OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES (OER) HAS MUCH TO OFFER SOUTH AFRICA

Open Educational Resources has much to offer South Africa - Selwyn Milborrow

As an innovation facilitator and co-founder of a community initiative called Victory In Innovation, I am excited about how much Open Educational Resources (OER) as a support resource has to offer. On 26 March 2015 I attended a presentation by a colleague, Gino Fransman from the Academic Literacies and Writing team in the Centre for Teaching Learning and Media (CTLM) at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU).

Fransman explained how OER can be explored by lecturers and students for various disciplines and used in multiple Teaching and Learning (T&L) activities. OER has been a catchphrase in global education since 2002 when Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) first announced that it would release all its courseware online. Courseware refers here to full T&L materials, some including textbooks, lecture notes, videos and images and more. What is significant here, however, is that these full T&L packs, now known as Open Course Ware (OCW), span several disciplines and interests. It was released as full learning objects, some similar to modules currently offered at NMMU or that NMMU could offer. These MIT, along with hundreds of other institutions around the world’s learning objects, were released and made available freely and openly, and have enjoyed engagements from hundreds of thousands of knowledge seekers, writers, practitioners and researchers alike.

Fransman mentioned that in South Africa, OER as a support resource has much to offer, both for the educator, the researcher, and the institution. He talked about the use of technology in the classroom by both lecturer and student. They have access to smartphones, tablets, computers and free Wi-Fi which could be used as an aid in the classroom. Educators around the world are now increasingly taking advantage of social media services and tools. A recent survey showed that 61 percent of teachers, principals, and librarians are active in at least one social media space. Many use those spaces for professional development - attending webinars, watching YouTube videos, listening to podcasts, or participating on blogs (edWeb.net, 2010).

Fransman, known for collecting and sharing data that he collects with his mobile devices during field work or travels abroad, alerted the audience to the fact that lecturers and students use Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and other social media in their personal lives, and that those same tools can be put to academic use.

Sir Ken Robinson said in a Ted presentation entitled Bring on the revolution, that fundamental innovation in education is needed. He quoted Abraham Lincoln who said, “The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves…” What is remarkable is that Lincoln called on the nation to “rise with the occasion, and not to the occasion.” Robinson makes the case stronger by adding that “many of our ideas has been formed not to meet the circumstances of this century, but to cope with the circumstances of the previous century.” (Ted.com, 2010).

I therefor encourage heads of educational institutions to be open and encourage lecturers, researchers and practitioners alike to embark on the paradigm shifting vehicle called OER. Invite them to rise with the occasion and start utilising the resources around them and engaging in OER. This could also open the possibility of an income for your work published online.

Gino Fransman is a Global Open Graduate Network (GO_GN) PhD researcher currently, is actively involved in Open Advocacy, and researches the developing of OER-based T&L materials, tools and strategies.

I share the same sentiment of Sir Ken Robinson who said that “Creativity is as important in education as literature. We should treat it with the same status.” I conclude my contribution with a quote from Khalil Gibran who wrote, "A teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind."

Selwyn Milborrow is an author, poet, novelist, blogger and CNN iReporter

www.selwynmilborrowwriter.blogspot.com