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QUALITY HIGHER EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES
Through
OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
EditedbyManasRanjanPanigrahi
CommonwealthEducationalMediaCentreforAsia
NewDelhi
Quality Higher Education Opportunities through
OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
Editedby
ManasRanjanPanigrahi
The Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA) is an
internationalorganizationestablishedbytheCommonwealthofLearning(COL),
Vancouver,Canada,topromotethemeaningful,relevantandappropriateuseof
ICTstoservetheeducationalandtrainingneedsofCommonwealthmemberstates
of Asia. CEMCA receives diplomatic privileges and immunities in India under
section3oftheUnitedNations(privilegesandimmunities)Act,1947.
Editor:ManasRanjanPanigrahi,Ph.D.
CopyEditing:Mr.B.Natarajan,DeputyRegistrar (Retired),Publications, lGNOU,
NewDelhi
Copyright©CEMCA,2018.
The publication entitled Quality Higher Education
OpportunitiesthroughOpenEducationalResources is
made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-
Share Alike 4.0 License (international): http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by-sa/4.0/byCEMCAwithpermissionoftheauthors.
Fortheavoidanceofdoubt,byapplyingthislicence,CommonwealthofLearning
andCommonwealthEducationalMediaCentreforAsia(CEMCA)donotwaiveany
privilegesorimmunitiesfromclaimsthattheymaybeentitledtoassert,nordo
COL/CEMCAsubmitthemselvestothejurisdiction,courts,legalprocessesorlaws
ofanyjurisdiction.
ISBN:978-81-88770-35-9
WhilealleffortshavebeenmadebytheEditortocheckaccuracyofthecontent,the
representation of facts, principles, descriptions and methods are that of the
author/s.Viewsexpressedinthepublicationarethatoftheauthors,anddonot
necessarilyre�lecttheviewsofCEMCA/COL.Allproductsandservicesmentioned
areownedbytheirrespectivecopyrightsholders,andmerepresentationinthe
publicationdoesnotmeanendorsementbyCEMCA/COL.Everyefforthasbeen
madetoacknowledgeandattributeallsourcesofinformationusedinpreparation
of this learning material. Readers are requested to kindly notify missing
attribution,ifany.
Forfurtherinformation,contact:
CommonwealthEducationalMediaCentreforAsia
7/8,SarvPriyaVihar,NewDelhi-110016
http://www.cemca.org.in
Printedandpublishedonbehalfof Director,CEMCAbyMr.DalipKumarTetri,
Advisor (Administration and Finance), CEMCA, 7/8 Sarv Priya Vihar,
NewDelhi-110016,India.
Contents
Foreword 1
Preface 2
Chapter–1 5
OpenEducationalResourcesforQualityLearning
Chapter–2 21
OpenEducationalResources(OER)ImpactonStudentsat
BangladeshOpenUniversity
Chapter–3 39
OpenEducationalPracticesat
UttarakhandOpenUniversity:FromPoliciesto
Implementation
Chapter–4 51
DevelopmentalInterventionsthrough
OpenEducationalResources(OER):CaseStudyof
OdishaStateOpenUniversity
Chapter–5 65
OpenEducationalResourceRepository:
InitiativeofNetajiSubhasOpenUniversity
Chapter–6 91
AccesstoVocationalEducationthroughOERandICT:
AnEvaluation
BriefPro�ileoftheEditorandAuthors 103
Accesstoeducationalmaterialsisessentialtoimprovethequalityofteaching
andlearningatalllevelsofeducation.Productionandreuseofeducational
materialshavealwaysbeenachallengeduetothecost,time,permissionand
licensing fees to reuse copyrightedmaterials. Realising the importance of
opencourse-ware, theUNESCOorganisedaForumon the ImpactofOpen
Courseware forHigher Education inDeveloping Countries in 2002,which
coined the term open educational resources (OER). In 2012, the
CommonwealthofLearningandUNESCOwithsupportof theWilliamand
FloraHewlettFoundation,organisedtheWorldOERCongressthatresultedin
the2012OERParisDeclarationthaturgedthegovernmentstopromoteOER
byreleasingteaching,learningandresearchmaterialswithanopenlicence.In
this regard, within the mandate of Six Year Plan (2015-21), the
CommonwealthEducationalMediaCentre forAsia(CEMCA), isengaged in
assistingHigherEducationInstitutionstoadoptOpenEducationalResources
(OER) through the development and implementation of institutional OER
policy. During 2015-2018, CEMCA provided continuous support to Open
Universities of Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka for development and
implementationofOERpolicy;capacitybuildingofteachersandacademics;
creationanduseofOER;andprovidingaccessthroughOERrepositoriesto
enhance quality teaching and learning reducing cost. These efforts are
showingencouragingresultsandneedtobeshared.
ThisvolumesharesOpenEducationalPracticesthroughimplementationof
institutional OER policy. It emphasises the need for having appropriate
policies,andshowingbestpracticesandexperiencestowardsthelearningfor
sustainable development. I am sure this will help all higher education
institutionsandcommonwealthgovernmentstoadoptOERfordevelopment.
Thesharingofbestpracticesmayhelpintheirreplicationatotherinstitutions
fortheoverallbene�itofthestudentsirrespectiveoftheirlocation.Thisisin
tunewithCOL'sagendaof reachingallwithquality resources for learning
leadingtosustainabledevelopment.
