Towards innovation in digital and open scholarship for nonrivalrous lifelong learning and supporting open learning: The case of the Open Scholars Network

The Open Scholars Network was created with an agenda to respond to the increasing inaccessibility of higher education to underprivileged learners in Rwanda, and to the need for open scholarship and digital scholarship development among academics in this country. The network emerged from a study on opening up higher education. It consists of academics/teachers who are trained or are willing to develop competences in open education, distance education, eLearning, open scholarship and digital scholarship via non-rivalrous lifelong learning. In this paper, definitions of the open scholarship and digital scholarship concepts in the relevant literature are noted. Then, the study results and contextual challenges that led to the creation of the Open Scholars Network are presented. Finally, the current and envisaged contribution of the network to open/ digital scholarship development and opening up higher education is discussed. This article may be beneficial to educators, open scholars and digital scholars in both well-resourced and under-resourced settings.