MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: OER FOR OPEN SCHOOLS

EXPANDING ICT EXPERTISE AND QUALITY SECONDARY EDUCATION

COL recently concluded a multi-year, Pan-Commonwealth initiative that will help meet the growing global demand for secondary education. “OER for Open Schools” helped educators in six countries improve their knowledge and skills in developing effective open and distance learning (ODL) materials. These Master Teachers used their new skills to develop 20 new secondary-level courses that can be freely downloaded, adapted and re-used by open schools across the Commonwealth and beyond. This innovative initiative will have far-reaching effects beyond the development of these open educational resources (OER).

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN STUDENTS GRADUATE FROM ELEMENTARY SCHOOL?

The success of the Education for All campaign and the drive to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, particularly universal primary education, have had numerous impacts on education in the developing world. In addition to vastly improving access to primary education, these efforts have resulted in rapidly growing demand for secondary education– demand that cannot be met by conventional “bricks and mortar” schools.

As governments stretch their resources to make progress toward universal primary education, it is unlikely that funding the expansion of secondary provision will be a priority. And even if one new secondary school were to be built every month for the next 10 years, the increased demand would still not be met. Many countries have launched major initiatives to introduce free primary education, but what happens when students graduate from elementary school?

Increasingly, open schools are seen as an important part of the solution to the challenge of expanding secondary education. Through innovative use of information and communication technology (ICT) and by delivering quality education through open and distance learning (ODL), open schools can educate a broader range of learners – out-of-work adults, women with family responsibilities and youth who have not succeeded in past schooling.

STEP 1: AN AMBITIOUS PLAN

In 2008, COL proposed a large-scale project to help open schools “raise their game”. Educators from open schools in six Commonwealth countries would be trained in developing ODL course materials. These Master Teachers would then share this learning with colleagues in their home country. They would also create content for the complete syllabus of one subject at a Grade 10 or 12 level in both print and online formats. The result: 20 sets of self-instructional learning materials would be available as OER that could be freely accessed and used by open schools throughout the Commonwealth and beyond. The development and distribution of OER will help broaden access for millions of secondary school students who would otherwise not have had the opportunity for learning.

The idea took root, open schools and Ministries of Education signed on, important partners, such as The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, came on board and the “OER for Open Schools” initiative was launched.

STEP 2: DEVELOP THE PEOPLE

The main focus of “OER for Open Schools” was to develop learning materials. That required, firstly, developing people. Participating open schools in Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Seychelles, Trinidad & Tobago and Zambia identified 100 Master Teachers who would undergo training and collaborate to develop ODL course materials. Master Teachers took part in three intensive training workshops where they learned ICT skills and instructional design of course materials. That training continues to cascade to hundreds more teachers through in-country workshops led by the Master Teachers.

The training and ongoing collaboration with other Master Teachers had a dramatic effect on participating teachers.

“We built capacity beyond what we expected,” explained Ms. Frances Ferreira, COL Education Specialist, Open Schooling. “The programme inspired the Master Teachers, and they are sharing their enthusiasm and knowledge with colleagues. The teachers are proud of what they’ve learned, and there’s much greater awareness of the use and potential of OER.”

The training and experience of developing courses has vaulted teachers across the digital divide, Ms. Ferreira said.

“At the beginning, teachers in our workshops didn’t know about SMS, Skype or social networks such as Facebook and Ning. Now they can embed a video from YouTube in a course or lead a workshop about Moodle.”

STEP 3: NEVER GIVE UP

All fully employed in other jobs, the Master Teachers worked hard to develop course materials. The project timelines were achieved more slowly than expected due to challenges such as inadequate access to computers, limited connectivity, time constraints and insufficient training. Project leaders adjusted schedules and encouraged Master Teachers to complete print-based materials before creating electronic versions.

Developing a culture of sharing was a significant challenge. “OER for Open Schools” leaders thought teachers would embrace the culture of sharing nurtured by the worldwide OER movement. In reality, it was not easy to leapfrog into a culture of sharing among countries and among teams. Country teams tended to work as a collection of individuals rather than a team. Clearly, practices and norms within institutions had an impact on how collaboration developed within teams.

