1 Dr Sanjaya Mishra & Dr. Ishan AbeywardenaOER Regional Consultation 3-4 April, 2017 | Sao Paulo, Brazil OER for Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education: From Commitment to Action Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Malta_Valletta_Panorama_10.jpg Professor Asha Kanwar, Dr Sanjaya Mishra & Dr. Ishan Abeywardena Commonwealth of Learning, Canada

2 Remembering Paulo FreireKnowledge emerges only through invention and re- invention, through the restless, impatient, continuing, hopeful inquiry human beings pursue in the world, with the world, and with each other. - Paulo Freire https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Freire#/media/File:Paulo_Freire.jpg

3 Plan Background Government & Stakeholder SurveysRegional Consultations: Asia, Europe, Middle East and North Africa, and Africa Towards the 2nd World OER Congress & Beyond

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5 World OER Congress – Paris 2012Sir John Daniel, Former President of COL The Congress at UNESCO HQ Paris Image source (CC-BY):

6 Paris OER Declaration 2012 Foster awareness and use of OEREncourage the development and adaptation of OER in a variety of languages and cultural contexts Encourage the open licensing of educational materials produced with public funds Photo: CC-BY Davide Storti The 2012 Paris OER Declaration drafting group at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France

7 Ljubljana, Slovenia – 18-20 September 20172nd World OER Congress Image Source (CC BY):https://www.flickr.com Ljubljana, Slovenia – September 2017

8 The Road to Ljubljana ASIA AFRICAAsia eUniversity: ​​1-2 December, 2016 EUROPE Malta Ministry for Education and Employment: ​​23-24 February, 2017 MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA Qatar Foundation: ​​27-28 February, 2017 AFRICA Ministry of Education, Mauritius: ​​2-3 March, 2017 LATIN AMERICA & CARIBBEAN UNICAMP: ​​3-4 April, 2017 ​ PACIFIC Open Polytechnic of New Zealand: ​​29-30 May, 2017 ​

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10 Dr. Venkataraman Balaji, Director: Technology and Knowledge Management, Commonwealth of Learning (Chair of Task Team) Mr. John Lesperance, Education Specialist: Virtual University for Small States of the Commonwealth, Commonwealth of Learning Dr. Ishan Abeywardena, Adviser: Open Educational Resources, Commonwealth of Learning Mr. Joe Hironaka, Programme Specialist, Communication and Information Sector, UNESCO Ms. Zeynep Varoglu, Programme Specialist, Communication and Information Sector, UNESCO Dr. Cable Green, Director of Open Education, Creative Commons Global Dr. David Porter, Associate Vice President, Education Support and Innovation, BCIT and incoming CEO of eCampusOntario Dr. TJ Bliss, Program Officer, Education Program, Hewlett Foundation Task Team

11 Professor Asha Kanwar, President and CEO, Commonwealth of Learning (Chair)Dr. K Balasubramanian, Vice President, Commonwealth of Learning Dr. Indrajit Banerjee, Director: Knowledge Societies Division, Communication and Information Sector, UNESCO Dr. David Atchoarena, Director: Division for Policies and Lifelong Learning Systems, UNESCO Mr. Gasper Hrastelj, Deputy Secretary-General, Slovenian National Commission for UNESCO Mr. Davor Orlic, UNESCO Chair Team on Open Technologies for OER and Open Learning Steering Committee

12 Partners

13 OER: Then and Now 2017 2012 Focus was on Governments Policies Commitment Additional focus on stakeholders Strategies Concrete action

14 Objectives of RCOER Raise regional awareness about the importance of OER and its relationship to SDG4 Identify strategies and solutions to overcome the challenges or barriers to mainstreaming OER Agree on actions for consideration at the 2nd World OER Congress Where

15 The Surveys

16 Two Surveys A government survey sent by COL to Member StatesUNESCO sent the survey in English & French to Member States A stakeholder survey, which COL posted online at and publicized via social media. made available to COL Focal Points and to National Delegations in UNESCO.

