scholarly journals Discourse on student participation in the Open Distance Learning using Open Educational Resources

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-68
Author(s):  
Ramashego Shila Shorty Mphahlele ◽  
Matlala Makokotlela
Author(s):  
Tina Wilson

Access to education is not freely available to all. Open Educational Resources (OERs) have the potential to change the playing field in terms of an individual’s right to education. The Open University in the United Kingdom was founded almost forty years ago on the principle of ‘open’ access with no entry requirements necessary. The University develops innovative high quality multiple media distance-learning courses. In a new venture called OpenLearn, The Open University is making its course materials freely available worldwide on the Web as OERs ( see http://www.open.ac.uk/openlearn). How might other institutions make use of these distance-learning materials? The paper starts by discussing the different contexts wherein two institutions operate and the inequalities that exist between them. One institution is a university based in South Africa and the other is a college located in the United Kingdom. Both institutions, however, deliver distance-learning courses. The second part of the paper discusses preliminary findings when OERs are considered for tertiary education at these two institutions. The findings emphasise some of the opportunities and challenges that exist if these two institutions adopt OERs.


Author(s):  
Giselle Ferreira ◽  
Tina Wilson

The availability of Web 2.0 and open educational resources affords the emergence of novel learning spaces, but debate on these innovations has tended to emphasise technical, logistical, and legal issues. This chapter focuses on pedagogy, reporting on the experiences from a piece of action research that has taken students’ views to its heart. The context for this research has been provided by a distance-learning project-based course in information and computer sciences, equivalent to a final year project in a face-to-face setting. The study consisted of a practical investigation into the potential of such resources to support the necessarily intense episodes of interaction required for productive supervision, whilst providing a space where students can be encouraged to identify, engage with, and discuss ethical issues that arise in their work.


2008 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Geith ◽  
Karen Vignare

One of the key concepts in the right to education is access: access to the means to fully develop as human beings as well as access to the means to gain skills, knowledge and credentials. This is an important perspective through which to examine the solutions to access enabled by Open Educational Resources (OER) and online learning. The authors compare and contrast OER and online learning and their potential for addressing human rights “to” and “in” education. The authors examine OER and online learning growth and financial sustainability and discuss potential scenarios to address the global education gap.


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