Dr.ShahidRasoolDirector
CommonwealthEducationalMediacentreforAsia(CEMCA),
NewDelhi
Foreword
1
Theemergenceofopencontentin1998andthereleaseof50highereducation
coursesviaMIT'sOpenCourseWarein2002werefoundationalmomentsin
the sharing of educational content via the web. MIT's innovative course-
sharingmechanismpromptedUNESCOtoorganizea'ForumontheImpactof
OpenCourseWareforHigherEducationinDevelopingCountries'in2002,at
which the term 'Open Educational Resources' (OERs) was coined. The
UNESCOForumhassincebeenconsideredamajorlandmarkinthehistoryof
the OERmovement. Speaking on the occasion, Prof. V S Prasad, the then
Directorof theNationalAssessmentandAccreditationCounciland India's
representativeattheForum,hadobserved:'TheOpenCourseWareconceptis
basedonthephilosophicalviewofknowledgeasacollectivesocialproduct;
andsoitisdesirabletomakeitasocialproperty'.Itisnecessarytounderstand
whatOERare inorder toappreciate theirpotential impactoneducational
systems. An OER is any teaching, learning and research material that is
availableinthepublicdomain,orwithanopenlicence,freeofthecosttoreuse,
remixandredistributethematerialwhileretainingitsrights.Theword'open'
isofcriticalimportancehere–itrefersnotmerelytotheavailabilityofthe
resourcebuttowhatoneisallowedtodowiththematerial.Copyrightlaw
providesforlicensinganynewknowledgegenerated,anditiswithinthese
sameparametersthatauthorsuseaspeci�ictypeofopenlicencetoallowfull
orlimiteduseoftheoriginalmaterialscreatedbythem.Withthisbackground,
theCommonwealthEducationalMediaCentreforAsia(CEMCA)initiateda
programme“ImprovingQualityofTeaching&LearningResourcesusing
OERinHigherEducation”toengagewithHigherEducationInstitutionsin
CommonwealthAsiaoverthethreeyearsduringtheperiod2015–2018.Inthe
processseveraleventswereorganisedinOpenUniversitiesofBangladesh,
India and Sri Lanka for development and implementation of OER policy;
capacitybuildingofteachersandacademics;creationanduseofOER;and
providing access through OER repositories. CEMCA in collaboration with
Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University (KKHSOU), Guwahati
conductedapaneldiscussionintheInternationalConferenceduring16-17
December 2017 on “Developmental Interventions and Open Learning for
Empowering and Transforming Society”. In the panel discussion, CEMCA
supportedprojectsanditsoutcomeswerediscussedbroadlybythepartner
institutionsandshowcasedthedevelopmentinlearningthroughOER.This
publication is based on the papers presented by the partners in the
conference.
Preface
2
There are six chapters included in this resource book as practices and
implementationofOERinhighereducationforwiderdisseminationwiththe
hopethathighereducationinstitutionsandorganisationsinCommonwealth
Asiawill takestepstodevelopstrategicplans forOERuse inteachingand
learning.ChapterI:OpenEducationalResourcesforQualityLearningdiscusses
concepts,bene�its,thequalityconcernsandindicators,andconcludeswith
suggestivecontinuumofmodelstomakethequalityofOERtotherequired
levelandmeetthechallenges.ChapterII:OpenEducationalResources(OER)
Impact on Students at Bangladesh Open University focuses on reviews of
existingOERpoliciesof thecountry ingeneralandBOUinparticular.This
chapter reports that thestudentsusingopeneducational resourcesas the
primarycoursematerialintheircoursesofstudies.Themajorityofstudents
reportedthatthecoursereadingswereequaltoorbetterthanprintSLMs,and
responded positively to the variety of learning materials. Most students
agreedtheywouldbewillingtouseresourceinthefuture.ChapterIII:Open
Educational Practices at Uttarakhand Open University: From Policies to
Implementation, the author present a detailed description of the
implementationoftheOERfrompolicyformulationtoimplementationand
Open Educational Practices in the university. Chapter IV: Developmental
Interventions through Open Educational Resources (OER): A Case Study of
Odisha State Open University re�lects that the build-up of a platform for
acceptanceofOpenEducationalResourcespolicyintheeducationalsystemof
OSOU through both course writers and coordinators considering Self
LearningMaterials,videolecturesandaudioclipsisthebaseforqualitative
materials. In this casestudyanattempthasbeenmade tounderstand the
impactofdevelopmentalinterventionsundertakenbytheOdishastateOpen
UniversitythroughOER.ChapterV:OpenEducationalResourceRepository:An
InitiativeofNetajiSubhasOpenUniversitydescribestheissuesrelatingtothe
institutional OER policy development and use of OER repository ofNSOU
Kolkata.Italsore�lectsontheaccesstotheOERforbetterqualitylearning.
ChapterVI:AccesstoVocationalEducationthroughOERandICT:AnEvaluation
focusesonsomeoftherecentinitiativestakenbytheuniversitythatensures
inclusiveandequitablequalityeducationandpromoteslifelonglearning.It
alsohighlightstheimpactoftheCEMCAinterventionforqualityimprovement
ofthecoursecontentanddeliverysystemofthetwovocationalcourses,viz.
Pre-primary Teachers' Education-Montessori (Diploma) and Tailoring and
DressDesigning(AdvancedDiploma).
3
The chapters in this publication will assist informed educational leaders,
higher education teachers and higher education institutions to drive
developmentandimplementationofOpenEducationalResourceinteaching
andlearning.
ItakethisopportunitytothankalltheHigherEducationInstitutionsspecially
theOpenUniversitiesinCommonwealthAsiawhoparticipatedintheevents
organised by CEMCA. I also thank all partners and collaborators, viz.,
Bangladesh Open University, Odisha State Open University, Netaji Subhas
OpenUniversity, UttarakhandOpenUniversity, andOpenUniversity of Sri
Lankaforhostingtheeventsandsupportingsuccessfulimplementationofthe
CEMCAprogramme“ImprovingQualityofTeaching&LearningResources
usingOERinHigherEducation”. Ialsoextendmyheartiestthankstothe
Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University (KKHSOU), Guwahati for
collaboration and support to organise the panel discussion in the
Internationalconference.IremainindebtedtoDr.ShahidRasoolDirectorand
TeamCEMCAfortheirsupport,motivationandvaluableadvicetoimproveand
completethiswork.Specialthanksarealsoduetoallthecontributorsfortheir
acceptancetoincludetheirworkinthisresourcebook.Asalways,welook
forwardtoreceivingyourcommentsandsuggestionsforimprovingourwork
atCEMCA.
