scholarly journals Harnessing Open Educational Resources to the Challenges of Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa

2009 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jayshree Thakrar ◽  
Freda Wolfenden ◽  
Denise Zinn
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Success Factors ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Open Educational Resources ◽  
Educational Resources ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
School Based ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
University Of Fort Hare

The challenges to teacher educators in sub-Saharan Africa are acute. This paper describes how the Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa (TESSA) consortium is working within institutional and national policy systems to support school-based teacher professional development. The TESSA consortium (13 African institutions and 5 international organisations delivering teacher education across 9 countries) designed and produced a bank of open educational resources (OERs) to guide teachers’ classroom practices in school-based teacher education. Drawing on examples from the TESSA consortium and from the University of Fort Hare, South Africa, the authors categorize the forms of TESSA OER integration as highly structured, loosely structured, or guided use. The paper concludes by outlining success factors for the integration of OERs: accessibility, adequate resources, support for teachers, accommodation of local cultural and institutional practices, and sustainable funding.

scholarly journals Differentiation in Access to, and the Use and Sharing of (Open) Educational Resources among Students and Lecturers at Technical and Comprehensive Ghanaian Universities

Open Praxis ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 405 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Pete ◽  
Fred Mulder ◽  
Jose Dutra Oliveira Neto ◽  
Kathleen Ludewig Omollo
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Open Educational Resources ◽  
Educational Resources ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Common Goal ◽  
Comprehensive Universities ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Selection Of

This paper is the second in a series of three with a common goal to present a fair OER picture for Sub-Saharan Africa, represented by large-scale studies in three countries: Kenya, Ghana, and South Africa. This paper examines a deliberate selection of four Ghanaian universities with randomly sampled students and lecturers. Distinct questionnaires for students and the lecturers have been used, which generated a response from in total 818 students and 38 lecturers. The major outcomes based on the empirical data are: (i) there is a significant digital differentiation among lecturers and students at technical versus comprehensive universities in terms of their proficiency and internet accessibility; and (ii) the awareness and appreciation of the OER concept and open licensing is low but from the actual variety and types of processing by respondents of educational resources (not necessarily open) there is a preparedness for openness for the future.

scholarly journals Adoption and Impact of OER in the Global South

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheryl Hodgkinson-Williams ◽  
Patrícia Arinto
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Global South ◽  
Open Educational Resources ◽  
The Body ◽  
Educational Resources ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Policy Practice ◽  
Open Educational Practices ◽  
Sub Saharan

Education in the Global South faces several key interrelated challenges, for which Open Educational Resources (OER) are seen to be part of the solution. These challenges include: unequal access to education; variable quality of educational resources, teaching, and student performance; and increasing cost and concern about the sustainability of education. The Research on Open Educational Resources for Development (ROER4D) project seeks to build on and contribute to the body of research on how OER can help to improve access, enhance quality and reduce the cost of education in the Global South. This volume examines aspects of educator and student adoption of OER and engagement in Open Educational Practices (OEP) in secondary and tertiary education as well as teacher professional development in 21 countries in South America, Sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia. The ROER4D studies and syntheses presented here aim to help inform Open Education advocacy, policy, practice and research in developing countries.

Teaching Teachers

2012 ◽  
pp. 198-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bob Moon
Keyword(s):  
Developed Countries ◽  
Partial Solution ◽  
Open Educational Resources ◽  
Educational Resources ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
The Status ◽  
Social Opportunities ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Trained Teachers ◽  
And Training

Existing institutionally based systems for educating and training teachers in Sub-Saharan Africa have not kept up with present demand, nor can they hope to meet future needs. The reasons are simple: insufficient numbers of trained teachers and inadequate educational resources. Meeting these needs is not an option; education is the cornerstone for social and economic sustainability. Failure to educate more of a nation’s population does not maintain the status quo. In today’s world of technology, “uneducated” is synonymous with lower economic and social opportunities. The educational needs cannot be met in Sub-Saharan Africa by building more physical classrooms and dormitories, a reality that is facing emerging and developed countries alike. This chapter discusses the use of Open Educational Resources (OER) and how they can be a partial solution to the needs of developing countries.

