New opportunities for open education researchers

An Open University (OU) open education project has received a further $300,000 from The Hewlett Foundation to widen its engagement with doctoral researchers.

The Global OER Graduate Network (GO-GN) supports around 200 doctoral researchers and alumni working on open education around the world. A further 200 experts, supervisors, mentors and interested parties connect to form a community of practice. GO-GN celebrated its 10^th anniversary in 2023 and has been based at the OU since 2015.

This additional 15-month research grant will allow Dr Beck Pitt and Dr Rob Farrow (Co-Directors and Co-Principal Investigators) and team in the OU’s Institute of Educational Technology to collaborate with members to pilot and evaluate a federated approach, which will deepen GO-GN’s support for its membership, particularly in the Global South.

A call for proposals for three new regional pilot hubs, each of which will be awarded $40,000 to spend over a six-month period on their own activities to meet the needs of members in the proposed region, whilst also contributing to wider GO-GN activities, was released on 24 April 2025.

Dr Pitt said:

“This work is a direct response to membership interest in exploring this approach and contributes to GO-GN's ongoing commitment and work on equity, diversity and inclusion in open education.”