merits gained in open education in their CV.
