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PCF5Access to Learning for development

14 -17 July 2008London

Open Educational Resources:

The Way Forward

Susan D’AntoniUNESCO

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UNESCO

UNESCO has five strategic objectives– A laboratory of ideas – A clearinghouse– A standard setter– A capacity builder in Member States– A catalyst for international cooperation

UN agency for education

Commitment to supporting Education for All and the development of Knowledge Societies

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UNESCO and OER: awareness raising & capacity building Potential of OER to contribute to:

– Education for All– Building knowledge societies – especially

“knowledge-sharing societies”

But… No awareness of availability = resources not utilized

and potential of OER not realized

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UNESCO OER initiative

Supported by the Hewlett Foundation– Addresses issue of barriers in change strategy

Initiated at IIEP, continuing in Education Sector

Awareness raising and capacity building in Member States through– Supporting an international OER community – International dialogue and information exchange– Linking people who might not otherwise meet

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UNESCO OER Community

Community convened in 2005 by IIEP

500+ individuals from 90 countries – now 750 from 105 countries

Series of virtual seminars with background documents and reports

Collaboration – building resources for local action

Web site and wiki

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Characteristics of the community (2007)

North America22%

Sub-Saharan Africa16%

Latin America6%

East Asia5%

The Pacific4%

Central and Eastern Europe3%

Western Europe30%

South and West Asia

9%

Arab States3%

Caribbean1% Central Asia

0.5% 600+ members 98 countries 67 developing countries

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Community members…organizations represented

Over 50% from higher education institutions

Over 20% from international organizations and NGOs

University36%

Self-employed4%

Other18%

Distance-learning university institution

11%International organization

10%

Research institution

6%

International NGO6%

National NGO5%

National government

4%

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Community members…positions held

Almost 40% hold high-level positions

Almost 20% are teaching professionals

Senior official or manager17%

Researcher12%

Consultant5%

Other9%

Teaching professional

18%

Director or chief executive

20%

Project or programme officer

12%

ICT professional

7%

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In 2007,

after two years of intense discussion…

…the community reflected on

the priorities for advancing

the OER movement…

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Fourteen issues…select five priorities

Advancing the movement Awareness raising Communities and networking Research

Enabling creation and use Policies Standards Technology tools Quality assurance Capacity development

Enabling learning with OER Learning support services Assessment of learning

Removing barriers to OER Accessibility Copyright and licensing Financing Sustainability

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The priorities proposed…

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

Awar

enes

s rais

ing

Comm

unities

Capactiy

dev

elopm

ent

Sustai

nabili

ty

Quality

ass

uran

ce

Copyright

Learn

ing s

upport se

rvic

es

Finan

cing

Access

ibili

ty

Resear

ch

Standar

ds

Technolo

gy to

ols

Policie

s

Assess

men

t of l

earn

ing

Other

Tot

al v

otes

Issues in rank order

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The priorities ranked…

1 Awareness raising 8 Financing

2 Communities 9 Accessibility

3 Capacity development 10 Research

4 Sustainability 11 Standards

5 Quality assurance 12 Technology tools

6 Copyright 13 Policies

7 Learning support services 14 Learning assessment

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The stakeholders singled out…

Higher education institutions International organizations National government Academics

A key stakeholder role…

…OER champion!

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The vision of the Community forThe Way Forward for OER

Advancing the movement Awareness raising at all levels Community building and network development

Enabling creation and re-use Developing capacity through a DIY/DIT resource Quality assurance – develop guidelines

Removing barriers Sustainability models to ensure viability of initiatives Copyright and licensing

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The way forward for UNESCO…

Focus on awareness raising through international reach of UNESCO and the community itself

Continue supporting OER Community as international forum for discussion and sharing

Enable an OER Network of nodes for local awareness raising and development

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The way forward for the community…

Creation of resources to support awareness raising and community building:– OER stories– PowerPoint presentations

Translation – the Way Forward report into 13 languages

Recognition – the MANeLA 2008 Leadership award

= more energy and commitment!

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The way forward for PCF5…

OER sessions throughout the various themes

Hands on session on WikiEducator Learning4Content workshop

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THANK YOU

To join the community

Email

s.dantoni@unesco.org

To consult the resources

OER Wiki

http://oerwiki.iiep-unesco.org