COLLABORATION AMONG AFRICAN COUNCIL FOR DISTANCE EDUCATION UNIVERSITIES: ROLE OF ERs AND OERs

COLLABORATION AMONGAFRICAN COUNCIL FOR DISTANCE

EDUCATION UNIVERSITIES: ROLE OF ERs AND OERs

By

Tolly .S.A. Mbwette and Uswege M. MingaOpen University of Tanzania

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

The African Council for Distance Education (ACDE)

ACDE is a continental educational organization comprising African Universities and other higher learning higher educational institutions, which are committed to expanding access to quality education and training through Open and Distance Learning (ODL) including e-learning. It is an international non-profit making organisation whose headquarters is in Nairobi, Kenya. ACDE was formally launched in January, 2004. In Nov.2010, it was formally recognised to have an observer status within the AU and an MoU is due to be signed soon.

ACDETCC TSAM - UMM Paper OER Mtg Nairobi 16 to 18 May 2011

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ACDE Contd……..ACDE has six Projects/Programmes, mostly drawn

from its Strategic Plan: ACDE-Technical Committee on Collaboration

(ACDE-TCC) whose secretariat is at OUT, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

ACDE- Quality Assurance and Accreditation Agency whose secretariat is based at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Lagos, Nigeria.

ACDE-ODL Database project which is based at the University of South Africa (UNISA), Pretoria, South Africa.

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ACDE Contd….ACDE-Information and Communication

Technology Project (ACDE-ICTP) whose secretariat is based at the University of Abuja, Nigeria.

ACDE-Journal whose Editor in Chief is the ACDE Executive Director and is based in Nairobi, Kenya

ACDE-Scholarship programme based at the ACDE Headquarters, Nairobi, Kenya

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ACDE-TCC AND COLLABORATION

ACDE-TCC PROVIDES A FOCAL POINT FOR SYNCHRONIZING ODL INITIATIVES AND ACTIVITIES IN AFRICA AND PROMOTES COLLABORATION FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE PARTICIPATING UNIVERSITIES

ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT TOOLS FOR COLLABORATION ARE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES (ERs) ESPECIALLY THE OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES (OERs)

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ACDETCC: OBJECTIVES

MAIN OBJECTIVE OF ACDE-TCC: • ACDE-TCC Serves to promote collaboration

and ensures that:- 1. There is no duplication of efforts in

development of materials, - 2. ODL is more Cost effective; - 3. It is a focal point for synchronizing ODL

initiatives and activities in Africa; - 4. It Helps stimulate production of

materials by African academicians; - 5. It Develops institutional capacity to

produce high quality ODL courses and programmes;

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TORs FOR ACDE-TCC (7 OBJECTIVES)i) Facilitate the development and/or sharing of

educational resources, underpinned by effective research, by ACDE member institutions;

(ii) Facilitate collaborative development of academic programmes by ACDE member institutions;

(iii) Coordinate the creation and implementation of joint qualifications involving ACDE member institutions, and to promote joint offering of programmes, student mobility and portability of credits between and among institutions and programmes;

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TORs OF ACDE-TCC Contd…..(iv) Determine, and institutionalize within

ACDE members, appropriate policies and parameters by which resources, programmes, and qualifications shall be collaboratively developed and shared without compromising the strategic interests of the participating institutions;

(v) Develop institutional capacity to deliver high quality open and distance learning (ODL) programmes;


TORs FOR ACDE-TCC Contd….(vi) Explore ways to ensure that collaborative

activities contribute directly to enhancing the marketability, financial viability, and sustainability of distance education in Africa ;

(vii) Conduct and/or commission research which informs the practice and activities of the TCC and ACDE members.


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Operational Assumptions of ACDE-TCCInterested ACDE member University or a HEI is

expected to write to the Secretariat in Dar to express interest to join ACDE-TCC activities.

Thereafter the VC has to appoint a contact person who is either a DVC Academic or a Director for Distance Education.

The University is expected to meet the full costs of the participation of the contact person in ACDE-TCC activities except where secretariat has funding.

VC OUT is the Chairperson of the ACDE-TCC Steering Committee.

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ROLE OF ERs AND OERs AS TOOLS IN PROMOTING COLLABORATIONOERs are Educational Resources (ERs) which are

open for sharing under the open license (Creative Commons License) with some conditions.

ACDE-TCC Objectives and TORs emphasize the Role of Human and Educational Resources as tools for promoting Collaboration.

Central to ODL are Ed. Resources (Study Materials) which serves as Tutors for ODL students.

Human resources are another resource which is/can/should be shared whether physically or electronically.

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ROLE OF ERs AND OERs AS TOOLS IN PROMOTING COLLABORATION Contd…….Many ODL member University are not self sufficient

in Educational resources, expertise or programmes, this calls for collaboration and sharing.

In order to collaborate, pooling of resources (Study materials and Humanpower), joint programmes and qualifications are paramount and cost effective: To get the critical mass of experts and Materials.

Its easier to share Educational Resources as OERs than Human resources because of logistics of mobility.

ACDETCC TSAM UMM Paper OER Mtg Nairobi 16 to 18 May 2011

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ACDE-TCC: ROLE OF ERs and OERs IN PROMOTING COLLABORATION

The above are in line with the Objectives and TORs of ACDE-TCC, thus:

ACDE-TCC Objectives (Three Items on Educational resources – ERs and OERs) are supportive: Thus:

1. Development of Materials: No Duplication of efforts,

2. Stimulation of production of materials by African academicians;

3. Development of institutional capacity to produce high quality ODL courses and programmes; This includes Educational Resources (ERs)


ACDE-TCC: ROLE OF ERs and OERs IN PROMOTING COLLABORATION Contd……..

