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Modelling Openness in Prof Dev: Case Study of developing the

Digital Fluency course at Open University of Tanzania.

Brenda Mallinson, OER Africa8th March 2017.

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Collaborative agenda with 4 selected HEIs1. build a deepened understanding of how

OER practices can support transformation of T&L

2. ensure that such accumulated understanding is widely shared and incorporated into policy and advocacy

http://www.oerafrica.org

OER Africa current work

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Goals: (Aug 2014 - July 2017)• A comprehensive OER policy initiated that references /

augments existing related institutional policies. å A Digital Fluency Course for Academics

(comprising five modules) to be designed, developed, mounted online, and piloted. √(nearly)

• Convert existing OUT courses to OER. √ (ongoing)• OER repository established for OUT & other OERs

å Research Agenda defined and active à (ongoing)

Open University of Tanzania

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Digital Fluency Course ObjectivesReuse / develop relevant OER for Guidance / Capacity Development for Academic Staff• Advancing general digital competencies• Developing specific competencies in a range of identified areas

In order to facilitate:• Improved pedagogical practices• Enhancement of blended and online teaching and learning• Promotion of student engagement and interaction in the

Distance Education context• Guidance to students to access and use supplementary

materials• Efficiencies in working with the new OUT administrative

paperless environment

You must be the change you wish to seein the world – Mahatma Gandhi

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Wider OER OUT Supportcommunity

Senior ManagementCreative Commons

Quality AssuranceOpen Directorate Repositories

OER Team

OUT needs

OUT IEMT

support

OER Africa

support

OUT Library

services

Digital Fluency course for Academic Staff (ODF 001)

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Modelling openness with respect to:

Reviewing

Design Process

Materials development

Pedagogical Approach

Online Provision

Licensing for Publication

Openly Accessible

7Cs of Learning Design, Univ Leicester

Use existing OER, where possible

Use OSS - Moodle

Creative Commons

OUT Open Repository

ReviewsInternal @ OUTTanzania HEIs

SSA - ACDE

Student centred, active

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5 Digital Fluency Modules (+1?)Mod 1

• Digital Fundamentals

Mod 2• Working with OER

Mod 3• Learning Design & Development for Online Provision

Mod 4• Academic Integrity in a Digital Age

Mod 5• Storage & Access of Digital Resources

Mod 6?• Facilitating Online Learning (Saide existing OER)

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Module Name Identified Sub-topics1. Digital Fundamentals

Basic Computing concepts and operations Digital Resource Editing Internet Fundamentals Virtual Learning Environments Multimedia Fundamentals

2. Working with OERs

OER Concepts Creative Commons Licensing Mixing, Adapting and Reusing OER OER Production

3. Learning Design and Development for Online / Blended Provision

Models, frameworks and processes Designing for learning Digital development Modes of provision Basic learning analytics

4. Academic Integrity in a Digital Age

Introduction to academic Integrity Intellectual property Promoting academic integrity Data and information privacy

5. Storage and Access of Digital Resources

The nature of digital resources Storage of digital resources Access to digital resources Content management systems

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2013

• OER workshop

• Digital Fluency course conceptualised

• Learning Design Workshop

2014

• Roles assigned

• Course & modules framework developed - 2 formats

• Materials development Initiated

• Facilitating Online Learning – capacity building course

• Internal OUT content reviews

2015

• Module revisions

• Language reviews

• Module revisions

• QA Reviews• Module

Revisions• Pedagogical

Review• Module

revisions• Technology

Alignment Reviews

• Module Revisions

2016

• Copyright Clearance reviews

• Module Revisions

• Mount modules on Moodle

• Pilot modules sequentially

• Evaluation• Module

Revisions

2017

• Final pilot modules

• Evaluation• Module

Revisions• Copy editing

of text version

• Copy changes to Moodle

• CC Licenses• Publish as

OER in 2 formats: text and Moodle backups

• Mount in OUT Open Repository

Highly Iterative Process …

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• 7Cs of Learning Design Toolkit (Univ. Leicester)

• Detailed activity structure template (.doc)• Module development tracker (.xls)• Pedagogy - Technology alignment tracker

(.xls)• Landing page & layering guidelines (LMS)• Copyright clearance guidelines• Online course evaluation instrument (Saide)

Supplementary Development Artefacts

• Demographics– 9/10 had less than 10 years HE teaching experience (2 had none)

– 9/10 had previously participated in an online course as lecturer or student; and 8/10 deemed this prior experience essential

• Extent to which they believed DF modules contributed towards the OER Africa value statements?– Ranged from 90% to 100%

• Level of support received from:– IEMT team, OER Africa, OUT institutional

– Rated by 9/10 as good to considerable

• Activities mostly employed in modules– Assimilative, communication, experiential

• All respondents reported they were conscious of implementing new learning approaches and practices

Reflections from Module developers (1)

• Successes / Enjoyed– Training participants from other HEIs

– Interesting – look forward to making improvements

– Improved knowledge of finding and using OERs

– Improved collaboration between learners & facilitators

• Challenges– Participation declined as pilot progressed

– Facilitation skills need to be developed

• Important aspects– Support from course manager

– Reliable availability of Internet

– Flexible access

– Incorporate more multimedia to enhance the modules

– Relevant - should be compulsory for all new staff at OUT

Reflections from Module developers (2)

Enabling environment:• OUT as an Open & Distance HEI

– Move to openness was embraced– Willingness to institutionalise / integrate OER– OSS LMS already being used– Embraced all capacity building

• Senior Management– Collaboratively defined project goals– Fully supported all proposed activities – Interested in regular progress reports

• OER Team established– Potential for sustainability

• Module Developers– Keen to develop new skills and knowledge

What OER Africa Learned (1)

13319234--Stock-Vector

Inhibitors:• Embraced pedagogical change in theory

– BUT difficult to effect in practice– Old correspondence mode of delivery deeply entrenched– More substantial support for change needed over time

• Prolonged design & development time– Hard to sustain interest over time– Constant reminders / reinforcement needed

• Staff challenges– Time constraints to engage outside regular duties– Developer secondments disrupted flow of work– National & Institutional pressures

What OER Africa Learned (2)

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Current Status of DF Modules Modules 1, 2, 3, and 4 Piloted Module 5 pilot starting on 6h march Responding to evaluation & feedback Final copy editing to begin

By mid 2017: Publication of revised modules as OER in at least 2 formats under CC

license. Share development tools Provide a professional development course for African academics to

enhance Teaching and Learning Encourage further OER use by African institutions Accessed through OUT Open Institutional Repository

OER will be reused if they are deemed to be contextually relevant

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How did we fair in aspects of openness?

Reviewing

Design Process

Materials development

Pedagogical Approach

Online Provision

Licensing for Publication

Openly Accessible

Open focus needed continuous reinforcement

More training on searching for OER

Moodle already being used

CC BY achieved

OUT Open Repositoryestablished

Reviews(Too) many iterations

needed

Concentrated effortrequired

• Increased Integration of OER in QA processes at OUT• Study Materials development being redesigned for OER

– Learning Materials Development Policy (new name) currently under revision

– Materials Developers Workshop & Guidelines Booklet under revision

– New OER Policy states that all new OUT courses developed should be OER

– Converting to OER materials used as criteria for promotion in assessing teaching effectiveness (scheme of service of OUT, 2016)

• Continued Institutional support– To move from OER ‘projects’ to institutionalisation

– OER Policy Implementation Plan formulated

Going Forward …

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Thank you!brendam@saide.org.za

http://www.slideshare.net/brenda6

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.