17 Government Responses: 70 countriesRegion Government Africa 30 Middle East and North Africa 7 Asia and Pacific 14 Europe and North America Latin America and Caribbean 5

18 Key Findings from Government Survey

19 Key Findings from Government Survey

20 Key Findings from Government Survey

21 Key Findings from Government SurveyBenefits Promote flexible learning Increase efficiency and quality of resources Improve access to resources Reasons for OER Activities

22 Key Findings from Government SurveyBarriers Insufficient access to quality content (86%) Lack of users’ capacity (84%) Lack of appropriate policies (79%) Changing business models (71%) Language and cultural barriers (59%) Government Survey Barriers

23 Stakeholder Responses: 600Region Stakeholder Africa 126 Middle East and North Africa 26 Asia and Pacific 267 Europe and North America 147 Latin America and Caribbean 34

24 Stakeholder Responses

25 Stakeholder Responses

26 Stakeholder Responses

27 Stakeholder ResponsesBenefits Reduced costs of learning materials Provides access to quality materials Enables continuous quality enhancement Save teachers time

28 Stakeholder ResponsesBarriers Lack of policy (71%) Lack of Capacity (68%) Changing business models (66%)

29 Governments and Stakeholders: CommonalitiesProvides access to quality materials Lack of appropriate policy solutions Poor awareness and capacity of users Changing business models

30 Governments Different Focus? Governments: Language & Cultural Issues Stakeholders: Saves time for teachers Enables continuous quality improvement

31 Regional Consultations

32 20 ASIA Regional Consultation 1-2 December, 201648 participants from 24 countries participated, including 20 countries from Asia.

33 Key Practices - Asia Free supply of textbooks at school Level (Bangladesh) NME-ICT follows CC BY-SA licence (India) Commitment to OpenCourseWare in eLearning policy (Malaysia) OER repositories in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Vietnam.

34 Barriers to OER - Asia Low bandwidth and Internet accessLow attention to content for people with disabilities Lack of awareness and capacity to use and contribute to OER Lack of availability of OER in local languages No national policy to guide OER

35 24 EUROPE Regional Consultation 23-24 February, 201748 participants from 24 countries participated, including 20 countries from Asia. EUROPE Regional Consultation February, 2017

36 Rich & Diverse initiatives- EuropeMostly led by institutions/project mode Advanced technologies for multi-lingual searches possible OER as part of a wider Open ecosystem Many initiatives but fragmented

37 Actions- Europe Need for political will and national level policiesTeachers critical in mainstreaming OER Need for business models Invite publishers to enter the world of ‘open’ Institutions must invest in QA and evidence

38 13 MIDDLE EAST/N. AFRICA Regional Consultation | February, 2017

39 Key Practices – Middle East/N. AfricaNational OER Policies: Bahrain & Oman Institutional initiatives: Open University of Sudan Portals: Morocco, Jordan Emphasis on translating content into Arabic

40 Needs: Middle East/N. AfricaMore awareness Capacity-building Policies at national and institutional levels Regional cooperation

41 23 AFRICA Regional Consultation 2-3 March, 2017

42 Key Practices – Africa National OER Policies: South Africa, Seychelles & Institutional initiatives: Several institutional initiatives, National Open University of Nigeria, and Open University of Tanzania Siyavula courses (developed with philanthropic support) adopted by South Africa OER Africa supporting institutions to mainstream OER While OER policies are in place in only three countries, the notion of policy is contested. For example, in Mauritius there is mention of OER in the national development plan as a strategic objective, but officials do not consider the same as equivalent to policy statement of the government.

43 Barriers to OER: AfricaAccess to Internet and electricity Poor awareness and capacity to use and contribute OER Lack of policies at national and institutional levels Lack of local language resources

44 Actions: Stakeholders IdentifiedGovernments Educational Institutions Teachers Learners QA Agencies Publishers Civil Society Associations International Cooperation

45 Towards 2nd World OER Congress & Beyond

46 2016 KL Declaration Mainstream the use of OER by developing strategies and policies at governmental and institutional levels to enhance quality while potentially reducing the cost of education

47 Final Regional MeetingAuckland, NZ https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3004/ _ce2053ceab_b.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Bayswater_Marina_Auckland_New_Zealand.jpg

48 Outcomes of the Regional ConsultationsGlobal OER Survey Report Synthesis of Actions for consideration/ adoption

49 Progress after 2012? More policies—institutional levelMore awareness about the benefits of OER More champions and advocates More content available—repositories; but low awareness of repositories Better ICT infrastructure and connectivity

50 What next? Evidence-based advocacy More capacity buildingTargeted interventions Continue to build and strengthen collaborations

51 Where the mind is without fear and the head is held highWhere knowledge is free Tagore, 1910 OER for Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education: From Commitment to Action Photo credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rabindranath_Tagore.jpg

52 rcoer.col.org