Authors: Giulia Priora and Giovanna Carloni
Abstract: The adoption of Open Educational Resources (OERs) in schools and universities is a phenomenon on the rise also in Europe. Increasingly relying on digital, open, freely adaptable materials that are specifically designed for educational purposes is not only a response to the disruptions brought by the Covid-19 pandemic, but a consistent policy step towards a more inclusive, diverse, and quality education in the EU. The article examines the potential and constraints of OERs from both a pedagogical and legal perspective. It demonstrates how this type of resources are fit for purpose to achieve diversity, knowledge co-creation, and students’ agency in the educational ecosystems. It also flags points of weakness of the EU copyright legal framework, such as the lack of harmonization of rules on co-authorship and adaptation, that need to be tackled to fully enable OER-enabled pedagogies across the Union.
Citation: Priora, Giulia and Carloni, Giovanna, Open Educational Resources through the European Lens: Pedagogical Opportunities and Copyright Constraints (January 31, 2023). Forthcoming in Journal of Intellectual Property, Information Technology and Electronic Commerce Law (JIPITEC) 2023, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4343475 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4343475
