PhD research presentation GO-GN seminar in Cape Town. Judith Pete

PhD Proposal Presentation

Judith Adhiambo PeteSchool of Social Sciences

Tangaza University CollegeNairobi, Kenya

GO-GN Seminar 2013Cape Town 7-12 December 2013

GO-GN Seminar Cape Town 7-12 Dec. 2013

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Personal Story

• In 1994-completed my Primary education & stayed home for 1 year due to lack of fees• 1999-completed Secondary School Edu &

stayed home for 2years due to lack of financial support to post-secondary edu. • 2001-joined University through scholarship &

wondered how education can be made accessible & affordable to all (orphans etc)• Very few books in library for compulsory

courses


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• Got a degree but ‘Hakuna Kazi’! No Jobs!• Learnt how to use computers and liked it• Wondered how the computer can be used to

promote access to edu. for pupils in the village (girls) who have no idea of how to proceed with their edu.• 2007, MA thesis on the use of ICT as strategy

by MFIs in Kenya • 2008-accessed through the web and learnt a

lot about OER & realized it can be a path to achieve education for all


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• The more I found out about OER the more it struck me; noticed OER can offer a great potential for Africa; but if nothing is done, OER might also widen the gap between Africa & the North• Thru OER that I noticed that I needed an

education that is:• Open to learners needs: i.e. affordable, do-able,

good quality, interesting & beneficial• Open to employability & capability development:

i.e. suit the changing society& labor market, influence of globalization, scope for new skills & personal growth ( Mulder, F., 2013)


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How?

• OERs have the potential to:• reduce costs• improve quality, and• increase access to educational

opportunities for all ( women, marginalized societies –Nomads).

THETERFORE, OER development and deployment is one path that could contribute to achieving education for all and MDGs.


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Cost Reduction• A vast number of

existing OERs can be accessed, adapted, and used by one or millions of learners, thereby minimizing the costs associated with the acquisition and development of educational resources

• If existing OERs are used, funds allocated for resource acquisition and development can be reduced• The availability of OERs

in the form of textbooks allows institutions and learners to divert funds from the purchase of copyrighted textbooks


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Improving Quality• The quality of

education improves when OERs are developed and used because instructors and learners then have access to resources that they were unable to access previously as these resources were copyright protected and/or costly to obtain before.

• have access to up-to-date, quality materials and no longer have to rely on decades-old books• OERs can be used by anyone

(irrespective of gender, age)• OERs are often developed in a

collaborative manner and peer reviewed by international experts• promote educational

excellence


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Increasing Access

• OERs are based on the premise that knowledge is created by society and should be shared for the benefit of society.• OERs can be used

by anyone, at any age and at any time.

• OERs can serve those who may be geographically or financially disadvantaged• I wouldn’t have

wasted 3 years if OER was in use/ practice


9OER what do we know already?

• OERs are defined as teaching, learning, and research resources with an intellectual property license that permits them to be reused, reworked, remixed, and redistributed (D’Antoni, 2009; Hilton, Wiley, Stein, & Johnson, 2009; Plotkin, 2010; Wiley, 2009).


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• OER has been inexistence for over a decade and that this open content is not being used by educational organizations in the developing countries as much as anticipated (Hatakka, 2009).• Many countries across the globe have adopted

policies to encourage the access and use of Open Educational Resource,( Hodgkinson, ROER4D, 2013) i.e., United States have increased public access to OER such as open content materials from OpenLearn, Khan academy OpenCourseWare (OCW), Merlot, etc. • In Africa, Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan

Africa (TESSA) have also initiatives that promote OER usage:http://www.tessafrica.net/

http://www.tessafrica.net/





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• Research by Wiley, Hilton, Ellinhton & Hall (2012) shows that adopting open textbooks can reduce costs by over 50% (ROER4D, 2013)

i.e. students at the University of Nairobi and the Open University of Tanzania have reduced their textbook costs by using AVU OERs that are freely available online: http://www.avu.org/• South Africa Institute for distance Education

has a project advocating for openly licensed stories for children (2-9 years): www.africanstorybookproject.pwias.ubc.ca/content/about/

http://www.avu.org/

http://www.africanstorybookproject.pwias.ubc.ca/content/about

http://www.africanstorybookproject.pwias.ubc.ca/content/about


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• The resources available from the OER Africa http://www.oerafrica.org/, AgShare Project might be useful to farmers, people could learn more about HIV/AIDs from the resources offered by the OER Africa Health Network; managers & administrators could gain access to leadership materials from OpenLearn:http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/

http://www.oerafrica.org/

http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/





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What don’t we know & why?

• Irrespective of the said OER benefits (success stories), there still exists ‘inequalities between OER Use in the contemporary society.” So to speak, in Sub-Saharan Africa. • WHY?


14There4, this research Objectives

• Seeks to:1. Understand the extent to which students and

educators have access to and use digital materials

2. Examine the circumstances under which they have access to OER

3. Identify the proficiency of educators in creating and/ or using the OER materials

4. Explore the perceptions of students & educators on the value of OER in sub-Saharan Africa.


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Research questions

1. What extent do students and educators have access to and are able to use digital devices connected to the internet?

2. Under what circumstances do students and educators have access to OER?

3. How proficient are the educators in creating and or using OER?

4. What are students and educators perceptions of the value of OER?


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Methodology

• Involves a survey that will provide a description of OER access and usage in the said counties. • Data for this research are made up of primary and

secondary data. The primary data will be collected from the field in the 12 participating universities from the region. • The secondary data will be from published

materials and reports regarding OER adaptation, use and re-use available on the surveyed universities in Eastern Africa and beyond and the creation of OER available on the initiatives in Africa such as TESSA, AVU etc.


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• Participants• The target group are students & educators

(lecturers & Tutors) in the 12 selected universities (Kenya, South Africa and Ghana).


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Country University Lecturers Students

Kenya 4 20x4 =80 200x4=800

South Africa 4 20x4=80 200x4=800

Ghana 4 20x4=80 200x4=800

Total 12 240 2400

Table 1: Proposed Sample Size


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• Research Instruments:The research tools will include questionnaires administered to the students and lecturers, as well as interviews guides will also be undertaken across the higher learning institutions in order to ascertain perceptions and practices of OER adoption by Lecturers/ tutors and students in Sub-Saharan Africa.


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• Analysis: • Data analysis methods and techniques will include

descriptive and inferential statistical analysis for the survey data; thematic analysis of the interviews, focus groups and workshops (where possible) and content analysis of the OER and mapping data will be utilized. • SPSS will be used for the quantitative data

analysis.


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Outcome / Impact• Contribute to the knowledge base-

understanding of OER for sustainable future in Sub-Saharan Africa• Influence educational policy –through the

recommendations for institutional, national and regional policy• Inform policy makers about the impact of use

of OER on student performance & staff development


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• Gender ConsiderationsBoth male & female will be considered in this

study since the survey and most of the anticipated case studies will deliberately select both gender to provide opportunities for understanding whether and how gender issues might also influence the adoption of OER in the region and the world over.


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• Ethical concerns-All the participants will be issued with and

information sheet explaining the purpose of the research and use of the research data. The participants will also be assured of confidentiality of the information given and where appropriate, given an opportunity to view the questions ahead of an interview or focus group and be given the opportunity to validate subsequent transcriptions.


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Thank you for your attention• Contact: [email protected]

PhD research presentation GO-GN seminar in Cape Town. Judith Pete

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