ManasRanjanPanigrahi(Ph.D)ProgrammeOf�icer(Education)
CommonwealthEducationalMediacentreforAsia(CEMCA),
NewDelhi
4
Open Educational Resources for
Quality LearningManas Ranjan Panigrahi
Abstract
Learningisalifelongprocessforeveryindividualthatcanaccomplishthrough
differenteducationalresources.Traditionallyaccessofdifferenteducational
resourceswastoodif�icultandrecordanddisseminatesoon.Informationand
CommunicationTechnology(ICT) isnowplayingan importantroleforthe
disseminationofsustainablequalitylearningresourcesworldwide(Paland
Panigrahi, 2013). OER currently most often used is “digitized materials
offeredfreelyandopenlyforeducators,studentsandself-learnerstouseand
reuse for teaching, learning and research”. OER includes learning content,
software tools todevelop,useanddistributecontent,and implementation
resourcessuchasopenlicenses.Itisalsoreferstoaccumulateddigitalassets
thatcanbeadjustedandprovidebene�itswithoutrestrictingthepossibilities
forotherstoenjoythem.Camilleri&Tannhauser(2012) alsostatedOERas
“teaching, learning and research materials in any medium, digital or
otherwisethatresideinthepublicdomainorhavebeenreleasedunderan
openlicensethatpermitsno-costaccess,use,adaptationandredistribution
byotherswithnoorlimitedrestrictions”.Thelimitedrestrictionsarefurther
describedbyWiley(2009)ina4R-frameworkoffourrights:i.e.1.Reuse:the
righttoreusethecontentonlyinitsunalteredform;2.Revise:therightto
adapt,adjust,modify,oralterthecontentitself;3.Remix:therighttocombine
theoriginalorrevisedcontentwithothercontenttocreatesomethingnew;4.
Redistribute:therighttomakeandsharewithotherscopiesoftheoriginal
content,yourrevisions,oryourremixes.Allthe4RsgivingrightsofOERopen.
EvidencesshowthatOERisaboontotheteachinglearningworldandbecame
anecessarysocialinfrastructureduetoitsaccesswithoutcost.However,the
prematuredeathofmanyOERinitiativesmandatesourfurtherattentionto
thequalitydimensionsandthesolutiontothechallengesthatgrewalongwith
thismovement.Researchesaroundtheworldareoptimisticaboutthegrowth
ofOER'sef�iciency,relevanceandpotentialtopromotecreativity.Thispaper
exploresthebene�its,thequalityconcernsandindicators,andconcludeswith
suggestivecontinuumofmodelstomakethequalityofOERtotherequired
levelandmeetthechallenges.
5
Ch
ap
ter
- 1
Introduction
Learning is a lifelongprocess for every individual. It canbe accomplished
through different educational resources. Traditionally, access to different
educationalresources,itsrecordinganddisseminationwasdif�icult.However,
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is now playing an
importantroleforthedisseminationofsustainablequalitylearningresources
worldwide (Pal and Panigrahi, 2013). ICT is de�ined as a diverse set of
technologicaltoolsandresourcesusedtocommunicate,create,disseminate,
store, and manage information. These technologies are computers, the
Internet,broadcasting(radioandtelevision),andtelephone(Blurton,2002).
AftertheadventofICT,theteachingandlearningprocesseshavevirtuallygot
revolutionisedglobally.
Althoughlearningresourcesareoftenconsideredaskeyintellectualproperty
intheglobaleducationalworld,moreandmoreinstitutions,academiaand
individualsaresharingdigitallearningresourcesovertheinternetopenlyand
freeofcost,asOpenEducationalResources(OER).OERareoftenpublishedon
the internet within a repository. Repositories may be institutional,
government funded, charitable or commercial, with most repositories
offering a step-by-step guide to release (Hemingway,Angell,Hartwell and
Heller, 2011). Digital teaching, learning, research resources in the public
domain or released under intellectual property licence permit free
use/repurposing by educators, students, self-learners and others (Chaney
andMenn,2013).Currently,mostoftenusedde�initionofOERis“digitized
materialsofferedfreelyandopenlyforeducators,studentsandself-learners
touseandreuseforteaching,learningandresearch”.OERincludeslearning
content, software tools to develop, use and distribute content, and
implementation of resources such as open licences. It also refers to
accumulateddigitalassetsthatcanbeadjustedandprovidesbene�itwithout
restricting the possibilities for others to enjoy them (OECD 2007). As
describedbyWiley(2006),theterm“learningobject”wascoinedin1994by
Wayne Hodgins and quickly entered the vernacular of educators and
instructional designers. As per the history of OER, learning objects
popularisedtheideathatdigitalmaterialscanbedesignedandproducedso
thattheycanbeeasilyreusedinavarietyofpedagogicalsituations.
Camilleri&Tannhauser (2012)alsostatedOERas “teaching, learningand
researchmaterials in anymedium, digital or otherwise, that reside in the
publicdomainorhavebeenreleasedunderanopenlicencethatpermitsno-
6
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
costaccess,use,adaptationandredistributionbyotherswithnoorlimited
restrictions”.ThelimitedrestrictionsarefurtherdescribedbyWiley(2009)in
a4R-frameworkoffourrightsi.e.1.Reuse:therighttoreusethecontentonly
initsunalteredform;2.Revise:therighttoadapt,adjust,modify,oralterthe
contentitself;3.Remix:therighttocombinetheoriginalorrevisedcontent
withothercontenttocreatesomethingnew;4.Redistribute:therighttomake
andsharewithotherscopiesoftheoriginalcontent,yourrevisions,oryour
remixes.Allthese4RsgivingrightsofOERopen.
RoleofOERinTeachingandLearning
Theissueoflearningcontentisopencourseware,i.e.,educationalmaterial
organisedascoursesandtypicallydistributedasPDF�iles,aswellassmaller
chunksof learning, often referred to as learningobjects.The contentmay
involvewebsites, simulations, text �iles, images, soundor videos indigital
format, someonly for use and others open for adaptation and reuse also.
Althoughnode�initestatisticsareavailable,thereisarapidexpansioninthe
numberofOERprojects,aswellasthenumberofpeopleinvolvedandthe
numberofresourcesavailable.
Digitalinformationhasbecomeasocialinfrastructureandwiththeexpansion
oftheinternet,networkinfrastructurehasbecomeanindispensablepartof
social life and industrial activities for mankind. Every day, new internet
applications and more ef�icient ways of doing existing tasks are being
discovered.Althoughmostinternetapplicationsareconcentratedonamore
ef�icient or cheaper way of performing existing tasks, the applications in
educationaremostlyconcernedwiththesharingofscarceresourcesavailable
inonelocation,withmanyotherlocations(PishvaandNishantha,2008).As
societymovesfurtherintothe"KnowledgeAge"everydayworkplacepractices
are being increasingly changed and shaped by new and advancing
technologies(ZuritaandNussbaum,2004).Inthisfastchanginginformation
age,evenaDVDplayerafter5–10yearsinthemarkethasbecomehistory,and
YouTubeandMTvUhavetakenitsplace(Berk,2009).Globallystudentsnow
tend to spend considerable amount of time on socialmedia tools such as
Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, blogging, wikis, Ebay, etc. (Dubose, 2011).
