Page - 56 - in Radical Solutions and Open Science - An Open Approach to Boost Higher Education

4 AHiddenDream:OpenEducationalResources 59 andinformaleducation, regardlessofanybarriers for learners, tomaximize thepos- sibility for students to succeed, andwhichmakes higher education accessible by eliminatingthecostofeducational resources. Inthe2012ParisOERdeclaration, the definitionwasrefinedandstrengthenedto‘teaching,learning,andresearchmaterials in anymedium, digital or otherwise, that reside in the public domain or have been releasedunderanopenlicensethatpermitsno-costaccess,use,adaptationandredis- tributionbyotherswithnoor limited restrictions.Open licensing isbuiltwithin the existingframeworkofintellectualpropertyrightsasdefinedbyrelevantinternational conventionsand respects theauthorshipof thework’ (Mishra, 2017,pp.275–276). The adoption ofOERhas generally been a response to educational challenges, suchasequity ineducation, sustainability andnewtrends. It hasbeensupportedby intergovernmentalagencies,suchasUNESCOandtheCommonwealthofLearning, andphilanthropicorganizations,suchastheHewlettFoundation(Arintoetal.,2017). Open educational resources are teaching, learning or researchmaterials that are in the public domain or releasedwith an intellectual property license that allows for freeuse, adaptationanddistribution (Vlasenko,n.d). Openeducationandopeneducational resourcesgrant theopportunityfor instruc- tors,studentsorself-learnerstoaccesstheinformationavailableonlineforeveryone, freeofcharge.Forexample, theresourcesincludefullprograms,curricula,materials fromteachingsessionsindifferentformats,assessmentresources, labandclassroom activities, pedagogical academicdevelopmentmaterials andmanymore (Belawati, 2014). Open accessmaterial aims to be globally andpermanently reachable bygroups of intellectuals, studentsandstaffonboth thephysicalcampusofauniversityandin distance learningenvironments.However, there are also intellectual property rights and equity issues that are particularly relevant to the context of open and distance learning,whereaccess toresourcesrelated toresearcharticlesanddata is frequently problematic for students andstaff (KreljaKurelovic, 2016). Distance education is defined as a method of teaching where the student and teacherarephysicallyseparated.Itcanemployacombinationoftechnologies,includ- ingtheInternet,multimedia,audio, text,animation,videoandcomputeraccessories. Today’s version of distance education is online education, which uses computers and the Internetas thedeliverymechanisms,withat least80%of thecoursecontent deliveredonline (Allen&Seaman,2011;Sengupta,Reshef,&Blessinger, 2019). We,asPalestinianswhoare living inauniqueenvironmentwhere restrictionson mobilityandcheckpointsexist across theoccupied land(Khlaif,Gok,&Kouraïchi, 2019;Traxleretal.,2019),defineanopeneducationresourceasany learningobject (digitalortraditional)thatcanbereusedinmultiplecontextsthateducatorscanadapt tomitigateeducationaldifficultiesdue tooccupationandthatcanbeusedtoachieve a specific learninggoal or trainingaim.For that reason, thePalestinianMinistryof EducationandHigherEducationlaunchedawebsiteforpubliceducationteachers to uploadtheirlearningobjectssothatotherteacherscouldusethemintheirclassrooms. Furthermore,highereducation institutions inPalestine (universitiesandcommunity colleges) adapted open sources for learning management systems (LMS). These initiatives inPalestine reduced the runningcosts of developing learningobjects for