SaritaKumarandSavithriSinghAcharyaNarendraDevCollege(UniversityofDelhi)

NewDelhi,India

singh.savithri53@gmail.comsaritakumar@andc.du.ac.in

CapeTown,March8-10,2017

Astudyonawarenessof‘OER’amongcontentcreators

üSince the adoption of term OER by UNESCO (2002), Indians have been involved/appreciated the importance of being ‘open’

üCape Town declaration in 2007 has several Indian organizations and individuals as signatories

üNational Knowledge Commission report of India (2007) placed great emphasis on open source software and open access

Introduction

ü In 2008, Govt initiative - National Mission on Education using ICT - committed towards the ‘Open’ mission

ü India chapter of Wikieducator was established

üCurrently has large number of members advocating the use of OER in education.

ü In 2012, with Paris Declaration on OER, UNESCO urged members to foster, use and creation of OER

Introduction

ü OER movement at all levels of education - Primary, Upper Primary, Secondary & Higher Education.

ü National level repositories like NPTEL, NME-ICT, Sakshat, ePathshala, Swayam, NROER, eGyankosh, OSCAR, NSDL, eklavya, VASAT etc.

ü Several Non Governmental Organizations (NGO’s) playing a major role in e-Content development.

ü Creative Commons was introduced through affiliates in 2007, Since 2013 - have 3 organizations as affiliates.

ü Commonwealth of Learning, India office, CEMCA (Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia) promotes OER through the platform of Wikieducator.

Status In India

National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning

National Science Digital Library (NSDL)

National Mission on Education through Information and Communication

Technology (NME-ICT)

Content development efforts by Government and various Universities

ü OER movement - Aims for reducing time & cost of technology-enhanced learning yet…

Ø Success and sustainability reliant on large-scale participation

Ø Requirement of consciousness and awareness about OER.

ü Adoption of OER by InstitutionsØ Radically changing education scenario Ø Providing opportunity to improve access and

quality of education

Need:OERMovement

ü Understanding Paradigm Shifts: Though many understand importance of OER yet…...

o Not easily accepted in traditional collegeso Educators and academicians do not believe in sharing

knowledge o Resistance to Idea of ‘Open’ o Confusion exists on what exactly constitutes OERo Lack of awareness / restricted knowledgeo Lack of ability to distinguish between open access,

accessible content and (true) OERs

ü Despite being authors - lack of awareness among developers exists on OER concept, copyright policies & various licenses under which their materials is released.

ExtentofOERAwareness

ü Conduct a survey among higher educationfaculty particularly among authors of OERcontent

ü Study the extent of penetration of theunderstanding of the concept of ‘OER’among them

ü Understand the constraints faced whiledeveloping content

ü Recognize ways to propagate thephilosophy of OER

Objectives

https://docs.google.com/a/andc.du.ac.in/forms/d/1NiWOaX1JJWsRr97xKgPsPTOacK7_1bH036RZ7WsFLD4/edit?usp=forms_home&ths=true

MethodologyOnline structured questionnaire prepared in Google doc

Sent to faculty of different streams and regions

Data collected, compiled and analysed to comprehend/evaluate views, awareness and issues

Questionnaire…

• Miscellaneous Information

• 8 items• Awareness –

OER and CC

• 14 Items• Content

prepared

• 12 Items• Profile• Facilities

Section A

Section B

Section D

Section C

Profile of the RespondentsAge

Gender

Institution of the Respondents

Professional Status

Designation

Mode of Teaching

Teaching Profile

Teaching Experience

Discipline

Facilities at Institutions

Well equipped Institutions

Subject Area

Number of modules

Creation of e-content

Use of Copyright materials

63.3% - No copyright material

Use of Copyright materials : Permissions

Use of Copyright materials : Permissions?ü 46.6% - believed that they did not use any

copyrighted material while creating content

ü 24.1% - sought permission for using material either themselves or was taken by the parent institution

ü 13.8% - permission not required because of use for preparation of educational content.

ü 13.8% - Not aware

Copyright on created material

ü16.7% - No copyrightü 60.0% - copyright with the institutionü 13.3% - No idea

Shows unawareness about the OER concept

Licensing on created material

ü68.3% not aware about the licensing on their modulesüIndicates limited awareness of OER amongst academicians

9.2%9.8%

Awareness about OER

5.2% of the respondents had not heard about OER

5.2%

Perception about OER

ü OER - different meanings; not aware about theconcept of open domain and open access

ü Only 10% - materials under ‘public domain’ü 41.7% - Accessible educational material on webü 13.3% - OER confused with Open accessü 26.7% - Under open license

Awareness about Public Domain

ü 36.7% - any web materialü 46.7% - under specific licenseü 11.7% - unawareü Only 5.1% - no copyright

Indicates unawareness about OER

Release of Material as OER

Indicates unawareness about License

Perception about Use of OER

5.2%

Challenges faced

ü 52.5% find difficulty in locating appropriate OERs.ü 47.5% fear about the reliability and validity of OERs ü 40.7% think time-intensiveü 36.6% found difficulty in customizing OER according to

own need

Opinion about release of material

Almost 40% do not want to release their material as OER or are unsure

Recommendations

• The advocacy and creating awareness of OER shouldbe a top priority, particular focusing on teachers andsenior administrators.

• Institutional OER policies should be formulated andimplemented to promote the use of OER by teachers.

• The teachers may be provided with incentives toengage in OER work. The incentives can be in the formof awards, recognition, promotional benefits etc.

• Quality of OER should be ensured and maintained byadapting the available quality frameworks.

• Regular workshops and training sessions should beorganized to enhance the ICT and OER skills of faculty.

Suggestions & Inputs