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Open Education API

Educational institutes are increasingly sharing education data: with their students via apps, between different systems within an institution, and with other institutions.

The underlying data, however, are stored in various systems (i.e. databases) both within and outside the educational institutes. And to be able to communicate with these systems a set of definitions known as an API (Application Programming Interface) is required.

Of course each school, college, or university can develop their own APIs, but this is a time-consuming and costly process. That is why the Open Education API, known in Dutch as the ‘Open Onderwijs API’ (OOAPI), was created. The OOAPI conforms to the design principles of REST (Representational State Transfer) - a flexible, lightweight way of integrating applications.

This open API, is the result of a collaboration between several education institutes and suppliers in the Netherlands and is facilitated by SURF (known collectively as the Community). Within the Working Group of the Community, the OOAPI is being constantly defined and developed so that new and existing education data can be efficiently processed.

For a brief introduction to the OOAPI, please take a look at the short video below:

Benefits for students

By incorporating the OOAPI into your IT infrastructure, students can easily:

  • Use a smartphone to find the nearest unoccupied computer.
  • Conveniently use an app to check the status of study credits.
  • Register online for a course or an exam.
  • View class timetables on a smartphone. *
  • Securely check exam results.*
  • And more…

* To protect personal data such as exam results and timetables, it is advisable to use an authorization server that supports OAuth 2.0 in combination with SURFconext. These security measurements are not included in the OOAPI, but their use is advised.

Benefits for web-development team

  • Fast development times due to standardization.
  • No major cost/investment required.
  • Easier to exchange data with other educational institutes.
  • No need to develop individual, bespoke APIs.
  • Convenient reuse of third-party apps across multiple educational institutes.
  • Safe sharing of information in a trusted environment.
  • Continuous knowledge sharing thanks to collaboration with other educational institutes.

Creating a standard together

Apps are constantly evolving…

To create an all-encompassing, standard API, it is essential to understand the ever-changing needs of the various educational institutes. Therefore, the Community places great value on working closely together to create a standard API (the OOAPI) that best serves as many educational institutes in the Netherlands as possible.

Furthermore, educational institutes that want to publish education data in a standardized way can implement their own API, based on the OOAPI standard.

Interested in joining us?

Are you an educational institute and interested in having the OOAPI developed to suit your needs? Then why not join us. For more information, please access the Community link.