The aim of open education is to increase both access to and participation in learning for a broader audience and various target groups by lowering barriers to learning and expanding the range of learning opportunities.

By opening up education and educational resources created at ÅAU to individuals beyond the current students, teachers and support staff contribute to the visibility of Åbo Akademi University and its collaboration with society at large, as well as with other educational levels, both nationally and internationally. High-quality open educational resources enhance the perception of Åbo Akademi University as an attractive study environment.

Making materials for teaching (so-called open educational resources) and learning methods (e.g. materials for course planning) openly available and more transparent increases the opportunities for networking and collaboration with other teaching colleagues. Both teachers and learners within and outside the Swedish-speaking community in Finland can develop their competence by using open educational resources.

Guidelines for teachers, researchers, and students

• Teachers producing materials for undergraduate education make the materials openly available to all learners when possible and appropriate.
• Teachers producing materials for continuous learning make the material openly available to all learners, unless there are reasons for not doing so.
• Teachers involve students in open education, for example by including them in the planning and implementation of open education and encouraging them to openly share their works and use open materials.
• When developing open education, the reliability of the contents and the quality of the materials are the starting point.
• Copyright, data protection and ethical practices are respected when open education and open educational resources are developed and used.
• When developing open education and open educational resources, accessibility criteria are taken into account, meaning that services and resources support equality and participation for all students and benefit a large group of people.
• Open educational resources created at ÅAU are primarily made available in the Library for Open Educational Resources (AOE.fi) to ensure long-term preservation. Other platforms be used as a complement in case they promote the dissemination of the educational resource to the right target groups.
• Open educational resources created at ÅAU are made available with an appropriate license, primarily CC BY or CC BY SA.

 Guidelines for the organisation

• Open education is a way of collaborating with society and an aspect of ÅAU’s public image. ÅAU markets courses and other opportunities for open education.
• ÅAU promotes open education as part of both education leading to a degree and continuous learning.
• ÅAU encourages teachers to share their expertise in planning and organising teaching, and offers support and opportunities for this (e.g. digital platforms and physical venues).
• ÅAU considers work with developing open education and open educational resources an academic merit and these activities are considered in the planning of work tasks.
• ÅAU offers researchers and teachers, as well as students, support and guidance for creating, using and further developing open educational resources, as well as for carrying out other forms of open education.