Shifting to online communication was an unanticipated challenge. Working with computers on a daily basis and after hours required a paradigm shift from the normal practice of face-to-face meetings. Some teachers resented the time it took to write an email and/or upload a file due to limited bandwidth. Email wasn’t a regular form of communication at their open school, so they were slow to embrace it for their work with “OER for Open Schools”. They engaged more fully with social platforms. A Facebook page dedicated to the initiative sparked constant sharing of information. By developing their own Facebook pages, participants got connected to a larger OER community.

By the end of 2010, the first 16 subjects were completed; the remaining subjects are being finished this year. The final evaluation and review of the learning materials will be complete by the end of this year, with the official launch expected in early 2012. Learning materials will be available as OER in multiple formats to suit as wide a range of users as possible. This includes course materials in Braille and Daisy to allow access for learners with disabilities. Electronic versions of the courses will be freely available online. Copies of the materials will also be put on CD/DVD and distributed to Ministries of Education or institutions that have difficulty accessing them online.

STEP 4: ACKNOWLEDGE LESSONS LEARNED

There were several reasons why the “OER for Open Schools” initiative took longer than expected. Teachers often weren’t able to commit the time required to develop their courses, and interest wavered over the course of months and years. Technology was a challenge – whether it was inconsistent power supply, intermittent Internet connectivity or inadequate equipment. There were also varying levels of commitment from governments in the participating countries.

As a result, project leaders learned to balance high expectations with an understanding of the realities faced by the Master Teachers.

Several lessons were learned from the “OER for Open Schools” experience.

• Motivation: In a long-term project like this, it is important that all participants remained committed and motivated. Ideally, the same group of people should be involved from the outset to successful completion. This will ensure continuity, strengthen relationships among participants and minimise the time and money required for training. Regular contact – via workshops, group sessions or online communication – is important. The best way to keep people interested is by providing proper incentive: remuneration, recognition or the promise of personal development.
• Institutional ownership: The development of OER should be considered an integral part of the institution’s work, not a separate project. Any institution involved in the development of OER should have a vision for why they have educational resources freely available.
• Commitment from senior management: To develop sustainable OER models, it’s important to have the full support of senior management. This is necessary to find solutions to challenges such as bandwidth and workloads.

Despite the challenges, “OER for Open Schools” was ultimately a success. Teachers involved in this process are becoming leaders who are educating and inspiring colleagues. Most importantly, open schools have free and open access to quality learning materials that will enable them to expand access to learning.

“OER for Open Schools” evaluation reports: www.col.org/OpenSchooling

“I FELT EMPOWERED”

Mrs. Corne Botes, a teacher at the Namibian College of Open Learning (NAMCOL), shared her experiences as an “OER for Open Schools” participant at COL’s Sixth Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning in India last year. This is excerpted from her presentation:

At the beginning of 2010, when I was approached to become part of the project, I did not really grasp what was expected of me and I was a bit hesitant since I already had a very full programme. At that stage, I did not even have an email address and I had never sent or received email.

During and after the workshops, my fears regarding the technological aspects slowly but surely vanished as I gained the necessary skills to do the required tasks. When we were first introduced to Moodle, I honestly considered quitting the entire project. I did not think I would ever get it right! After the training, I changed my mind and realised I could do it. I could now do things on the computer that I had never thought would be possible. I felt empowered.

Internet connectivity proved to be a major frustration when I started developing my web lessons. Sometimes the whole system would simply bomb out and I would have to start all over again. It was an extremely time-consuming process.

I am very proud to be associated with this project. I am grateful for the skills that I have acquired because of my involvement in the pro-ject and for the relationships formed during the process.

Apart from sending and receiving emails, I have also learned how to use the Internet more effectively. I now constantly use it to do research or find resources to use in the classroom. I was made aware of sites where one can find wonderful educational resources to use in class.

This experience made me realise once again that teaching and learning is, and should be, an enjoyable and creative process. This project has inspired me to become involved in educational projects and development in my country. I realised once again how important it is to make education available and accessible to everyone since we all know that knowledge empowers people.