Learners’ Access to Educational Materials in Select Institutions within the Commonwealth
This report assesses students’ access to educational materials in select institutions within Commonwealth countries. The findings indicate that learners are now engaging with a complex ecosystem of learning materials, both print and digital, in a multitude of differing forms and formats, with various terms of use and durations of sustained access. more
Mainstreaming use of Open Educational Resources (OER) in an African context
The study derives from a multi-year project implemented by OER Africa. The project sought to understand how OER might be used as a catalyst for pedagogical transformation in African universities. Within a non- determinist and interpretivist theoretical framework and an over-arching project methodology of participatory action research, the study made use of an analytical autoethnographic... more
Open Data & Education
In this chapter we explore both the opportunities and challenges that Open Data presents across the educational sector, drawing upon examples from across the world, and wider critical arguments about open data3. We do so aware that, while open data can promote public participation and social innovation, it can also widen prejudice and stigmatise the poor and vulnerable, helping to further... more
Supporting Open Practices with Teachers in Zambia
This paper demonstrates how the features and affordances of open learning have been developed in new and productive ways to provide school-based continuing professional development for teachers in Zambia. It presents and critically reviews data from 200 teachers who have taken part in phase 1 of the Zambian Education School-based Training (ZEST) – a project which, over the next three years,... more
Challenging our approach to accessibility in OER design
This presentation examines accessibility in OER design more
Exploring OER Awareness and Engagement of Academics from a Global South Perspective - a Case Study from Ghana
This study explored how academics in a Ghanaian university conceptualized and engaged with OER through a qualitative approach (in-depth interviews). “Access”emerged as the most dominant theme in how OER was conceptualized. Academics regarded OER positively; emphasizing its role in reducing the knowledge imbalances between the Global North and Global South and enhancing academic practices.... more
Countering linguistic imperialism with stories in the languages of Africa: The African Storybook initiative as a model for enabling in and out of school literacies
Background: In South Africa, and in many other African countries, official language-in- education policy supports the use of learners’ primary language(s) in early schooling. In reality, texts in the language(s) of the former colonial power are dominant, with high-interest texts in languages familiar to young learners in short supply or non-existent. Where government education departments... more
Open educational resources, student efficacy, and user perceptions: a synthesis of research published between 2015 and 2018
Although textbooks are a traditional component in many higher education contexts, their increasing price have led many students to forgo purchasing them and some faculty to seek substitutes. One such alternative is open educational resources (OER). This present study synthesizes results from sixteen efficacy and twenty perceptions studies involving 121,168 students or faculty that examine... more
Harnessing OER Practices to Drive Pedagogical Improvement: The Role of Continuing Professional Development
In our efforts to support African universities to understand and harness the concept of open educational resources (OER), /OER Africa/ has identified several practical constraints to achieving the widely anticipated potential for OER to contribute to achieving higher degrees of equity across higher education in Africa. Effective harnessing of OER practices depends heavily on the... more
The Effects of Institutional Support Factors on Lecturer adoption of eLearning at a Conventional University
Conventional Higher Education Institutions in Kenya are in the process of implementing eLearning projects. These initiatives are, however, fraught with challenges. At the Maseno University eCampus, an evaluation of statistics on the institutional LMS after two years of implementation revealed that many lecturers had minimal or no log-in statistics, an indication that there was a gap in the... more
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