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 approach to capture and analyse data and to make recommendations. The approach was informed primarily by hermeneutics and systems thinking and involved multiple in-country engagements and the triangulation of information derived from document review, observation and iterative focus group discussions and individual interviews. The key finding of this study is the suggestion that engagement with OER is unlikely to move from being an individual to an institutional focus unless such engagement is aligned with the overall vision, mission and business model of the university.

Open content is typically digital content that allows broader use than traditionally printed or copyrighted content. Open content is freed up content, for instance through permissive licensing, such as Creative Commons. Open content includes open educational resources ( OER ), OpenCourseWare ( OCW ), open video, open access publications, as well as open data. It shares some similarity with open source software. Open content can have different freedoms, such as legal freedom, technological freedom (including usability and accessibility), as well as freedom in terms of education and participation, related to inclusion and interactive pedagogy. More broadly open content is related to open education and open educational practices. Although open content can be traced back further, the movement developed particularly rapidly in the 2000s, with major education and research stakeholders publishing open content and adopting policies promoting open content and open research practices. This entry reviews the origins of open content, and discusses different aspects of “open.” Two specific areas are highlighted: first, open content in higher education, including open textbooks, massively open online courses, open video, and research on open content, pointing to cost savings; second, open educational resources in Africa through recent developments and success stories, particularly in the context of OER Africa.

Following campus closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many Ministries of Education around the world requested teachers to move their teaching online. This case study reflects on how the Commonwealth of Learning responded to requests from two countries to provide support in pedagogical and curricular change for online learning in this process. A Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platform was used to upskill 11,568 teachers in two regions of the Commonwealth. Analytics from within the course, together with pre-, mid- and end- course surveys of participants’ perceptions indicated that while there was, and is scope for improvement, the short course largely reached its objective of providing immediate support on an introductory level and that the approach adopted was largely appropriate for the purpose.

No abstract

No abstract