Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0

In pursuit of the vision of an integrated Africa, the African Union Commission (AUC) has embarked on developing a strategy for harmonization of Higher Education Programmes (HEP) in Africa in order to foster cooperation in information exchange, harmonization of procedures and policies, and attainment of comparability of qualifications, in order to facilitate mobility of Africans across African countries for employment and further study. This paper provides an overview of existing harmonization initiatives globally and continentally.

This brochure is one of a series that aims to showcase good practice in African higher education. It is intended for higher education decision-makers on the Continent and overseas. Each institution in this series has taken simple steps to solve basic fundamental problems and improve the level of education and service delivery in a context of limited resources. This series is produced by the South African Institute for Distance Education

This brochure highlights how Africa University (AU) pursues its vision of AU as a Centre of Excellence in Africa, using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the teaching, learning, research, and management of all systems within AU.

This paper examines the concept of OER in more detail, offering a simple, clear definition, explaining the economic and educational potential behind that definition, introducing examples of OER practices around the world, exploring legal considerations, and highlighting some of the challenges to releasing the transformative
potential of OER.

This introduction first sketches a contextual setting for the chapters of the book that follow. With reference to the existing literature, it begins by reviewing OER developments and some of the questions that have arisen from advances made thus far. Drawing inferences from these questions, we identify some of the more important gaps in the way OER research has been conducted. it argues that failure to begin exploring these gaps carries risks that could impede further OER progress.

Governments across the world are increasing the openness and transparency of their services, a move also taking place in the education sector in some countries, signifying commitment to openness and ensuring that adequate attention and funding is paid to open educational resources (OER). This chapter assesses the extent to which policies are being developed and/or modified to support effective use of open educational resources. However, despite the growth of OER at many institutions, surprisingly few have developed and implemented formal OER policies.

Sharing of higher education teaching materials under open licenses is a growing global practice. Several models of adapting and sharing existing materials include: institutionally-driven initiatives that result in materials being shared, mostly through repositories; cascade models that have a strong mentoring component; use of network repositories; and conversion of commercial teaching resources for sharing as open educational resources (OER). The processes followed in these models are similar in many respects.

This case study, supported by RUFORUM, is one of a series that recognizes the important role that universities play in contributing to the well-being of small-scale farmers and economic development of countries throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

This research paper sought to engage with the challenge of determining the conditions under which use of OER can drive a transformative educational agenda in schooling systems, using case studies in the developing world as its action research terrain. The desktop research conducted served to reinforce the urgent imperative for transformation of traditional schooling models, which are increasingly unsuited to the world in which their students live.

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