Today's'NetGeneration'ofstudentsissosophisticatedwithtechnologythat
theyhavebeenbrandedasdigitalnatives(Prensky,2001). 'Digital' istheir
native language. They are 'native speakers' of the language of computers,
video games, and the Internet. To match with this fast changing world
7
OpenEducationalResourcesforQualityLearning
scenario, the classrooms of the 'Net Generation' students should also be
upgradedtoenabletappingoftheirmultipleintelligencesandlearningstyles.
OER will be playing an important role in the future in dissemination of
learning resources. The advantages of use of OER aremany, viz., i.) Grab
learners'attention;ii.)Focusconcentration;iii.)Generateinterest;iv.)Create
asenseofanticipation;v.)Energiseorrelaxforlearningexercise;vi.)Draw
imagination;vii.)Improveattitudestowardcontentandlearning;viii.)Builda
connection with other scholars, educators and instructors; ix.) Increase
memoryofcontent;x.)Increaseunderstandingofsubject/content;xi.)Foster
creativity;xii.)Stimulatethe�lowofideas;xiii.)Fosterdeeperlearning;xiv.)
Provideanopportunityforfreedomofexpression;xv.)Serveasavehiclefor
collaboration;xvi.)Inspireandmotivate;xvii.)Makelearningfun;xviii.)Setan
appropriatemoodortone;xiv.)Decreaseanxietyandtensiononscarytopics;
andxx.)Creatememorablevisualimages.
OERwillexpandaccesstoeducationalresourcestomorelearners,moreofthe
time.Inparticular,adultlearners,studentswhoworkfulltime,andothernon-
traditionalstudentsstandtobene�itfromopenresourcesbecausetheyare
available for independent, self-directed study (EDUCAUSE, 2010). Open
resourcesareonewaytoaddresstherisingcostsofeducation,andtheyalso
have thepotential to facilitatenew styles of teaching and learning.Giving
facultytheabilitytopickandchoosetheindividualresourcestheywanttouse
and to modify those resources and “assemble” them in unique ways –
promisesgreaterdiversityoflearningenvironments.However,qualitymaybe
aconcernfortheusers.
QualityconcernsandindicatorsinOER
QualityofOERcanbedescribedbythefollowinginterdependentissues:i)
Ef�icienttoachieveeducationalgoalsset,ii)Relevanteducationinaddressing
theneedsofthecommunityandtheenvironment,iii)Promotecreativityand
innovations. However, it can also describe quality in terms of: Technical
ef�iciency(referringtoteachinglearningandpedagogicalissuesthatfocuson
inputs, teaching skills/methodology, organisation of school, (curriculum
content), and OER quality measures to be ful�illed continuously without
interruption (ethical and professionally ef�icient teachers, curriculum
(equitable,studentcentered,addresscountry'sneed,maintaininternational
standards), ef�icient organisation and management system, availability of
relevanteducationalsupport,adequatelearningtime).
8
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
Advocates of the open movement should consider actions for improving
accesstoandusefulnessofexistingresources.Therapidlygrowingnumberof
learning materials and repositories makes it important to �ind the most
relevant and highest quality resources.Metadata (descriptive information
abouttheresources)mayimprovethefunctionofsearchengines,butadding
goodqualitymetadatatoresourcesisdif�icultandtimeconsuming.
Alternative approaches such as automatically generated metadata and
folksonomies are being tested, but whether these are scaleable solutions
remain to be seen. Quality can be improved in many ways. There is a
troublesomeimbalancebetweentheprovisionofOERanditsutilisation.The
vastmajorityofOERisinEnglishandbasedonWesternculture,andthislimits
theirrelevanceandrisksconsigninglessdevelopedcountriestoplayingthe
roleofconsumers.However,anumberofprojectsnowexist indeveloping
countriestodevelopOERbasedontheirownlanguagesandcultures.
Since the concept of OER builds on the idea of reusing and repurposing
materials, interoperability is a key issue. Learning resources need to be
searchableacrossrepositoriesandpossibletodownload,integrateandadapt
acrossplatforms.Softwareapplicationsdevelopedatdifferentpointsintime
and by different developers should be able to operate together. Open
standardsmakethispossible.
QualityimprovementofOERcancontributealottotheknowledgesocietyas
well as also develop certain standards that can produce many learning
resources.ParticularlyOERqualitydemandsproperuseofthe4Rs–i.e.Reuse,
Revise,RemixandRedistributeprocess.
Thequalityindicatorsarethewayforwardofguidelinestocreateanddevelop
ofthestandardsofOER.Therearethreekindsof'openness'thatcoverarange
ofacademicfunctions,fromproductiontoorganisationtodistribution,and
theirdevelopmentanduseintheacademyoffergreatpotentialforshaping
practices in teaching, research and management. Whether a matter of
structure (Open Sources), protocols for informational organisation (Open
Access)orpurecontent(OpenContent), thecoreprincipleundergirdingall
theseformsof'openness'isthatwehaveabetterinformationenvironment
where the possibility of sharing is maximised (Fisher, 2006). If we will
consider these as the threepillar ofOER then these are also contributing
towards the quality indicators. Open Source is a legal framework for the
licencingoftechnology,whereintherightsofowninganartefact(suchasa
9
OpenEducationalResourcesforQualityLearning
softwarepackage)entailrightsnotonlytouseitbutalsotobeabletoknow
andchangetherudimentsofitsdesign.WhiletherearemanyOpenSource
variants, the core notion is that one's created intellectual property has a
structural design that is transparent, such that it can be freely (without
constraint or cost) manipulated or altered, generally towards the goal of
improvedversionsofthedesign.OpenAccessistheorganisingandpresenting
offreely-availablescholarlymaterialsontheInternet(andpresumablyany
successormodeofinformationrepositoryanddelivery),accordingtoasetof
principlesandprotocolsdevelopedininformationscience.Theoriginalfocus
wason'grey'materialssuchaspre-printsande-prints;somenewelectronic
journals now �it under this rubric (Bailey, 2005). Open Content is any
unrestrictedscholarlymaterialsontheInternet,irrespectiveofwhetherthey
followOpenAccessprotocoloreven�ittheformatoftext-basedmedia.Such
materialsincludedissertationarchives,teachingresources,interactivetools,
general and specialised repositories, and materials supplementary to
publishedarticlessuchasillustrationsorvideoandaudiorecordings.