Adapting OER for Professional Communities

2012 ◽  
pp. 126-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Freda Wolfenden ◽  
Alison Buckler
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Open Educational Resources ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Adaptation Process ◽  
Access To Education ◽  
User Communities ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Adaptation Processes

Much is written of the potential of Open Educational Resources (OERs) to contribute to improvements in the quality of and access to education, particularly in environments such as Sub-Saharan Africa. But some of the greatest challenges lie in the processes of adaptation and re-use, and as of yet, little has been reported on how best to support user communities to harness and integrate OERs for their own systems and cultures. This chapter describes an empirically based approach to understanding and representing the OER adaptation processes as it occurred across the TESSA (Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa) consortium. The authors draw on a range of investigations to make explicit the kinds of knowledge, skills, and support employed in the adaptation process, the role of the structured template in supporting this process and the problems encountered. The chapter suggests that OERs will only fulfil their promise if greater attention is given to understanding the conditions of access, motivations, and relevant skills of users, particularly in the challenging context of Sub-Saharan Africa. Finally, the chapter offers suggestions for guidance to support other users in adapting OERs for their own context, whilst maintaining the quality of the OERs and working towards self-sustaining communities of users.

Pushing the Boundaries from the Inside

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Colleen Conway ◽  
Shannan Hibbard
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Music Teacher ◽  
Adaptive Expertise ◽  
Music Teacher Education ◽  
Classroom Relationships ◽  
School Based

This chapter situates the study of music teacher education within the larger body of music education and teacher education research. It problematizes the terms teacher training, teacher education, and best practice and introduces the concept of teaching as an “impossible profession.” Goals of teacher education, including reflective practice and adaptive expertise, are discussed. The chapter outlines the challenges that music teacher educators face as they try to prepare preservice teachers for the realities of P-12 school-based music education while instilling in these new colleagues a disposition toward change. It concludes with narratives that examine teachers’ descriptions of classroom relationships throughout the lens of presence in teaching as a way to remind teacher educators of the importance of their work to push the boundaries of music teacher education in order to serve the profession at large.

scholarly journals Wetlands in Ethiopia: Lessons From 20 years of Research, Policy and Practice

Wetlands ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Dixon ◽  
Adrian Wood ◽  
Afework Hailu
Keyword(s):  
Research Policy ◽  
Wetland Management ◽  
Local Level ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Research Programme ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Wetland Use

AbstractThroughout sub-Saharan Africa wetlands provide ecosystem services that are critical to the development needs of many people. Local wetland use, however, is often at odds with broader national policy goals in which narratives of conservation and protection dominate, hence a recurring challenge is how to reconcile these tensions through the development of policies and field practice that deliver sustainable development. In this paper we examine the extent to which this challenge has been achieved in Ethiopia, charting the changes in wetlands policy and discourse over the last twenty years while reviewing the contribution of the multidisciplinary Ethiopian Wetlands Research Programme (EWRP) (1997–2000). Our analysis suggests that despite EWRP having a significant legacy in developing national interest in wetlands among research, government and non-governmental organisations, its more holistic social-ecological interpretation of wetland management remains neglected within a policy arena dominated by specific sectoral interests and little recognition of the needs of local people. In exploring the impacts at the local level, recent investigations with communities in Ilu Aba Bora Zone highlight adjustments in wetland use that famers attribute to environmental, economic and social change, but which also evidence the adaptive nature of wetland-based livelihoods.

scholarly journals Designing an online learning environment on Open Educational Resources for science education

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Shironica Karunanayaka ◽  
Chandana Fernando ◽  
Vajira de Silva
Keyword(s):  
Science Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Open Educational Resources ◽  
Educational Resources ◽  
Online Learning Environment ◽  
Design Decisions ◽  
Course Content

The concept of Open Educational Resources (OER) is a major breakthrough in education, which promotes sharing, adaptation and contextualisation of course content. Promotion of using OER can be very cost effective, since development of new course content would be both expensive and time consuming. However, awareness raising and capacity building of teachers and learners is crucial, in order to exploit the full potential of OER.The Faculty of Education at the Open University of Sri Lanka, initiated a research project to create an Online Learning Environment (OLE) on OER for science education, witha view to raise awareness, develop competencies and enhance adapting, adoption and creation of OER by teachers. This is developed in Moodle Learning Management System, as a supplementary material for science teachers enrolled in a distance mode professional development programme. The research team, together with a group of science teachers and teacher educators, who are their students, is engaged in this action research conducted in several stages: analysis, design, development, implementation and evaluation. This paper discusses the first three stages, concerning the following objectives: to identify sources of OER for science education, to make key design decisions of the OLE, and to design and develop the OLE on OER for science education.The analysis of need, learner, task and context, resulted in making decisions on information, instruction, interaction and interface design. Some initial design decisions are: Structuring of information on finding, using and creating OER related to teaching science, while making it relevant and meaningful for teachers; Use of exploratory instructional strategies enabling teachers to select OER; Incorporate frequent interactions encouraging teachers to adopt, adapt, create and share OER; and Use of different media elements to make the visual layout motivating. A prototype will be pilot tested with science teachers with a view to revise and improve the OLE on OER. Allowing student teachers/teacher educators to work collaboratively with their instructors, as a team, enable both parties to face challenges together, in this novel experience of designing and developing an OLE on OER.

