OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCESIN MACEDONIAIrina ShumadievaMetamorphosis Foundation07.09.2012, Pristina, Kosovo

BEFORE THE OER INITIATIVE IN MACEDONIA

There was…

Open Access Initiative• We introduced the concept of free availability of high

quality research and scientific materials to faculties around the country

• We hold presentations and trainings for academics

• We helped one institution to set up an online repository for their works – Institute of Economics in Skopje

Dspace• Localized in Macedonian and Albanian

• Virtual machine (OVF format)

• + Documentation with installing instructions

• set and running in less then an hour

The problems• Universities doubt the quality of the research materials

produced by the students

• Especially private universities

• Lack of resources: technical, human, procedures…

• Lack of enthusiasm

The positive effects• Visibility More impact• Searching is easy• More citations• Saving time and money• Less plagiarism• Long lasting harvesting• Improvement of scientific work

OPEN ACCESS + OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES

Resources available in Macedonia• Е-uciliste.com - independent project by a secondary school

teacher; most of the content is generated by the students• Toolbox (http://toolbox.pep.org.mk) – rich collection of

useful links and educational materials in Macedonian and Albanian Language

• Grandma's Games (http://www.grandmasgames.org) – innovative way for transferring knowledge and cultural practices and implementation of the learn through games methodology

• http://skoool.mk – interactive multimedia content• e-ucebnici.mk - digital library of e-textbooks for children in

primary and secondary school

Why is OER important?OER usually stands for educational tools that are easily accessible on the internet and are free to use

• Less time and money for education and research• Helps teachers to share contents they need for teaching• Opens new ways of adopting knowledge• Easily accessible materials all the time• Educational materials in new formats (multimedia)• Easy exchange of knowledge and better cooperation

between students, teachers and between them• Promotes local languages and culture

Coordination group• Group of teachers in primary and secondary schools• Researchers• Academic scientists• Enthusiasts

sharing experiences, knowledge and ideas promote OER in their institutions

Educational and promotional materials

OER.mk

OER application• In process of development• Based on the concept of systematization proposed by

http://www.oercommons.org• Goal:

• To gather individual OER initiatives in one place• To incite creation of new materials• To promote the culture of sharing• To help students find proper

educational materials

CONFERENCE14th and 15th of November in SkopjeYou are invited

OPEN EDUCATION FOR AN OPEN WORLD – LET’S SHARE THE KNOWLEDGE

THANK YOUIrina ShumadievaMetamorphosis Foundationhttp://metamorphosis.org.mkirina@metamorphosis.org.mk