Qualityisadominantissueineducationalliterature.ThosepublishingOER
may be concerned that their output is of a quality that re�lects their
professionalcapabilityandmayfeelthattheirreputationmaybedamagedby
publishingOER,particularlywheretheirresourcesdonot'translate'welltoa
virtual environment. The quality of repurposing and the adaptation of
resourceshavebeennotedbycommentators(Boulos;Marimba;andWheeler,
2006).PractitionersalsoappeartobeconcernedtoensurethattheOERthey
accessonlineanduseinteachingisofgoodquality.Theliteraturenotesthat
few repositories provide quality controlmeasures, and evenwhere these
exist,thisissuemaystillbeofconcern(LittlejohnA).Onesolutionisemployed
byMERLOT(MultimediaResourcesforOnlineLearningandTeaching)where
materialissubjectedtoprofessionalreview.However,thishassloweddown
thereleaseofresourcessomuchthatithasbeendescribedas'acrisisinOER'.
Certainly,delayingaccesstoOERiscontrarytotheinherentphilosophyandin
itselfmaymeanthatresourcesarenotuptodate.Ithasbeensuggestedthat
peerreviewandusercommunitiesmighthavepossiblewaystoresolvesome
concernsregardingquality(LarsenandVincent-Lancrin,2005).However,it
couldalsobearguedthattheperceivedqualityofaresourcedependsonthe
contextinwhichitisbeingused,andusersshouldthereforemaketheirown
judgement regarding its value and appropriateness. An alternative
interpretationofthequalityissueisthatOERwillinfactraisethequalityof
teaching resources. Organisational investment and control, the desire to
maintainprofessionalreputationandongoingupdatingandrepurposingby
10
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
the OER community could be seen as effective in ensuring high-quality
resources(Hylen,2006).Anumberofideasarecomingoutfromtheseveral
literaturesaboutthequalityofOER.
Paul Kawachi, (2013) discussed in his paper about identi�ication of OER
qualityassuranceindicatorsthatisobservedfromvariousliteratures.More
than30frameworksofqualitydimensionswerediscoveredintheliterature,
and15ofthesewereofsuf�icientmeritandrelevancetobethenexploredin
detailtoextractdimensionsandsub-dimensionsofqualityrelatedtolearning
materials.TheseframeworksarethosereportedbyAchieve(2011),Bakken&
Bridges (2011), Baya'a, Shehade & Baya'a (2009), Binns & Otto (2006),
Camilleri&Tannhauser(2012),CEMCA(2009),Ehlers(2012),Frydenberg
(2002),Merisotis&Phipps (2000),Khan (2001),Khanna&Basak (2013),
Kwak (2009), Latchem (2012), McGill (2012), Quality Matters Program
(2011),andSREB–SouthernRegionalEducationBoard(2001).Afterthisin-
depthstudyoftheseliteraturesanddiscussionwithOERexpertshesuggested
major �ive quality dimensions for OER with reference to educational
objectives, i.e., the Cognitive Domain, Affective Domain, Meta-cognitive
Domain, Environment Domain, and Management Domain. Brie�ly the �ive
DomainsandtheirrespectivecoveragearesummarisedinTable1.Together
theseconstituteafullcomprehensivemodeloflearningtoserveasthebasisof
OERqualityFrameworkhere.
11
Table1:ComprehensiveDescriptionsofFiveDomainsFramework
Sl.No. Domains RespectiveCoverage
1. CognitiveDomain
(Content)
contentknowledge,contentskills,andre�lective
criticalthinkingskillstobelearnt
2. AffectiveDomain
(Studentsmotivation)
motivations,attitudeanddecisiontoinitiate
performance,learnerindependenceandautonomy
3. Meta-cognitiveDomain
(Studentautonomy)
understandinghowthetaskisperformed,andthe
abilitytoself-monitor,evaluateandplanown
futurelearning
4. EnvironmentDomain
(Assess)
localisation,artisticpresentation,language,
multimedia,interactivity,andembeddedlinksto
othercontent
5. ManagementDomain
(Packaging)
discoverability,tagging,includingfortime
management,transmissibility,businessmodels
Source:PaulKawachi,(2013):http://cemca.org.in/ck�inder/user�iles/�iles/OERQ_TIPS_978-81-88770-07-6.pdf
OpenEducationalResourcesforQualityLearning
On the basis of the �ive-domain quality framework a shorter framework
entitledTIPSwascreated,wheretheacronymTIPSisusedtoprovidethetop-
levelcategorisationofcriteria,i.e.,(T)TeachingandLearning,(I)Information
andContent,(P)Presentation,and(S)System(Kawachi,2013). Atthesame
time this quality frameworkwas giving proper direction to develop open
educationalresources.Italsohelpedtodevelopaguidelineforpreparationof
quality educational materials for the students, teachers and researchers.
TheseguidelinesbyKawachi(2013)include65criterias.
ChallengesandLimitationsofOER:Focusonissuesof
thedevelopingworld
OERcanbeseenasofferinganaffordableandcrediblesolutiontothegrowing
disparity in education between developing and developed countries.
Althoughtheopenresourcerevolutionisgrowing,therearesomechallenges
thatmay sti�le the further progress of themovement. In this paper, three
challengeswillbedealtwith:thecopyrightissues;howtoassurequalityin
opencontent;andhowtosustainOERinitiativesinthelongerrun.
Copyrightissues
Copyright is the right of the originator to control the publication and
replicationofwork.Academiawasmostlyunawareofthecopyrightlicensing
even though the publication, consumption and distribution are known to
them,whentheywerepublishingintheprintmedia.Internetandotherdigital
mediahavechangedthis.AccordingtoMcCracken(2006),havingaccessto
publishing and production tools, and by licensing access to a digital,
ephemeral product rather than a physical object such as a book or print,
researchersaswellasteachersnowinterrelatewithlicensingasneverbefore.
Andforthemostparttheyseemeitherunpreparedorunwillingtoengage
withcumbersomelicensingprocedures.
