Leadership in open education is the promotion of sustainable open education activities and initiatives via a transparent approach from both the top-down and the bottom-up.
Leadership paves the way to creating more openness by inspiring and empowering people.
Leadership in open education goes beyond the creation of strategies decided at the executive level.
It is above all the identification of champions at all levels, who will take the lead in the different strands of open education in the institution.
It is a transversal dimension because it supports open education practices at different levels: personal motivation, task organisation and outcomes management.
Leadership in open education should promote open education take up across the university by a whole range of stakeholders, including learners.
- Institution's stakeholders are members of the management team of a HE institution. The approval of an institution’s open education policy or guidelines/roadmap, for example, would be the responsibility of these individuals. The Institution’s executives have the power to support an open education culture and to decide on the best course of action to achieve desired goals. Their actions should ideally be aligned with those of staff members.
- Staff members can be advocates or champions of open education at the institutional level. They will design or put into practice the strategies planned. They should also be part of the decision-making process to enhance their sense of ownership of the OE strategy. They are key players for the success of the strategy.
- Learners in open education take increasing responsibility for their own learning pathways, and can be supported by education institutions. They are the leaders of their own learning processes and achievements. Learners can also be authors and co-authors of open educational material. They may share their experiences digitally and via the social web. They may support and assess each other's work via peer-to-peer activities.
- The community related to the HE institution (e.g. family of learners, neighbours, institutional partners etc.) also benefit from the open educational practices of the institution. At the same time, the community can also collaborate and share their knowledge openly via the institution (e.g. collaboration with local businesses, events, employers and learners).