Resources

This country case study outlines the education system in South Africa, ICT developments in education, relevant copyright laws and the various OER initiatives at national and institutional levels

Significant   work has   been carried   out   at   the   institutional   level—by institutions  and  also  through donor-funded projects. Established  in  2008, the Partnership  for  Higher  Education, Educational  Technology  Initiative aims  to support ICT integration in African universities. Teaching and learning initiatives are  supported  that integrate use  of technology and promoting collaborative knowledge creation and dissemination.

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.

Rapid ICT development presents both opportunities and challenges for learners who face barriers to traditional means of delivering education, including those enrolled in increasingly large face-to-face classes. Digital systems are highly adaptable and flexible, and can be personalised to a wide variety of learning needs.

This policy brief describes some of the potential disruptions brought by openness as they pertain to key higher education activities of teaching and learning, research, and the impact on higher education policy.

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