Mostlyacademicsarehappytosharetheircreativeworks,butwithoutlosing
thecreditortheirrights.Althoughsomepeoplereleaseworkunderthepublic
domain,itisnotunusualthatauthorswouldliketoretainsomerightsover
theirwork.TheRoMEOprojectinUKmadeasurveyin2002–2003among542
researchersaboutwhatkindofrightstheywantedtoretain(Gadd,2003).A
majority (over 60%), were happy for third parties to display, print, save,
12
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
excerptfromandgiveawaytheirpapers,butwantedthistobeoncondition
that they were attributed as the authors and that all copies were done
verbatim.55%wantedtolimittheusageoftheirworkstoeducationaland
non-commercial.TheRoMEOreportconcludedthattheprotectionofferedto
researchpapersbycopyright law is inexcessofwhat is requiredbymost
academics.
Openliceningisasolutiontothecopyrightworriesofacademicians.Itoffersa
wayoutforcontrolledsharingwithsomerightscon�inedtoauthors.Thereare
severalopencontentlicencessuchasCreativeCommonsandtheGNUFree
Documentation Licence which introduces a certainty and clarity in the
processofobtainingpermissiontousetheworkofothers.Theyalsooffera
reduced administrative burden of clear rights before use. Hence this is
particularlyuseful intheeducationalcontextwhereusershave littleorno
insideknowledgeofthemechanismsusedbythemediaindustries.Finally,
openlicencesestablishabodyofworkslicensedas“opencontent”thatmaybe
freely shared. While these bene�its are making them attractive, the right
holdersdonothaveacasebycasecontrol.Instead,a'broad-sweep'control
overtheirworks,putsashadowonopenlicensing.Anothershortcomingtobe
mentionedisthewaivingofmoralrightstomakederivativeworks.Evenwith
theseshortcomings,theinternationalopenlicenseisgrowingasevidentfrom
thebulkvolumeofobjectsdeliveredundertheCreativeCommonslicense.A
recent comparison of seven Australian universities underpins previous
internationalresearchshowingthatrelyingsolelyonvoluntarydepositsby
academicsofresearcharticlestoOAarchiveswillresultinapproximately15%
contribution(Sale,2006).Criteriatodeposittheworksofauthorsinanopen
archiveshouldbetiedwithapolicytosupportauthorstofetchmore.Support
to authors can be achieved by professional recognition and pro�ile
enhancementthroughOERcontribution(Downes,2007).Teachersneedto
feelthattheireffortstodevelopOERwillberecognisedandrewardedinthe
samewayasotheracademicoutputsarevalued(Leeetal.,2008).
Qualityassurance
Theinherentproblemwiththeenormousdigitalresourcesavailableinthe
worldisalsoapplicableforOER.Consumersmaybehavinggreataccesstothe
digitalworldofinformationthroughthismode,butstilltheproblemofjudging
their quality and relevance is there. The issue of quality assurance is
13
OpenEducationalResourcesforQualityLearning
fundamental and cannot be treated at depth in this paper. Instead a few
differentapproachestodealwiththeissuearelistedas:
Brandingisoneoftheapproaches.Beforereleasingtheresourcesontothe
web,throughinternalchecktheinstitutionsmakesureofthequality.Users
havecon�idenceinthebrand/theinstitution'sprestigethatwillbeatstakeif
qualityisnotthere.However,thisinternalqualitycheckisnotopenandhence
theusersmaynotfollowit.
Yetanotherapproach ispeerreviewof theresources.Asdescribed in the
section on OA, this technique is one of the most used quality assurance
processesinacademia.Beingawell-knownandwellunderstoodroutine,this
maybeanacceptablequalityassurance for theconsumers.Therearealso
otherargumentsforusingpeerreviewschemestoguaranteethequalityof
resources inarepository.Taylor(2002)arguestheprocesscanbeusedto
cometo termswith the lackofarewardsystembygivingrecognitionand
reward to the creator of a learning resource, as well as a dissemination
method. Furthermore, there is a need for making the review decisions
credible, and for that purpose, an open peer review according to agreed
criteriaiswellsuited,Taylorclaims.
Athirdqualitymanagementapproachistoletindividualusersdecideon
whatever ground they likewhether a learning resource is of high quality,
useful,orgoodinanyotherrespect.Userrating/commentontheresourceor
describinghowtheyhaveusedit,orbyshowingthenumberofdownloadsfor
each resource on thewebsitemay generate a trust in the users. This is a
bottom-upapproachoftenusedonInternetbasedmarketplaces,musicsites,
etc.,thevalidityofwhichisnotdependable.However,suchanapproachwould
bejusti�iedinthatqualityisnotaninherentpartofalearningresource,but
rather a contextual phenomenon wherein the learning situation decides
whetheraresourceisusefulornot.Thereforeitistheuserwhoshouldbethejudge.
SustainabilityofOER
TheabundanceofOERattemptshascreatedcompetitionforfunding.Some
projectsarehavingfundingbutthiswillendafterfewyears,becausetheseare
onlystart-upfundsprovidedbytheinstitution.Thereforeitisimperativeto
seriouslyconsiderhowitcanbesustainedinthelongrun.Therearedifferent
kindsofOERprovidersandsustainabilitymodels.Hencethereisaneedto
14
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
discoverdifferentapproachesthatmightbeusefulinaparticularcontext.Two
differentapproaches–theinstitutionalmodelandthecommunitymodel–are
discussedhereasidealtypesateachendofacontinuum,wherealotofmodels
couldbeinvented.
ThecompetitionamonginstitutionbasedOERisgrowing.Hencetheyneedto
develop a strong brand, user communities, frequent site usability and
augmented quality of the resources offered. Community “marketing” is
importantfortheinstitutionalOERinitiativesforseveralreasons:
n Enablesuserstoformstrongconnectionswiththewebsite;
n Institutioncanlearnfromthecommunityaboutwhatworksandwhat
doesnotworkonthewebsite;
n Givespossibilitiesforrapiddiffusion;
n Strongcommunitiesin�luenceuserbehaviours–userscomebacktothe
repository.