ACDE-TCC TORs {Six TORs (i to vi) related to ERs}i. Sharing of educational resources, ii. Development of joint academic programmes iii. Creation and implementation of joint

qualificationsiv. Institutionalization of appropriate policies

for development and sharing of resources, programmes, and qualifications

v. Development of institutional capacity for high quality ODL programmes;



There are many advantages of sharing ERs and OERs, Thus:

1. Economies of scale2. Joint Programmes, Joint Authorship by

African Academicians, Joint Qualifications, Mutual recognition of Qualifications and Student and Staff mobility, all made easy

3. Quality (due to peer reviewing) and facilitation of mutual accreditation is possible


ACDE-TCC: ROLE OF ERs and OERs IN PROMOTING COLLABORATION Contd…..4. Accessibility as Digital copies (On-line)

or hard printed copies5. Saves time for authoring ERs and

hence Universities have time to concentrate more on Assisting students to learn and Assess students better and improve quality of product

6.(Refer to Neil’s paper in Proceedings of First VC’s Workshop, 22nd August, 2009 for more info) ACDETCC TSAM UMM Paper OER Mtg Nairobi

16 to 18 May 201116

ACDE-TCC: ROLE OF ERs and OERs IN PROMOTING COLLABORATIONAcademicians and Students in Africa are already benefitting from

OERs found online and as hard copies (The world expects contribution from Africa in retrun)

Ex. OUT requested and has been given Educational materials from Sister Institutions for free & vice versa e.g. NOUN, IGNOU and some for pay, e.g. UoN (Kikuyu campus)

The quality and relevance of the current OERs for professional disciplines have to be ascertained before acceptance and use

Ex. At OUT, Many ERs have been produced by Academicians and are not OERs but are owned by OUT. Production of ERs are based on references from ERs, Published papers and OERs and hence Original with some illustrations taken from published books and acknowledged: It is a truism the world over

Many papers have been published by OUT staff and many are OERs depending on the Publisher. University of Pretoria has shown the way

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Ex. OUT recruits only academic staff who attained upper second and above: That is high GPAs (> or = 3.5) and hence majority are academically capable, therefore are competent to author ERs : Same criteria are used by Universities in East Africa for recruiting academic staff

Some OUT ERs, eg. Law, OFC,ICT, ES, Journalism are very popular in many Universities in Tanzania and outside and are illegaly sold and not for free.


ACDE-TCC: ROLE OF ERs and OERs IN PROMOTING COLLABORATIONConstraints to producing all required ERs

at OUT: OUT does not have a critical mass of experts in all

disciplines, only in someOUT use of staff other Universities to assist (ERs and

Examinations): but Expensive. Shortage of staff in a number of disciplines and hence too

busy with student assessmentsLimited of funds to pay staff for authoring ERs There is no policy on OERs as yet. May come after ACDE

Ex Board approval of the Collaboration frameworkBandwidth needs to be increased for OERs to be

accessible online, but OK as hard copies ACDETCC TSAM - UMM Paper OER Mtg Nairobi 16 to 18 May 2011 19

ACDE-TCC: ROLE OF ERs and OERs IN PROMOTING COLLABORATION Contd…..OERs Sustainability in Africa:

Commitment to collaborate by all or majority of ACDE members is a pre-requisite

Need for Joint programmes, joint qualifications will require use of same or similar ERs, hence joint development of contents and thus OERs for collaborating Universities and possibly beyond; a prerequisite

Positive Experience from above will encourage more OERs to be available and shared

Pooled human resources will ensure production of quality Resources relevant to Africa but institutions are free to pool only a few first!

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ACDE-TCC: ROLE OF ERs and OERs IN PROMOTING COLLABORATION Contd…….Quality ERs would then be available as OERsQuality ERs would make Africa not just a consumer of

knowledge from outside but a creator and a significant contributor to world knowledge of relevance to Africa and the world

The above argues for the importance of ERs as OERs and once that importance is realized by all ACDE stakeholders, OERs are assured a permanent place among ACDE members and the world

Will require Institutional support (Policies or Guidelines) need funding (Locally and Internationally e.g. UNESCO)


Institutions that are Active Members of the ACDE-TCCOpen University of Tanzania (OUT)National Open University of Tanzania (NOUN)University of South Africa (UNISA)Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU)University of PretoriaEgerton UniversityUniversity of AbujaOpen University of SudanUniversity of Nairobi


Institutions that are Active Members of the ACDE-TCC Contd…Kenyatta UniversityMaseno UniversityCopperbelt UniversityZambia Open UniversityKigali Institute of EducationUniversity of NamibiaMoi UniversityUniversity of ZambiaStrathmore UniversityNorth West University


3RD ACDE CONFERENCE & GENERAL ASSEMBLY 12-15TH JULY 2011Theme: BRIDGING THE DEVELOPMENT GAP

IN AFRICA THROUGH OPEN AND DISTANCE LEARNING

Venue: Mlimani City Conference CentreConference e-mail: [email protected] Website: http://www.out.ac.tz/acde/Registration Deadline: See the website.Special Rates for Accommodation end on:15th-

30th June 2011.


How to Contact ACDE-TCCContact e-mail for Director:

[email protected]

ACDE-TCC Website:

http://www.out.ac.tz/acdetcc1/

Physical Location in Dar-es-Salaam:Kinondoni, Victoria, Green Acres Building, 1st Floor.


THANK YOU ALL

AHSANTE


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COLLABORATION AMONG AFRICAN COUNCIL FOR DISTANCE EDUCATION UNIVERSITIES: ROLE OF ERs AND OERs

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