The Open University of Sri LankaThe Open University of Sri Lanka(OUSL)(OUSL)

Dr. Vijitha NanayakkaraDr. Vijitha NanayakkaraVice-Chancellor

OUSL2013

An experiment to excellence

OER Policy & Quality IssuesOER Policy & Quality Issues

““To be the premier open and distance learning To be the premier open and distance learning institution in Asia through excellence, efficiency and institution in Asia through excellence, efficiency and

equity in life long learning.”equity in life long learning.”

Vision of the UniversityVision of the University

Mission of the UniversityMission of the University

““To enhance access to high quality, affordable and To enhance access to high quality, affordable and relevant education through Open Distance relevant education through Open Distance

Education and ensure life-long learning Education and ensure life-long learning opportunities to face challenges in a knowledge.”opportunities to face challenges in a knowledge.”

FacultiesFaculties

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Faculty of Engineering Technology

Faculty of EducationFaculty of Natural Sciences

StudentsStudents 24.56%24.56%

StudentsStudents 16.89%16.89%

Students Students 37.93%37.93%

StudentsStudents 20.62%20.62%

Centre Network of OUSLCentre Network of OUSL

Satellite image of The Main Campus, Nawala.Satellite image of The Main Campus, Nawala.

6 Regional Centres6 Regional Centres

1199 Study Centres Study Centres

66 Teaching Centres Teaching Centres

Achieving Excellence Achieving Excellence Revise all current study

programmes by 2016Develop New programmesTransform all printed text based

delivery to blended /online mode by 2016

Improve English and ICT knowledge of the students

Enhance Quality and Affordability

OUSL OER PolicyOUSL OER Policy

In principle OUSL accepted the need of converting all academic programmes into the form of OER

Initially Corporate Plan states that all foundation level courses shall be in the form of OER in 2016

Create conducive environment for OER

OER InitiativesOER InitiativesImprove Online Learning Environment Staff training Research on OER Establishment of OER cells at Faculty levelIn 2012 Education faculty has taken steps to

implement the OER policyL3 Farmers Project Introduction of incentive mechanismTelecasting of Learning Materials through

Satellite and Terrestrial Television

Workshops on OER funded by Commonwealth of Workshops on OER funded by Commonwealth of Learning (COL) facilitated by the Open University Learning (COL) facilitated by the Open University

of Sri Lanka (OUSL)of Sri Lanka (OUSL)

• For the 35 participants involved in External Degree Programmes of all National Universities Funded by

HETC (Higher Education for Twenty-first Century) 13-14th March, 2013.

• For 40 OUSL Academic Staff – 14-15 March, 2013

Resource Persons :Prof. Madhulika Kaushik, COLProf. Sanjay Jasola, Graphic Era Hill University

Staff trainingStaff trainingMoodle online course design and development workshops’ conducted by the Centre for Educational Technology and Media (CETMe) (2008 -2013).

YEAR No. of Teachers Trained

2013 Jan 14

2012 April 12

2012 May 10

2011 20

2008 Jan 26

2008 April 20

2008 Nov 15

TotalTotal 117117

Capacity Building Workshop-1 02nd – 4th January 2013

Research on OERResearch on OER Developing a Case Study on the use of OER in e-learning at Faculty of Education, OUSL.

Education faculty Initiatives Education faculty Initiatives OER-based E-Learning Initiatives at the Faculty of Education - From 2012–

Design, Development and Evaluation of an Online Learning Environment on Open Educational Resources for Science Education

(Faculty Research Project)Integration of ICT and OER into Teacher Education Programmes and Capacity Building of Teacher Educators at OUSL(Project in Partnership with COL)

Project Objectives

Identify sources of Open Educational Resources (OER) for Science Education

Design an Online Learning Environment (OLE) on OER for Science Education

Develop the OLE on OER with the participation of Science teachers

Evaluate the OLE on OER and make further improvements as required

A Screen Capture of the Home Page of the OLE on OER for Science Education

April 8, 2023 16Shironica Karunanayaka

Expected Outcomes:

An Online Learning Environment on OER for Science Education created

Awareness, knowledge and skills on OER among student teachers developed

A trained group of Science teachers on using and creating OER produced

OER-integrated Online Course Design & Development

MATE-I – Teacher Educator as an Educational Technologist

MEd – Psychological Foundations of Education

PGDE – Educational Technology

PGDSNE – Exceptionalities & Learning Needs

BEdECPE – Child Development

Future Plans

Integrate ICT and OER in to all Teacher Education programmes at OUSL

Engage in OER-related Collaborative Initiatives

Engage in Research Activities

COL Life Long Learning (L3F) farmer project of OUSLWathurakumburaKandy

http://www.ou.ac.lk/col/http://www.ou.ac.lk/col/

Maintaining Quality of OER MaterialsMaintaining Quality of OER MaterialsAt OUSL Quality Assurance is looked after at 3 levels

•At Course Team level quality of material content & Presentation checklist

•At the level of uploading online material to Moodle Platform – Technical quality of the online converted materials – checklist

•Prior to opening up online material as OER material – A thorough quality check of content, presentation and technical aspects to be carried out together with licensing mechanism

Quality assurance of Online courses

Each year Programmes/ Courses are evaluated

Following components are evaluated

Subject contents are evaluated by subject specialists at relevant Departments.

