How to Work with TOPA

The Open Practice Academy helps educators, teams, programs, and institutions turn good ideas into learning systems that can withstand the rigors of real life.

Whether you are exploring on your own, building with a team, or leading an institutional initiative, TOPA offers multiple ways to get started.

Start with a Free TOPA Membership

A free TOPA membership helps you find the right starting point.

When you join, you’ll choose your Access Tier and share what kind of support you’re looking for. From there, you’ll get the most relevant next steps, whether you’re exploring free learning, a certificate pathway, Support Studio, team support, or a partner inquiry.

TOPA uses Access Tiers because not everyone enters this work with the same resources. The goal is simple: keep support accessible without making care-centered work unsustainable.

Free membership may include:

free and low-cost learning
Open Education in Practice updates
certificate pathway information
Support Studio booking options
webinars and workshops
access-tier pricing information
equity access opportunities when available
partner and institutional inquiry pathways

Create Your Free TOPA Account

Learn More

Learning Pathways

For individuals, educators, leaders, and small teams who want structured professional learning they can move through at a realistic pace.

TOPA Learning Pathways offer guided, practical learning experiences focused on Open Education, Open Practice, accessibility, instructional design, microcredentials, and sustainable implementation. Some pathways are free or low-cost; others include paid certificate options, supported learning, or institution-sponsored participation.

These pathways are designed to help you move from curiosity to capability with clear steps, usable artifacts, and evidence of learning.

Good fit if you want to:

explore Open Education or Open Practice
complete a self-paced course
earn a certificate
build confidence before starting a project
access structured learning without a full consulting engagement

Strategy & Implementation

For program leaders, initiative owners, administrators, libraries, centers, and teams who need structure, planning, evaluation, or sustainability support.

Strategy & Implementation services help move an idea from intention to action. This work may include readiness reviews, implementation maps, planning sessions, evaluation support, sustainability planning, and documentation that helps a program survive beyond one person’s capacity.

This is where TOPA helps leaders and teams make the work clearer, more enterable, and more durable.

Good fit if you are trying to:

launch or revise an Open Education initiative
clarify roles, workflows, or decision points
assess readiness for a new program
build an implementation map
evaluate and improve an existing effort
make a program less dependent on heroic labor

Book a Strategy Conversation

Watercolor map and compass illustration, symbolizing strategy and implementation; greens, blues, and warm browns.

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Custom Learning Partnerships

For institutions, libraries, departments, centers, programs, and organizations that want professional development designed for their people and their context.

Custom Learning Partnerships may include webinars, workshops, facilitated cohorts, train-the-facilitator experiences, learning plans, or custom professional development connected to Open Education, accessibility, instructional design, educational technology, microcredentials, AI and open practice, or implementation support.

This is a good path when you need more than a one-time presentation. TOPA can help design a learning experience that fits your audience, timeline, goals, and capacity.

Good fit if you want:

a custom webinar or workshop
a facilitated cohort
a professional learning series
train-the-facilitator support
a custom learning plan for your team or institution
support translating a big initiative into practical learning experiences

Plan a Partnership

TOPA Embedded Support

Fractional specialist support for Open Education, edtech, learning design, and custom professional development.

For teams, programs, libraries, centers, and institutions that need expert support without creating a full-time internal role.

Embedded Support gives your team reserved access to an Open Practice specialist for recurring help with Open Education, educational technology, course and learning design, accessibility, implementation planning, and custom PD.

This may include office hours, email support, virtual appointments, resource review, team sessions, light support artifacts, and monthly summaries that identify patterns, stuck points, and next steps.

Good fit if you need:

a fractional Open Education specialist
a fractional edtech or learning specialist
recurring office hours or support appointments
custom PD support for faculty or staff
help reviewing resources, courses, or workflows
implementation support over time
specialist capacity without a full-time hire

Let's Talk Embedded Support

Not Sure Where to Start?

You don’t need to have the whole thing figured out before you begin.

Create a free TOPA account, choose the Access Tier that best fits your situation, and tell us what kind of support you’re exploring. If you’re not sure yet, that’s a perfectly valid starting point.

TOPA is designed to help you find the next right step.

Create Your Free TOPA Account

Learn More About Membership & Access Tiers