eQNet - Quality Network for a European Learning Resource Exchange Guest

UNESCO and the European Foundation for Quality in E-Learning (EFQUEL) have invited representatives of organizations working with quality, OER and educational policy to attend the first 2011 meeting of the Open Educational Quality Initiative (OPAL) Consultative Group. The meeting will be held online on Wednesday 25 May at 13.00 Central European Time, and repeated at 13.00 Pacific Time on Monday 30 May.

OPAL (http://oer-quality.org/)  is a flagship initiative being implemented by a group of organizations including UNESCO, EFQUEL and ICDE and includes representatives of leading institutions from within higher education and adult education.

The initiative believes that although OER are high on the agenda of social and inclusion policies, their use in higher education and adult education has not reached a critical threshold. The focus has been placed on building access to digital content, while the challenge now is to support educational practices and to promote quality and innovation in teaching and learning.

The aim of the OPAL Consultative Group -  a multi-stakeholder network of high level organizations working with quality, OER and educational policy – is to:

• raise awareness,
• exchange and define good practices,
• take stock of the latest activities in the field, and
• suggest ways forward to enhance and increase the adoption of open practices

The Consultative Group will initially meet twice per year for 2-3 hours through a webinar. For more on this initiative see: http://goo.gl/7AwIY