Component Criteria1. Your

Profile(Teacher)

Tell us who you are professionally Tell us any personal interests Describe yourself as a learnerUpload a picture/image How that picture reflects you

2. Course description

(Programme, Level, Credit rating, about the course )

3. Welcome message

Simple, 3 paragraphs – maximum, welcoming students, purpose, teachers, Name of the person responsible)

Pictures inserted as a banner4. Start Here Navigational guide to the online course

Name of the Course: Course coordinator: Reviewer/Review Team:

4. Start Here Navigational guide to the online course

5. Announcements Welcome message

at least another message

6. Help wanted forum Message for technical support

7 Contact Information Name, address , email, Tel. number

8. Course Information Advance organizer to the course, Syllabus, Activity Schedule, Assessment criterion and any other required material

Date, Contact person, Meaningful file name, Additional information

9. Assignment At least two assignments with clear instructions

Instruction about how to submit the assignment

Due Date, Contact person, Meaningful file name, Additional information

10. Learning resources At least two resources (PPT, multimedia, supplementary reading material, research papers etc.)

At least one web resource (links)Date, Contact person, Meaningful file name, Additional information

11. Class discussion

At least one message to start a discussion (first discussion should be a teacher guided discussion). Motivation, clarity of instructions

12. Assignment Drop Box

Instructions

Set the availability dates

Feedback and grade the submitted assignment

Introduction of incentive Introduction of incentive mechanismmechanism

•OUSL has introduced awards in order to motivate staff1. Best Audio-visual materials2. Best Multimedia production3. Best online courseCONCERN - If it is OER then how can we motivate staff who reproduce something created byothers and to maintain the sustainability

Incentives..Introduction of considerable point

scheme for the promotion of the University Teachers who are working on online learning and OER

Introduction of grading system and resource allocation mechanism for the Departments and Faculties who promote OER

Challenges for Quality Challenges for Quality

Improvement of OERImprovement of OER Traditional mindsetNegative attitudes of the academicLack of trained staffPoor infrastructure for

online learningLack of material resourcesLegal barriersLack of government policy on OER

Traditional MindsetTraditional Mindset• Traditionally education was restricted to certain social groups

• The concept of “Guru Mushti”

• Traditional teacher-student relationship

• Knowledge and social prestige

Negative Attitudes of the AcademicsNegative Attitudes of the Academics• Online learning needs dedication and commitment inter alia

• The OER initiatives including online teaching interfere with comfort zones of academics

• OER needs very stringent quality assurance mechanisms to safeguard the quality and the accuracy of the content of the course materials

•Lack of confidence in the accuracy of facts

• Knowledge as a private property

Lack of Trained StaffLack of Trained Staff

• The education system is highly teacher centered

• School teachers and University teachers are trained by conventional universities

• Most of the teachers have a little knowledge of IT

Poor infrastructure for Poor infrastructure for online learningonline learning• Successful OER programmes need online learning environment

• Regional disparity in computer literacy•Colombo 20%, Gampaha, Kandy, Kalutara, Matara 10%, Monaragala 3%

• Computer Availability•Urban sector 23.6%

•Rural Sector 9.2%

•Estate Sector 3.1%

Lack of Material ResourcesLack of Material Resources• To implement OER project need

adequate IT related resources and equipments

• Initial cost is very high

• Who is going to bear the cost?

• Marginal areas are excluded from even the basic amenities

Legal BarriersLegal Barriers

• The current intellectual property rights in Sri Lanka is governed by the Intellectual Property Act, No 36 of 2003

• Only texts can be used for the face to face teaching

• The copy right and publishers are the greatest obstacles

Lack of Government Policy on OERLack of Government Policy on OER

• Sri Lanka Government policy emphasize the future knowledge

hub in the Asia

• More concentration has been given to the IT and English

• No OER related policy framework

Sri LankaSri Lanka The Emerging Wonder of AsiaThe Emerging Wonder of Asia

“ I firmly believe that a country’s achievements are based on organizing its manpower efficiently and effectively. In this context, the university is the centre of generating and disseminating knowledge. I always believe that the aim of university education is to create someone who could see the world beyond its horizon. Universities should not be factories that create technicians for employment”(Mahinda Chinthana 2010, p 75)

Improve Online Learning Improve Online Learning EnvironmentEnvironment

Even though there is no Government policy at the national level to introduce OER, a number of steps have been taken to improve the OER supportive environment in the country

Sri Lankan Initiatives of Sri Lankan Initiatives of Online LearningOnline LearningThe National e-Learning Movement in Sri Lanka

The National e- Learning Project attempts to maintain a sustainable National e- Learning Centre in Sri Lanka

e-Sri Lankae-Sri LankaThe Nenasala Project is one of the projects implemented under the e-Sri Lanka Initiative. Formally known as the “Vishva Gnana Kendra Project (Nenasala)”, ICTA has incorporated it under the “Nenasala” label to introduce several models of the telecentres or knowledge centres to be established in all parts of Sri-Lanka to spread ICT services to the rural and semi-urban population.

Open Source Learning Object Open Source Learning Object RepositoryRepositoryIt is an open source Learning Object Repository developed in collaboration between: University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC), Sri Lanka Stockholm University and Orebro University, Sweden.

The National Online Distance The National Online Distance Education ServiceEducation Service

Nodes Access Centres (NACs) equipped with 25 multimedia PCs with video conferencing facilities