The use of Open Educational Resources (OER) and associated policies are heterogeneous across the Swiss higher education landscape. As part of PgB Task 1.1, 13 interviews with members of universities and higher education institutions confirmed that practices and institutional engagement around OER vary significantly depending on the context. Another issue that emerged from the discussions was the discrepancy between the formal access to and freedom to create, adapt and share OER, and their actual use.
Drawing on Amartya Sen’s capability approach (1999) and Fernagu’s concept of an empowering environment (2012), this presentation explores how higher education institutions can design OER strategies and policies that genuinely expand individuals’ capabilities, i.e. their real opportunities to achieve valued educational outcomes. The talk will propose a conceptual and practical model, adapted from the Capability Approach, to explore why higher education stakeholders commit (or do not commit) to using OER. The presentation will highlight the concepts of available resources and environment, as well as the various factors contributing to the use of OER, such as digital skills and education, institutional support, cultural norms, pedagogical autonomy and personal values.
Participants will then be invited to reflect on and discuss the following two questions:
– How is OER enabling you to perform your job as expected?
– Is OER a good leverage for generating resources, converting resources, or enabling freedoms? why or why not?
This will enable us to describe the specific characteristics of different contexts and understand how they empower individuals to engage with open education.

References
Fernagu Oudet, S. (2012). Favoriser un environnement « capacitant » dans les organisations. In E. Bourgeois & M. Durand (Eds.), Apprendre au Travail (pp. 201–213). Presses Universitaires de France. https://www.cairn.info/apprendre-au-travail--9782130588948-page-201.htm20
Sen, A. (1999). Development as Freedom. AnchorBooks.