InstitutionslaunchingOERprogrammesmightalsoneedtolookintodifferent
revenuemodelsforlongtermstabilityandviabilityoftheirinitiative.Tothis
end, some alternative models identi�ied by Dholakia; King; and Baraniuk
(2006)mightbeconsidered:
n Replacementmodel,whereOERreplacesotheruseandcanbene�itfrom
thecostsavingswhichisaresultofthereplacement.Itwasnotedthough
thatthismodelhasanatural limitsinceitcanonlygeneratethesame
amountofresourcesasitreplaces.
n Foundation,DonationorEndowmentmodel,wherethefundingforthe
operations isprovidedbyanexternalactor suchasFoundations.This
modelwasprimarilyseenasastart-upmodelthatwillmostprobablynot
be viable in the long run. It might be transferred into a Government
support model that could be a long-term option in some (mostly
European?)countriesbutnotothers.
n Segmentationmodelwheretheprovider,simultaneouslywithresources
for free, also provides “value-added” services to user segments and
chargesthemfortheseservices–suchassalesofpapercopies,training
15
OpenEducationalResourcesforQualityLearning
andusersupport,ask-an-expertservices,etc.Thismodel,togetherwith
theconversionmodel,isamongthemostusedintheeducationsector.
n Conversionmodel,where “yougive somethingaway for freeand then
converttheconsumertoapayingcustomer”.
n Voluntarysupportmodel isbasedon fund-raisingcampaigns.Another
version of this model is the Membership model where a coalition of
interestedparties–organisationsorindividuals–isinvitedtocontribute
acertainsumasseedmoneyoronanannualbasis.
n Contributor-Pay model where the contributors pay the cost of
maintainingthecontributionthatismadeavailablefreebytheprovider
makes available for free. This model is used to give OA to scienti�ic
publicationsandmightworkalsoforOER.
The alternative approach to building an OER programme with a strong
institutionalbackingisthecommunitymodel.Thisismoreofagrassroots
activity where individuals contribute with their time, knowledge and
resourcesonavoluntarybasis.Inthismodel,production,useanddistribution
are decentralised, compared to the institutional model where at least
productionanddistributionarecentralised.Fromacommunityperspective,
onemighttakeanalternativeviewontheover-allconceptofsustainability.
From this standpoint, it is not enough to look at the advantages and
disadvantagesofdifferentrevenueorfundingmodels–oneshouldnotonly
lookatwhopaysfortheresourcesbutalsowhocreatesthem,howtheyare
distributedandhowonecanworkwiththem.Someoftheaspectstoconsider
are:
n Technicalconsiderationssuchasdiscoverabilityoftheresources;
n Thekindofopennessandconstraintsonaccessandusethatisgivento
users;
n Differentcontentmodels(thepossibilitytolocalisecontent)andissuesof
licensing;
n Different staf�ing models and incentives for people to contribute
resources;
16
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
n Alternativework�lowstothetraditionaldesign-use-evaluationmodel,to
models without a clear distinction between production and use or
between the user and the producer. The concept of coproduction is
importanthere.
n Maintenanceandupdatingofresources.
Since the community model builds on voluntary work and enthusiasts,
sustainabilityisnotsomuchamatterof�inancialresourcesasofdismantling
barriersthathinderthecommunityto�lourishandgrow.Tentativeactions
couldbeto�indalternativestotheexistingIPRregimeandchangingthemind
setofdonorsnotonlytoincludefundingtoinstitutionalOERinitiativesbut
alsotolooselycomposedcommunities.Authors(e.g.,Geith&Vignare,2008;
Atwell,2007)suggestthatpubliclyfundedorganisationshavearesponsibility
toshareanddisseminateinformationforthebene�itofall.Itshouldbetheir
ethicstotheknowledgecommunity.Forindividualacademicians,thisistheir
ethics–toparticipateinacommunityofpracticearoundOERinwhichsharing
ofresourcesandexpertiseisexpectedandvalued(Leeetal.,2008).
17
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QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
Open Educational Resources (OER) Impact on
Students at Bangladesh Open UniversityMd. Mizanoor Rahman and Manas Ranjan Panigrahi
Abstract
Thispaperreportson�indingsfromastudyconductedwithstudentsusing
openeducationalresourcesastheprimarycoursematerialintheircoursesof
studies. The study took place at Bangladesh Open University (BOU), only
distanceeducationinstituteinthecountry.StudentswereassignedtheOER
whentheUniversitydevelopeditaspartofaCEMCAfundedprojectinitiative.
Two research instrumentswere employed to collect qualitative data from
students:asurveyandone-on-oneinterviewswithasmallerstudentsample.
Bothsurveyandinterviewitemsaskedstudentshowtheyengagedwiththe
OERastheprimaryself-learningcoursematerials(SLMs).Studentsshared
feedbackabouttheoverallorganizationoftheOER,methodsusedtoaccess
the OER and ease of use, bene�its and challenges, and differences and
similaritiestousingprintSLMs.Resultsindicatethatthemajorityofstudents
wereabletoaccesstheOERwithmoreeasethanprintSLMshandedinthe
Regional Centres (RCs), Sub-Regional Centres (SRCs), and Study Centres
(SCs).Asmallproportionofstudentsencounteredminorusabilityissues,but
themostgainaccesstotheOERviainternet.Themajorityofstudentsreported
that the course readings were equal to or better than print SLMs, and
responded positively to the variety of learning materials. Most students
agreedtheywouldbewillingtouseresourceinthefuture.
Introduction
In Bangladesh, government provides students with free textbooks for all
schoollearners(fromGrade1-10)andsimilarly,BangladeshOpenUniversity
(BOU)usesself-learningcoursematerials(SLMs)forthestudentsofmostof
its educational programmes. But, normally, the print SLMs is not timely
delivered because of maintaining government's purchase procurement
processwhichisassumedtimeconsumingandburcompulsory.In2014,the
Universityauthoritydecidedtocuratealternativedeliveryofcoursematerials
which consisted of openly licensed resources and SD cards to supplant
21
Ch
ap
ter
- 2
traditionaldeliveryoftextbooks.InlinewiththistheUniversitywiththehelp
ofCommonwealthofLearning(COL)cameoutwithanOERPolicy2014and
afteralongspanoftimeitimplementedOERRepositorywithCC-BYlicensein
2017 under the technical and �inancial support from theCommonwealth
EducationalMediaCentreforAsia(CEMCA)–regionalcounterpartoftheCOL.
Before, theUniversityused theopenaccessedmaterials for students.This
paperreportson�indingsfromastudyconductedasapartofprojectworkof
“BOU-CEMCAJoint InitiativeProjectonOERPolicyand Implementationof
BlendedApproachthrougheLearningatBangladeshOpenUniversity”from
July2016toMay2017withstudentswhousedtheBOUOERRepositorysite
fortheircoursesofstudies.
