Developing and deploying OERs in sub-Saharan Africa: Building on the present

Abstract

Open educational resources (OERs) have the potential to reduce costs, improve quality, and increase access to educational opportunities. OER development and deployment is one path that could contribute to achieving education for all. This article builds on existing information and communication technology (ICT) implementation plans in Africa and on the experiences of organizations and initiatives such as the African Virtual University (AVU), OER Africa, the South African Institute of Distance Education (SAIDE), and the Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa (TESSA) Project, to present one view of the benefits, challenges, and steps that could be taken to realize the potential of OERs in sub-Saharan Africa. Thus, the article focuses on the factors necessary for creating and sustaining a vision for OER development and deployment; developing and distributing resources with an open license; improving technology infrastructure and reducing the cost of Internet access; establishing communities of educational collaborators; sustaining involvement in the OER initiative; producing resources in interoperable and open formats; establishing and maintaining the quality of OERs; providing local context to address national and regional needs and conditions; informing the public about OERs; and taking the initiative to build on the knowledge, skills, and experiences of others. In order to assist educators and decision makers, links to a variety of resources are provided.

A bibliometric mapping of open educational resources

“…On the theme "survey", the publications provide results of the research carried out mainly on the "use" of OER as in the work of Wright and Reju (2012), about "reuse" as discussed in papers by Hanna and Wood (2011) and Petrides et al (2008) and as "shared" in the work of Rolfe (2012).…”

Massive Open Online Courses : Hype and Hope

“…Strategies are ahead to get the selected MOOCs translated for Coursera 25 ; however the effectiveness of translation of language with no appropriate modifications might well hamper the overall accessibility of the learning resources. Translation of selected courses may also lead to the dominance of those translated subjects 26 . The language issue may be unintended; but it does pass on messages that can be considered to be valuable.…”

“…Some governments are taking initiatives to make available maximum internet access to people through the provision of cyber cafes and in terms of stimulating opportunities for extended study, to access cyber learning opportunities 26 . However, these still appear to remain limiting factors.…”

Faculty Members’ Instructional Priorities for Adopting OER

“…It is interesting to note that extension was considered the most important reason for adopting OER in In the case of sub-Saharan Africa, developing and deploying OER in the resource-constrained countries can bring many benefits and the development and sharing of OER in higher education is being supported by several organizations such as the African Virtual University (AVU), OER Africa, the South African Institute of Distance Education (SAIDE), and the Teacher Education in SubSaharan Africa (TESSA) Project (Wright & Reju, 2012). It might therefore be concluded that where there is regional and national leadership, institutions may adopt OER more readily and provide organizational supports and faculty members may make greater use of OER.…”