Research and Publication

The case studies and reflections in this book cover OER practice and policy in a diverse range of contexts, with a strong focus on events in developing countries. In J. Glennie, Harley, K., Butcher, N., and van Wyk, T. (Eds.), Perspectives on Open and Distance Learning: Open Educational Resources and Change in Higher Education: Reflections from Practice (pp. 75-90).

The study investigated whether the collaborative redesigning of existing materials can enhance quality while containing time and resource costs and whether such collaboration encourages buy-in to the use of OER by teacher educators and students.

This paper investigated the accessibility of Open Educational Resources at The Open University of Tanzania. Specifically, the study looked at staff and students? level of awareness on the types of OER available at OUT Library, access and use trends of OER by academic staff and students, challenges faced in accessing OER and possible solutions.

The growth of IRs, the growth in support for gold open access including the library acting as a publisher, the experimentation with open monographs, and OERs which are all shaping South Africa?s scholarly publishing roadmap.

The Report deals in particular with copyright as an aspect of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) and the impact of these rights on growth and development in the print industries sector. It therefore surveys the state of copyright as it relates to the written word and identifies ways in which copyright laws and practices in South Africa are aiding or inhibiting growth. Finally, it makes recommendations for further action that could contribute towards growth and development in the print industries sector.

This paper reports research on the initial teacher training and continuing professional development of teachers in six African countries (Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda). The focus of the research was on the teaching of early reading and mathematics.

A multi-country study of higher education financing in East Africa, southern Africa, and the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius.

Selected from the very rich source two major outcomes are: (i) there is a significant digital differentiation among lecturers and students at urban versus rural universities in terms of their proficiency and internet accessibility; and (ii) the awareness and appreciation of the OER concept and open licensing is low but from the actual processing by respondents of educational resources (not necessarily open) a ?preparedness for openness? can be derived that promises well for the future.

Empirical data have been generated by the use of a student and a lecturer questionnaire to which in total 798 students and 43 lecturers have responded. The outcomes give insight into the differentiation in access to (Open) Educational Resources, and in ways that they are using and sharing these resources.

The objectives of the research study are to explore the inhibitors and enablers are experienced by academics that use OER, and what barriers prevent academics from using OER. The sample consists of academics from East, West and Southern Africa. Information was gathered by means of a survey questionnaire.