In terms of scale, shock, and disenfranchisement, the disruption to formal education arising from COVID-19 has been unprecedented. Anecdotally, responses from teachers and educators around the world range from heightened caution to being inspired by distance education as the “new normal.” Of all the challenges, face-to-face and formal teaching have been most heavily affected. Despite some education systems demonstrating resilience, a major challenge is sustaining quality and inclusiveness in formal education suddenly delivered at a distance. In probing these issues, this article profiles international perspectives on the role of open education in responding to the impact on formal school and higher education caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. We proceed by highlighting and analysing practices and case studies from 13 countries representing all global regions, identifying and discussing the challenges and opportunities that have presented themselves. Reports cover the period from the beginning of 2020 until 11 March 2021, the first anniversary of the COVID-19 outbreak as declared by the World Health Organization. In our comparative study, we identify seven key aspects of which three (missing infrastructure and sharing OER, open education and access to OER, and urgent need for professional development and training for teachers) are directly related to open education at a distance. After comparing examples of existing practice, we make recommendations and offer insights into how open education strategies can lead to interventions that are effective and innovative—to improve formal education at a distance in schools and universities in the future.

Why is Openness in Education important, and why is it critically needed at this moment? As manifested in our guiding question, the significance of Openness in Education and its immediate necessity form the heart of this collaborative editorial piece. This rather straightforward, yet nuanced query has sparked this collective endeavour by using individual testimonies, which may also be taken as living narratives, to reveal the value of Openness in Education as a praxis. Such testimonies serve as rich, personal narratives, critical introspections, and experience-based accounts that function as sources of data. The data gleaned from these narratives points to the understanding of Openness in Education as a complex, multilayered concept intricately woven into an array of values. These range from aspects such as sharing, access, flexibility, affordability, enlightenment, barrier-removal, empowerment, care, individual agency, trust, innovation, sustainability, collaboration, co-creation, social justice, equity, transparency, inclusivity, decolonization, democratisation, participation, liberty, and respect for diversity. This editorial, as a product of collective endeavour, invites its readers to independently engage with individual narratives, fostering the creation of unique interpretations. This call stems from the distinctive character of each narrative as they voice individual researchers’ perspectives from around the globe, articulating their insights within their unique situational contexts.

This explanatory analysis of the relevant literature seeks to identify factors affecting quality in massive open online courses (MOOCs). The paper highlights sub-dimensions of quality in MOOCs using the ladder of analytical abstraction. Communication, trust, collaboration, inclusiveness, innovation, and commitment are identified as key elements in developing a quality culture in online education. In seeking to merge the organizational and pedagogical aspects of online education, MOOCs raise new questions concerning personalization, widening recruitment, internationalization or globalization, and lifelong learning. However, the pedagogical aspects of MOOCs remain insufficiently described and explored. As MOOCs are now a significant presence in digital education, it is essential to understand learners’ experiences and participation in such courses.

Purpose: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) Recommendation on Open Educational Resources (OER) was a milestone when it was uniformly adopted by its member states on November 25, 2019. The purpose of this conceptual paper is to provide an overview of the OER Recommendation in relation to some of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The paper focuses on SDG 4 on education, but also on other SDGs that are directly linked to the relevant SDGs for the overall implementation of the UNESCO OER Recommendation. These SDGs are: SDG 5 (gender equality), SDG 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure), SDG 10 (reduce inequalities within and between countries), SDG 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions), and SDG 17 (partnerships for the goals). All five areas of the OER recommendation are closely linked to the above SDGs. This paper also discusses how to advocate with stakeholders at all levels to implement and mainstream OER and the SDGs across all areas of the OER recommendation. In addition, this concept paper discusses accessibility for all (e.g. any type of impairment/disability, etc.) and addresses quality issues at OER and their implications.Design/methodology/approach: This conceptual paper provides an overview of the UNESCO OER Recommendation and its relationship to some of the SDGs. The paper also addresses the role of stakeholders in implementing the OER Recommendation and the potential problems of its accessibility and quality. This paper has been designed as a literature review including mainly official reports from the organizations in the field, such as the UN UNESCO SDGs (UN, n.d; UNESCO, 2016) and the UNESCO OER Recommendation (UNESCO, 2019, 2021a). This conceptual paper is discursive in nature. It contains a discussion based on a literature review comparative studies, experiences, works, and reflections of the author, who has been working in this field since its beginnings in 2002. This contribution is also based on the experiences, works, and reflections of other authors on the OER movement.Findings: The UNESCO OER Recommendation (UNESCO, 2019) clarifies that all five areas of the OER Recommendation for implementation are closely linked to the SDGs (UN, n.d; UNESCO, 2016), particularly SDG4, which targets to achieve education for all by 2030, and other SDGs, such as SDG5 (gender equality), SDG9 (industry, innovation, and infrastructure), SDG10 (reducing inequalities within and between countries), SDG16 (peace, justice, and strong institutions), and SDG17 (partnerships for the goals). Since OER does not consist of a single goal but is linked to universal values, such as the common good, human rights (United Nations, 1948), equality, ethics, and social justice, this concept paper discusses how they are interconnected and how both the SDGs and the five domains of the UNESCO OER Recommendation (UNESCO, 2019) can be achieved. To date, however, there have been few studies on how they are interconnected. This paper proposes a model that highlights their relationships as two sides of the same coin, as they are interconnected and influence, facilitate, and reinforce each other.Research limitations/implications: The study presented in this concept paper may have limitations as it is mainly based on a review of the official relevant literature by UNESCOan OECD. A large-scale study relying on more comprehensive methods, such as focus groups, grounded theory, or even other qualitative and quantitative methods, could have validated the findings. However, since this is a first attempt, and there are few, if any studies in this area, it was decided to conduct the study in the form of a literature review and with a personal approach based on more than 20 years of research, experience, and consultation in the area of open education, OER, human rights (United Nations, 1948), social justice, ethics, and the common good.Practical implications: The practical impact of the findings of this conceptual paper is that by breaking down the broad SDG goals to a practical level, it shows how the SDGs can be part of daily life and seamless daily education and learning throughout the lifespan of the learners.Social implications: The higher values of the SDGs relate to human rights United Nations (1948), social justice, and equity. Several of the SDGs, including SDG 4 and others addressed in the UNESCO OER Recommendation, such as the following: SDG5 (gender equality), SDG9 (industry, innovation, and infrastructure), SDG10 (reduce inequalities within and between countries), SDG16 (peace, justice, and strong institutions), and SDG17 (partnerships for the goals) can be achieved through open education (Inamorato Dos Santos et al., 2016), Achieving these SDGs and implementing the OER Recommendation will benefit both individuals and the planet. Education for all will also help solv climate problems.Originality/value: The OER Recommendation (UNESCO, 2019) clarifies that all five areas of its implementation are closely linked to the SDGs, particularly SDG4, which targets education for all by 2030 (OECD, 2009; UNESCO, 2016), as well as SDG5 (gender equality), SDG9 (industry, innovation, and infrastructure), SDG10 (reducing inequalities within and between countries), SDG16 (peace, justice, and strong institutions), and SDG17 (partnerships for the goals). Since OER is not a stand-alone goal but is related to overarching values, such as human rights (United Nations (1948), equity, and social justice, this conceptual paper explores how these are interconnected and how both the SDGs and the five goals can be achieved. The proposed model is new and clearly needed in research on this topic.

The World Health Organization officially classified COVID-19 as a pandemic in early March 2020. Extraordinary security measures, health restrictions, and social isolation left hardly any aspect of daily life untouched. One area that underwent major changes was education, whose cornerstones and foundations were challenged as schools and universities around the world were forced to close their doors to prevent the spread of the virus. In this article, the reasons resilience and agility are critical to achieving social justice, human rights, and the United Nations Sustainability goals (SDG) in the post-pandemic era are studied. It is also argued that the role of education needs to be redesigned to be resilient and agile and to ensure lifelong learning. In addition, a post-pandemic quality agenda is the focus of the article. Some of the emerging quality dimensions are empathy, satisfaction, well-being, the social dimensions of learning, and their impact at the nano, micro, meso, and macro levels. This article was prepared as part of a systematic literature review based mainly on official reports from organizations working in this field worldwide. The author selected examples from ongoing discourse and debate about the challenges in this field in addition to examples from the author’s research, experiences, and perspectives. In summary, questions regarding educational landscapes may be the same, but in the context of post-pandemic and resilient agile education for lifelong learning to meet the SDGs and the new social contract for education, the answers to the questions of why, who, when, what, and at what levels will be different. It is time not just to talk, but to act. Each of us can and must commit to the new social contract. It is time to collectively reimagine our futures to include the ecosystem of education in all learning environments, i.e., formal, non-formal, and informal, and to value resilient, agile, seamless, and rhizomatic learning in the context of lifelong learning.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has recently been gaining ground, particularly since November 2022, with the introduction of generative tools based on natural language processing and neural network algorithms. These kinds of tools have great potential for creators and users of Open Educational Resources (OER) and the Open Movement itself but they also represent risks. The International Council for Open and Distance Education OER Advocacy Committee (OERAC) developed two workshops to present the role of AI in OER at two international conferences in the fall of 2023. The workshops presented the features, benefits, key challenges, and practical issues related to using AI technologies from professional, ethical, sustainable, and equitable perspectives, while also focusing on the five areas of the UNESCO OER Recommendation. Participants were dynamically engaged in discussions, and documented their ideas in formats that could be used as OER in themselves. The OERAC noted and categorized the results, and developed short summaries and drafts for further work. Finally, drawing on the findings from the workshops, we asked ChatPDF for a second opinion on further suggestions for AI in connection with OER, which in turn related to the five areas of the recommendation. We conclude that, while there is great potential for the use of AI in the context of the Open Movement, there is also a need for professional ethics, equity, and sustainable capacity building, access, inclusion, policy, models, and international collaboration.