scholarly journals Evaluating survey designs for targeting preventive chemotherapy against Schistosoma haematobium and Schistosoma mansoni across Sub-Saharan Africa: a geostatistical analysis and modelling study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly Fornace ◽  
Claudio Fronterrè ◽  
Fiona M Fleming ◽  
Hope Simpson ◽  
Honorat Zoure ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Schistosoma Haematobium ◽  
Sampling Strategy ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Spatial Distributions ◽  
Preventive Chemotherapy ◽  
School Based ◽  
Control Programmes ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Survey Designs

Abstract Background: Schistosomiasis control programmes primarily use school-based surveys to identify areas for mass drug administration of preventive chemotherapy. However, as the spatial distribution of schistosomiasis can be highly focal, transmission may not be detected by surveys implemented at districts or larger spatial units. Improved mapping strategies are required to accurately and cost-effectively target preventive chemotherapy to remaining foci across all possible spatial distributions of schistosomiasis. Methods: Here, we use geostatistical models to quantify the spatial heterogeneity of Schistosoma haematobium and S. mansoni across sub-Saharan Africa using the most comprehensive dataset available on school-based surveys. Applying this information to parameterise simulations, we assess the accuracy and cost of targeting alternative implementation unit sizes across the range of plausible schistosomiasis distributions. We evaluate the consequences of decisions based on survey designs implemented at district and subdistrict levels sampling different numbers of schools. Cost data were obtained from field surveys conducted across multiple countries and years, with cost effectiveness evaluated as the cost per correctly identified school. Results: Models identified marked differences in prevalence and spatial distributions between countries and species; however, results suggest implementing surveys at subdistrict level increase the accuracy of treatment classifications across most scenarios. While sampling intensively at the subdistrict level resulted in the highest classification accuracy, this sampling strategy resulted in the highest costs. Alternatively, sampling the same numbers of schools currently recommended at the district level but stratifying by subdistrict increased cost effectiveness.Conclusions: This study provides a new tool to evaluate schistosomiasis survey designs across a range of transmission settings. Results highlight the importance of considering spatial structure when designing sampling strategies, illustrating that a substantial proportion of children may be undertreated even when an implementation unit is correctly classified. Control programmes need to weigh the increased accuracy of more detailed mapping strategies against the survey costs and treatment priorities.

scholarly journals Facilitating the Participation of Children with Disabilities in Early Childhood Development Centres in Malawi: Developing a Sustainable Staff Training Programme

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 2104
Author(s):  
Anita Soni ◽  
Paul Lynch ◽  
Mike McLinden ◽  
Jenipher Mbukwa-Ngwira ◽  
Mika Mankhwazi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Children With Disabilities ◽  
Early Childhood Development ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Training Programme ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Childhood Development ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Sub Saharan

This article explores the development of a sustainable training programme supporting the inclusion of children with disabilities in early childhood, education and care (ECEC) centres in Malawi. This programme is based on a review of literature of curriculum, pedagogy and teaching approaches in ECEC in sub-Saharan Africa, alongside a review of national policy documents. The training was designed to enable staff to value the inclusion of children with disabilities in ECEC centres, as well as suggesting practical ways to do so. We set out our response to the gap in training of ECEC staff through the development of a supplementary integrated training programme, which, whilst respectful of the curriculum, policy and practice of Malawi, challenged staff to consider ways of including children with disabilities (CWD) and their families. We suggest this is a pragmatic and sustainable model that could be applied to training in other ECEC settings across the region in sub-Saharan Africa. It concludes with guiding principles for training those working in ECEC with young children with disabilities in low-income countries.

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