Page - vii - in Radical Solutions and Open Science - An Open Approach to Boost Higher Education

Foreword byColin de laHiguera Openness:WhyQualityMatters The very recent decision by the general assembly of theUNESCO to recommend the use of open educational resources (OER) is great news and will certainly contribute to a better understanding of these questions and to their adoption by moreandmorecountries. It shouldencourageplayersat all levels tobuildandshare courseware, distribute and redistribute OER. Of course, open educational resources represent just one aspect of open knowledge. Open source, open access and open data all contribute to the same ideals. But, because of the specific nature of education, of the huge numbers involved, this is an importantmove.Weshouldkeep inmind that it is estimated that about 258million children and youth are out of school today: all what allows a better distribution of knowledge is the right approach. Yet if we can see many positive signs, many problems are still to be tackled. These are, of course, being looked into by NGOs, Universities, researchers and activists. Let usmention the costmodel to be better thought out: is it necessary to remind thatopendoesn’tmean free and that the costs should bemet in such away as not to create new barriers? But, in my view, the most complex issue may be the one of handling quality questions. 1. Thismay not appear at first to be that essential, but it is.When discussing the matterof replacing traditional textbooksbyaccess toopeneducational resources with local and national authorities, it is the elephant in the room! ‘Who will control the quality?’ is the question raised, or—worse—not raised but under- lying all thedecisionswhich aregoing tobe takenon thematter.Therehave, of course, been occasions whether a severe blunder or even an unacceptable pseudo-scientific fact has crept into a textbook published by somewell-known publishers, but the general feeling is that these are rare and, since there is a publisher, an origin can be found, responsibilities can be taken, errors can be traced and the problem can be dealt with. And, most importantly, the vii