Improved Management of Walnut Quality Factors Under Grower Control

This project was first conceptualised in early 2010 and commenced November 2010 after receiving funding from the former Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC), now the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT).

Since this project began there has been an evolution in the Open Educational Resource (OER) movement. From its early foundations in 2001 with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the OER movement has evolved from being mainly focused on increasing access to digital educational resources, to being focused on supporting educational practices and promoting quality and innovation in teaching and learning through Open Educational Practices (OEP). Many other developments in higher education have occurred during the lifecycle of this project. Some developments have been closely related to the increased popularity of OER and OEP, such as the formation of several universities’ consortia worldwide to offer free online learning resources (either with paid accredited assessment or not) to an ever diverse and large number of learners (e.g. Massive Open Online Courses – MOOCs).

To date, many universities around the globe have launched Open Educational Resource (OER) projects1. Wiley and Gurrell (2009) claim that millions of learners have benefited from learning through OER materials, and many educational institutions, mostly distance education providers, have obtained significant rewards in terms of enhancing their reputations, increasing student enrolment and developing innovative ways to produce distance learning materials. The movement supporting OER and OEP continues to gain momentum at a substantial rate. The rapid global expansion in the availability of quality OER and the development and trialling of a range of OEP is set to change the landscape of higher education globally. New conceptions of delivery, curriculum development, pedagogy and sustainable business have already begun to challenge institutions to quickly consider the implications or run the risk of losing competitive advantage. The philosophy behind the OER movement is “that of making educational materials a common or public good from which all, in theory, can benefit, but most especially those who receive the least benefit from current systems of educational provision, whether publicly or privately funded” (Lane, 2008, p. 149).