Introduction#

Let’s get to know each other

Before we dive into today’s topic, let’s take a moment to introduce ourselves and learn about each other’s teaching background.

  1. In which field are you teaching?

  2. What kind of teaching are you doing? (e.g. lectures, seminars, workshops)

  3. Which tools and platforms do you usually use for teaching?

  4. What do you hope to gain from this small group session?

Rethinking Educational Resources#

What if your educational resources were not only effective for today’s students but also accessible, citable, and reproducible for future generations? If this prospect aligns with your academic vision, we invite you to explore an alternative approach to traditional learning platforms.

In light of the ongoing replication crisis, many universities are striving to make research and education more open, inclusive, and FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable). However, conventional educational platforms such as Moodle, OLAT, and ILIAS present significant limitations that are often at odds with these objectives. These proprietary systems introduce several challenges, including restricted access, high costs, and limited interoperability. For instance, educators frequently need to acquire costly licenses, which can hinder their ability to develop and disseminate instructional materials freely. Moreover, these platforms often lock users into specific ecosystems, complicating collaboration across institutions and disciplines. These constraints inhibit the dynamic and interactive learning environments necessary for contemporary higher education and research.

What are the main problems with such an approach?#

Traditional educational platforms present several key issues:

  • Content is often exclusive and accessible only to a limited group of students.

  • Collaboration on learning materials is constrained.

  • Citability of learning resources is often inadequate.

  • Content must frequently be recompiled for each new cohort.

  • Integration of interactive elements is cumbersome.

  • Content may become fragmented across multiple course iterations, making it difficult to track and update over time.

An alternative approach: Using Open Educational Resources#

To address these challenges, we propose the adoption of Open Educational Resources (OER) that are freely accessible, adaptable, and reusable. But how can these be effectively created and maintained?

Our approach leverages open-source tools, including Jupyter Books, along with GitHub and GitHub Pages, to facilitate the development and dissemination of reusable educational materials.

Don’t worry if you don’t know these tools yet. We will provide a structured introduction within these workshop pages. Our framework is supported by a pre-configured template designed to simplify the creation of OERs. This template can be used for diverse learning materials as well as for dynamic publication and documentation (for an example, click here).

Before exploring the framework, let’s first consider typical didactic challenges in higher education and how our approach can offer meaningful ways to overcome them.