Explore the dynamic world of Open Educational Resources and discover how OER Africa is driving the movement forward. This page is divided into two sections:
Articles: Our articles aim to deliver insights on OER-related themes that inform, spark conversation, and engage with the developing open education landscape, with a particular focus on Africa.
Updates: Below, the articles, you'll find updates on OER Africa’s latest initiatives, activities, and contributions to the OER community.
Articles
This section features targeted articles crafted specifically for educators, students, and the global Open Educational Resources (OER) community. The articles examine themes related to OER, offering insightful perspectives and information. The content seeks to inform, prompt discussion, and actively engage with the dynamic landscape of open education, particularly within the African context.
07 June 2022
Museums tell ancient and recent histories as they collect, safeguard, and make accessible artefacts and specimens that they hold in trust to inspire and enable people to explore, learn, and enjoy. They continue to evolve in their roles and contribution to education as they embrace open access and Open Educational Resource (OER) principles.
02 June 2022
OER Africa coordinated a project with members of the Network of Open Orgs, a coalition of organizations that meets regularly on implementing and supporting the UNESCO OER Recommendation. The project involved a collaborative effort among several members of the Network to develop a set of seven research summaries that explore the success of OER.
26 April 2022
Half a century ago, on 26 April 1970, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Convention came into force and is commemorated as World Intellectual Property (IP) Day, with the aim of increasing general understanding of IP. At OER Africa, we respect the right of individuals to protect their IP and we understand its importance in driving innovation. However, in the case of educational materials, we believe that All Rights Reserved may often not be the most appropriate copyright in today’s world.
29 March 2022
As of 2022, activities by UNESCO to support implementation of its OER Recommendation are gathering pace and OER Africa is pleased to be assisting UNESCO in this important work. The Recommendation on Open Educational Resources (OER) (40 C/32) was adopted at the 40th UNESCO General Conference in Paris on 25th November 2019 as the culmination of a long process of UNESCO engagement with the concept of OER.
15 March 2022
This week (14-20 March 2022) is South African Library Week. In 2001, the Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA) established Library Week for all types of libraries in South Africa to market their services and create awareness of the important role that libraries play in a democracy.
01 March 2022
Every year, the team at OER Africa looks forward to Open Education Week (OE Week). This year is no different, as we prepare ourselves to engage with this vibrant community and participate in the many diverse activities on offer. Launched in 2012 by Open Education Global, OE Week is a collaborative, community-built open forum. It raises awareness about open education and highlights innovative open education successes worldwide.
Updates
This section provides updates on OER Africa’s initiatives and activities. Stay informed about our contributions to the OER community and how we are driving the open education movement forward.
07 November 2024
Are you looking to enhance your professional development or support it within your department or institution? Visit our new Continuous Professional Development (CPD) framework space to explore CPD resources that have been curated specifically for the CPD framework for academics.
25 September 2024
The Publishing Cooperative Advisory Group of the Open Education Network recently announced its revisions to its Publishing Toolkit, expanding the content into two new openly licensed toolkits – the OER Publishing Project Toolkit and the OER Publishing Program Toolkit.
02 April 2024
Following the adoption of the OER Recommendation in 2019, UNESCO initiated a programme to support governments and educational institutions in implementing it.
One aspect of this programme was the development of a series of five guidelines to inform implementation of each Action Area in the Recommendation.
25 January 2024
OER Africa is honoured to have contributed two chapters to the recently published book ‘Does Distance Education in the Developing Context Need More Research? Building Practice into Theory’. Edited by Dr Folake Ruth Aluko and Prof. Daniella Coetzee, the book explores the reciprocal relationship between theory and practice in distance education.
25 October 2023
Education systems around the world have traditionally been characterized by closed knowledge systems, overly prescriptive curricula, narrow conceptions of success, and a failure to fully empower teachers as facilitators of learning. A recent paper by Neil Butcher & Associates argues that a key reason for these issues is that many education systems are inhibited by complex policy environments that, likely unintentionally, impede learning and create educational closure.