Resources

This toolkit introduces the concept of open licensing for educational materials, explores the use of open licences for these materials, provides a practical ‘how to’ guide for teams and government staff, and presents issues to consider before using open licences in World Bank and other education operations. Although all levels of education are considered in this toolkit, the focus is on OER in early childhood education and primary education project

Although the concept of OER initially gained publicity in the Global North, OER are gaining traction in Africa, with an increasing number of OER initiatives focusing on areas such as OER advocacy, practice, and research. Today, the concept has been mainstreamed around the world, as exemplified through the unanimous adoption of the UNESCO Recommendation on OER in 2019.

The same disruptive technologies transforming traditional markets and changing skills demands are also altering the methods through which workers can learn and acquire new skills. EdTech innovations, such as technology-enabled learning materials, online and blended learning, adaptive learning software, and micro-credentials, can help to close skills gaps in developing countries by improving the quality of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) delivery, particularly as it relates to acquisition and assessment of technical skills.

Below are multiple language, multimedia tutorials, designed to train UNESCO ICT CFT users in how to use the framework and access and search for openly licenced materials on the UNESCO ICT CFT hub, to support educators acquire the ICT CFT skills.

Neil Butcher was invited to present at Botswana Open University’s Open Access Week in October, 2021. In this presentation, OERs and open licensing: Why it matters to open universities?, Neil explores what is needed for us to join the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). Librarians are positioned to lead the way in the 4IR by helping their institutions and communities understand and harness the potential of open licences and OER.

The UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) and the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) have published Guidelines on open and distance learning for youth and adult literacy to support literacy providers around the world in planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating their open and distance learning-based (ODL) literacy programmes.

For the first time in the history of the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) Bulletins, the writing of papers and the production phases of the Bulletin materialised within the context of a global pandemic. The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) has become a topical area of discussion and engagement across various sectors, including education and training, and developments have gained momentum under Covid-19.

An online clinic on open educational resources (OER) and national policy on 27 September, 2021, was facilitated by Neil Butcher & Associates, in partnership with the EdTech Hub, UNESCO, the mEducation Alliance, and the Education Commission.

The workshop sought to cover the following issues:

This report reflects on the Indonesian school system’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, assesses the influences of these policies on children in Indonesia, and discusses lessons learned. It further synthesizes these lessons into policy recommendations that might guide the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology (MoECRT) to recover and to strengthen the system.

To guide future investments in capacity building that will build responsible AI development and deployment, it is important to know answers to questions such as: what does the AI landscape in SSA look like? What measures are stakeholders in the region taking to ensure that they are AI- ready?

Where does capacity already exist or not?