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| Latin American Open Educational Resources Network | |
|---|---|
| Name | Latin American Open Educational Resources Network |
| Type | Network |
| Region served | Latin America |
| Language | Spanish; Portuguese |
Latin American Open Educational Resources Network
The Latin American Open Educational Resources Network is a regional consortium that promotes open access to academic materials across Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and other nations in South America and Central America. It connects higher education institutions such as the University of Buenos Aires, Universidade de São Paulo, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, and National University of Colombia with international organizations including UNESCO, International Council for Open and Distance Education, and the Open Education Consortium. The Network advances policies inspired by programs at the Ford Foundation, initiatives from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and standards echoed in work by the Creative Commons and MIT OpenCourseWare.
The Network operates as a coordinating body linking repositories, courseware, and policy advocacy across countries represented by institutions like the National Autonomous University of Mexico, University of Havana, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, and Universidad de Costa Rica. It collaborates with regional bodies such as the Organization of American States and bilateral partners including the European Commission and the Gates Foundation. Activities are informed by open licensing practices developed by Lawrence Lessig and organizations such as OpenStax and the Open Knowledge Foundation.
Origins trace to meetings among academics from Mexico City, São Paulo, Buenos Aires, and Santiago influenced by dialogues at UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education forums and proposals from the Latin American Council of Social Sciences. Early pilots involved repositories modeled after the Directory of Open Access Journals and systems inspired by the Fedora Commons and DSpace platforms. Funding and technical assistance came from partnerships with entities such as the Inter-American Development Bank, World Bank, and foundations like the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Governance combines a steering committee of representatives drawn from universities such as the National University of Córdoba, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, and University of Chile with advisory input from international experts associated with the Open Education Consortium and the International Council for Open and Distance Education. Legal frameworks reference intellectual property law discussions in forums led by WIPO and regional policy mechanisms coordinated with the Mercosur education groups and the Andean Community. Administrative operations have mirrored structures used by consortia like the European University Association.
Major initiatives include open textbook projects influenced by OpenStax and textbook campaigns similar to those promoted by the Hewlett Foundation, multilingual course translation efforts echoing the practices of Coursera and edX, and repository interoperability pilots implementing metadata standards akin to Dublin Core and protocols used by the Open Archives Initiative. Capacity-building workshops have partnered with the British Council, Fondation Botín, and national ministries in countries such as Peru and Ecuador to train faculty in pedagogy models advanced by scholars at Harvard University, Stanford University, and University of Cambridge.
Membership spans public and private institutions including the University of the Andes (Colombia), Universidad de Guadalajara, Universidad de los Andes (Venezuela), and specialized centers like the Centro de Investigaciones en Educación. Strategic partners include UNESCO Regional Bureau for Sciences in Latin America and the Caribbean, OEI (Organization of Ibero-American States), and international networks like the Global OER Graduate Network. Collaborative agreements have mirrored memoranda seen between the European Commission and regional blocs such as CELAC.
Evaluations have drawn on methodologies from the World Bank and research centers like the Inter-American Development Bank's education unit, examining outcomes at institutions such as the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras and the University of Puerto Rico. Reported benefits include reduced costs for students at universities comparable to savings documented by OpenStax pilots, increased course reuse similar to metrics reported by the MIT OpenCourseWare project, and policy adoption paralleling reforms championed through UNESCO advocacy. Peer-reviewed studies have appeared in journals associated with Latindex and analyses presented at conferences like the Latin American Studies Association.
Ongoing challenges reflect funding volatility like cases addressed by the World Bank and policy fragmentation across blocs such as Mercosur and the Andean Community of Nations. Technical hurdles include repository interoperability issues similar to those confronted by the Open Archives Initiative and multilingual access constraints paralleling translation efforts by UNESCO and European Commission projects. Future directions prioritize scaling open textbook programs modeled on OpenStax, strengthening policy alignment with frameworks proposed by WIPO and OECD, and expanding partnerships with platforms like edX and Coursera while deepening ties to regional universities such as the Universidad de la República (Uruguay), Universidad Nacional del Litoral, and research institutes like the Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas.