Open Education Influencers

Open Education Influencers (OEIs), or #OpenEdInfluencers, is an initiative based at Nelson Mandela University (NMU) in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The initiative has been operational in an informal capacity since 2015 but has been officially operational in its current form since 2018. Led by Gino Fransman from NMU, it seeks to influence decision-makers to adopt open educational resources (OER) through advocacy and facilitation, while aiming to affect decision-making and practice through activities to publicise and entrench the use of open education praxis.

A core part of the initiative are OEIs, who are ambassadors for the use of open textbooks at NMU. They target all levels in the university – undergraduate, post-graduate and teacher education – across all faculties, advocating for the use of open materials and increasing awareness about the use of OER.

In 2018, the initiative launched an effort to increase awareness, access, adoption, and creation of openly licensed materials at NMU. The university has actively supported this initiative. In 2018, it appointed and trained three NMU students to become OEIs and assist with OER advocacy. In 2019 and 2020, it shifted student support under the umbrella of the Learning and Teaching Collaborative for Success (LT Collab) at NMU.