Do governmental Open Educational Resources (OER) policies lead to sustainability of Open Education i Members : OER19

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Thu, Apr 11 2019, 2:45pm – 3:45pm

Authors: Igor Lesko

Room: Lecture Theatre

Theme: Sustainability

Type: Research presentation (20mins)

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Description

Session Description

In the context of widespread budget cuts and the growing demand for education, governments and higher education institutions have been searching for new and innovative ways to address the growing demand for education. It has been argued that OER can contribute to this agenda by making education more accessible, affordable, efficient, of better quality and sustainable while, at the same time, contributing to widening access to education and expansion of life- long learning opportunities (Mulder, 2012; Ngugi & Butcher, 2011; Dhanarajan & Abeywardena, 2013; OECD, 2007; Hewlett Foundation, 2013; Hylén et al., 2012).

It is in this context that governments in different parts of the world and International Organizations have been proposing or developing strategies, passing declarations or recommendations, or approving policies related to OER.

This presentation is part of a PhD research project entitled: Impact of International Organizations on Governmental OER Policies. The primary objective of this research is to explore how International Organizations (IOs) are influencing governments around the world in their OER policy approaches and with what impact.

The following three main research questions are central to the study:

1. What OER policy instruments can be identified as being used by different IOs?
2. What impact do IO OER policy instruments have on provincial, state and national governmental OER policies & activities?
3. What recommendations, if implemented, would lead to IO OER policy instruments more effectively supporting governmental OER policies & activities?

Do governmental Open Educational Resources (OER) policies lead to sustainability of Open Education initiatives? In order to address this question, I will present results from interviews and other forms of engagements with policy makers and experts in nearly 50 different countries/states/provinces that were conducted during the period August-December 2018.

This PhD research project is registered at the Open University of the Netherlands and supported by the Global OER Graduate Network (GO-GN) and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

Session content

This session will address the following:

1. Conceptual matters – What is meant by governmental policy in general and governmental OER/Open Education policy in particular? What are the indicators of effective or less effective governmental policies?
2. Provide examples about governmental policy approaches with respect to OER/Open Education in different countries around the world;
3. Address the question of whether or not governmental OER policies lead to sustainability of open education initiatives by presenting successes as well as challenges associated with the implementation of OER/Open Education policy initiatives in different countries;
4. Propose recommendations for advancing and supporting governmental OER/Open Education initiatives;
5. Solicit input from and engage session participants in a discussion related to strategies that can help advance governmental OER/Open Education policy initiatives in different countries.

References

Dhanarajan, G. & Abeywardena, I.S. (2013). Higher Education and Open Educational Resources in Asia: An Overview: In G. Dhanarajan & D. Porter (Eds.), Open Education Resources: An Asian Perspective (pp. 3-18). Vancouver: COL and OER Asia.

Hewlett Foundation (2013), White Paper: Open Educational Resources: Breaking the Lockbox on Education. http://www.hewlett.org/blog/posts/open-educational-resources-breaking-lockbox-education

Hylén, J., Damme D. Van, Mulder, F. and D’Antoni, S. (2012), “Open Educational Resources: Analysis of Responses to the OECD Country Questionnaire”, OECD Education Working Papers, No. 76, OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/5k990rjhvtlv-en

Mulder, F. (2012). The LOGIC of national strategies for Open Educational Resources. In: Trend Report OER 2012. SURF SIG OER, Utrecht, 72-75. Retrieved from http://www.surf.nl/en/knowledge-and-innovation/knowledge-base/2012/trend-report-on-open-educational-resources-2012.html

Ngugi, C. N. & Butcher, N. (2011). Promoting Open and Distance Learning: A Focus on Open Educational Resources. Retrieved from http://events.aau.org/userfiles/file/corevip11/papers/neil_butcher_n_catherine_ngugi_Promoting_ODL.pdf

OECD (2007), Giving Knowledge for Free: The Emergence of Open Educational Resources, OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264032125-en

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