Open Teaching: research and practice on open, innovative and engaging pedagogies

Abstract

I-WhenUNESCOintroducedtheOERconceptandacoupleofyearslatertheOECDsuggestedtogiveknowledgeawayforfree(OECD,2007),we,asopeneducators,believedthatthiswastheavalanchewhichwehadbeenwaitingforandwhichwehadbeenexpectedtoarriveforalongtime.Today,attheendofapandemicyear2020,weknowthatwhatwehadbeenthinkingofasavalanche,hadjustmerelybeenatinysnowdrizzlecomparedtothehugeandrapid,andunprecedentedtectonicshiftsinthelandscapeofourhighereducationinstitutionswhichhadbeencausedthroughthenear100%substitutionsofwhathadbeenthegoodoldpresentialEuropeanuniversitythroughonlinemodes.Wepublishthisspecialissueonteachingandlearningintheopeninthisveryspecialtimeandareawarethatnothingsafeandsecurecanbesaidintermsofuptakeandhowthenextandnewnormalwilllooklikeinhighereducation.Thisistruefortheuseofdigitaltechnologyatlargeaswellasforthefurtherdeepeneduptakeofopeneducationpracticeinhighereducationinparticular.