What is Open Practice?
Open Practice is a care-based leadership strategy for teaching and supporting learning using open,
human-centered, and multimodal methods.
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It brings together:
Open Education
OER, open pedagogy/andragogy, licensing, sharing, access, and reuse
Learning Experience Design
digital learning, multimodal pathways, accessibility, and learner-centered
design
Human Systems
Workflows, capacity-building, change adoption, sustainability, and implementation
support
Fall 2026: Early Interest and Reservations
Fall 2026 offerings are being shaped now. The Open Practice Academy will begin expanding into open curriculum, evidence-based Open Education certificate pathways, Open Office Hours, workshops, and
team-based professional learning options.
A limited number of fall support spaces will also be available for individuals, small teams, programs, and institutions that want guided professional development support around open education, digital learning, literacy, learning design, and human-centered implementation.
Fall support capacity is intentionally limited so each participant or team receives thoughtful, sustainable professional learning support. Early conversations are open now for Fall 2026 support so participants and teams have time to plan around PD, grant, fellowship, and institutional funding timelines.
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You can join the interest list, book a free coffee chat, or request information about reserving a fall support block.
Coming Fall 2026
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Free open curriculum - self-paced Open Education learning pathway
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Evidence-based Open Education certificate program
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Independent Professional Learner pathwayÂ
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Workshop Professional Learner pathwayÂ
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Campus Studio - 6-month facilitated engagement for campus teamsÂ
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Open Office HoursÂ
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Multi-Session Open Practice Planning PackÂ
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Group/team and program pathways
Fall Team-Based Professional Learning
A limited number of Fall 2026 team-based professional learning spaces will be available to programs, campus teams, libraries, departments, schools, districts, nonprofits, and organizations seeking structured support in open education, digital learning, literacy, learning design, or sustainable implementation.
These options may be appropriate for teams using professional development, grant, fellowship, OER initiative, teaching and learning innovation, departmental, or institutional training budgets, depending on local policies.
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Early conversations are open now for teams planning Fall 2026 support.
Practice Areas and Support
The Open Practice Academy supports Open Education, digital learning, literacy, curriculum design, and human-centered implementation. These areas often overlap, so the work focuses on helping people and teams build learning practices that are clear, usable, humane, and sustainable.
Open Education Foundations
Support for the core practices of Open Education, including OER, open pedagogy, Creative Commons licensing, sharing, adoption, adaptation, and reuse.
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Includes:
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Open Education and OER
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Open pedagogy/andragogy
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Creative Commons licensing and sharing
Learning Design and Curriculum Development
Support for designing clear, accessible, and usable learning experiences across courses, units, lessons, programs, and professional learning contexts.
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Includes:
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Course, curriculum, and learning design
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Lesson and unit planning
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Digital learning and educational technology
Literacy, Research, and Learning Skills
Support for helping learners find, evaluate, interpret, create, and communicate information across disciplines and learning environments.
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Includes:
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Information literacy and research practices
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Literacy across disciplines
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Digital literacy
Engagement and Community Learning
Support for building meaningful participation, shared learning, and community-centered practices among faculty, learners, staff, teams, and stakeholders.
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Includes:
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Faculty and community engagement
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Community of practice development
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Peer learning and collaborative learning structures
Human-Centered Workflows and Implementation
Support for turning good ideas into usable practices through care-centered workflows, realistic planning, change adoption, and implementation support.
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Includes:
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Care-centered workflows
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Human-centered implementation and change adoption
Sustainability and Capacity-Building
Support for making learning initiatives durable, shared, and less dependent on individual heroics by building roles, refresh cycles, feedback loops, and long-term capacity.
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Includes:
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Sustainability and capacity-building
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Feedback loops and iteration
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Shared documentation and knowledge continuity
Who This Is For
Educators and Learning Leaders
Faculty, K-12 educators, administrators, and program leaders designing learning experiences that are accessible, sustainable, and grounded in real human capacity.
Libraries and Open Education Teams
Librarians, OER advocates, instructional support teams, and campus partners who are building open, affordable, and learner-centered education practices.
Designers, Technologists, and Facilitators
Instructional designers, learning technologists, trainers, and facilitators who are integrating open education, accessibility, and multimodal learning into their work.
Nonprofits and Community Learning Spaces
Instructional designers, learning technologists, trainers, and facilitators who are integrating open education, accessibility, and multimodal learning into their work.
Open Practice applies across K--12, higher education, libraries, nonprofits, community learning spaces, and mission-driven organizations.
Can I Use Professional Development, Grant, or Institutional Funds?
In many cases, yes. Most institutions have set-aside funds for professional development. We provide the documentation you need to demonstrate value and impact to your department head or dean.
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Support may be appropriate for:
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Professional development funds
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OER grant funds
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Teaching innovation funds
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Fellowship funds
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Departmental learning budgets
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Library or teaching and learning center programming funds
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Project implementation funds
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Institutional training funds
Documentation is available to support funding requests.
To help with departmental, grant, or institutional approval processes, The Open Practice Academy can provide a formal invoice, W-9, service description, learning outcomes, facilitator bio, cost breakdown, and related vendor documentation as needed.
Megan Zara
Open Practice Strategist
Megan Zara is the Founder and Open Practice Strategist of The Open Practice Academy. Her work brings together Open Education, digital learning, literacy, care-centered design, and sustainable implementation.
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Megan has experience across K–12 teaching and professional development, higher education teaching and professional development, curriculum writing, program design, and program implementation. Most recently, she built the Open Education Trailblazers Program at the University of Texas at Arlington, where she served as the Open Education Librarian.
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Now, Megan is launching The Open Practice Academy while beginning a PhD in Leadership and Change. Through this work, she helps people and teams move from good intentions to usable practices through guided planning, reflective professional learning, and practical support that honors real constraints.
Professional development for open education, digital learning, and human-centered practice.