Objectives
TheaimofthispaperistolearnhowOERsareusefulinplaceofprintSLMsfor
BOUstudentsandhasimpactedstudents'academicexperiences.Thisstudy
achievesthefollowingobjectives:
n toassesstheBOUOERsiteinrelationto'views'whichwitnessestherange
ofusesofthematerials;
n toascertainstudents'attitudesandexperienceswithOERsrepresented
inthebroaderscopeofexistingOERRepositoryatBOU;
n to address challengeshaveessentiallyputBOUOERpractitionersand
advocatesatthenexusofOERdiscourse;and
n toidentifythebarriers,ifany,toOERadoptioninBOU;and
LiteratureReview
WhenOpenUniversitycameintoexistencedistanceeducationshiftedinopen
anddistancelearning(ODL)whichnormallyusedprint,radio-TVbroadcasts
andlimitedcontacts(face-to-facetutorialservices).OpenUniversitynormally
are famous for implementing open-door academic policies 'such as 'Open
Admission',say,noagebarrier,cost-effective,need-based,andreliedonprint,
radio-TVandmorerecently,internet.Webtechnologyprovidedopportunity
formakingthematerialsavailableforfreeusewhatistermsas'openasfree'.
These open accessedmaterials are restricted to copyright and then, open
educational resources (OER) is developed to provide "5 Rs of Openness:"
22
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
Retain,Reuse,Revise,Remix,andRedistribute(Wileyetal.,2014).OERhas
beenverycontent-centeredapproachandCronin (2017) �inds that “Using
OEPforteaching"wasconstructedshowingfourdimensionssharedbyopen
educators: balancing privacy and openness, developing digital literacies,
valuingsociallearning,andchallengingtraditionalteachingroleexpectations.
Thisisillustratedinthe�igure1preparedbasedonCronin(2017).Inthisway,
OERhasbeenpartoflifeoftheopeneducatorsandtheirstudents.
Balancingprivacy&openness,developingdigitalliteracies,valuingsociallearningandchallengingtraditionalteachingroleexpectations
Openlicencing-retain,reuse,revise,remixandredistributeoflearningmaterials
Freedom
YouTubevideos,TEDTalks,khanAcademyscreencasts,MOOCS
OpenasfreeOpenUniversity-radio-TV,recentlyInternet
Figure1:OpennessParadigmShift
OERhasbeennewandstillgrowingbecausesomeoftheinstitutesnotyet
started their OER initiatives. Therefore, much advocacy initiatives are
requiredforOERdevelopmentaroundtheglobeandinBangladesh.Onthe
otherhand,somecountriesareadvancedintheadoptionofOERandhave
beenverysuccessful.Inthisway,OERliteratureiscategorizedintotwo:they
are-OERadvocacyliteratureandOERadoptionliterature.
OERadvocacyliterature
Normally, advocacy initiatives come from the activists. For instance, in
Bangladesh,NGOsanddevelopmentpartnersdidadvocacyinitiativesfornon-
formal education (NFE) and �inally, government, in response, started
ministerial interventionsandmainstreamedtheNFEissues.Likewise,OER
23
OpenEducationalResources(OER)ImpactonStudentsatBangladeshOpenUniversity
advocacyliteraturehasbeenactivelycontributedtosincetheinceptionofthe
OERmovement.Thisissimplytheadvocacyinitiativestakenbytheagencies
suchascommunities,developmentorganizationsandeducationalnetworks.
Inthisregard,itisnecessarytomentionthat UNESCO,WilliamandFlora
Hewlett Foundation, and COL have sponsored OER advocacy initiatives
(seminar,conferencesandworkshops)atvariouslevelsindifferentcountries
and as result, some of countries formulated policy and some already
implemented with the help of their policy recommendations. Initially,
supportersoftheOERtooktheadvocacyinitiativesandcontributedinOER
development.Afterward,OERpractitionersaddedvalueintheOERadvocacy
literature.Africancountriesarechampioninthisrespect.Theyparticularly
focusedonbestpracticesforadoptionandimplementationofOERinitiatives.
They track the conditions of OER adoption, and provide strategy
recommendations to funders and the greater OER community of OER
strategists, advocates, and purveyors of OER programs/initiatives. For
example,OERAfricaisaground-breakinginitiativeestablishedbytheSouth
African Institute for Distance Education (SAIDE) for supporting higher
education institutions across Africa in the development and use of Open
EducationalResources(OER)toenhanceteachingandlearning(OERAfrica,
2017).Allen&Seaman(2014)statesthatoneofthebarrierstoOERadoption
isfacultyperceptionsaboutthetimerequiredandlevelofdif�iculty�inding
andevaluatingOERs.Inlinewiththis,COLinitiatedcapacitybuildingonOER
issuesforBOUfacultiesandcameoutwiththeBOUOERPolicy2014.Butthe
policy took a long time to implement. McAndrew (2013) �inds that OER
advocacyinitiativeshavebeenhelpfultoprovidestrategiesandcontextfor
OER program implementations, but most of the advocacy reports failed
presentdeepexaminationinthepostadoptionphase.UNESCO(2011)and
Wileyetal.(2013)reportedthatOERadvocacyliteratureshowsthatstudents
aremuchlessrepresented;therefore,students'participationinactivitiesto
supportOERdevelopment.BOU'sOERpolicyhibernatedforlongandthisis
only because of lack of participation by faculties (teachers, tutors) and
studentstosupportOERdevelopmentattheUniversity.Therefore,adoption
ofOERisthenextstageoftheadvocacyinitiatives.Nextsectiondiscussesthe
OERadoptionliterature.ToutilizeOERcouldbeaneconomicallyfeasibleway
foreducationalinstitutionstomeetthechallengesofmoderntechnologyand
increasingdemandsforhighereducation.But,thetransitionfromateacher-
to-student,textbookbasedpedagogy,toa�lexiblelearningenvironmentmust
be supportedby the educators and itmeans thatmost teacherswill need
24
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
encouragement and support to take the step from conventional
textbook/classroomeducation[Garrote(2012),Garrote-Juradoetal.(2014)
&ValladaresRodriguezetal.(2014)].
OERadoptionliterature
OERadoptionliteraturecameintoexistencefrom2011afterassessmentof
OER implementation programmes in various institutes. Slowly, the OER
getting the integral part of blended approach. Bliss, et al. ( 2013); Young
(2015);&Chae,(2015)�indthatresearchesonOERadoptionarelimitedto
facultymotivations,perceivedbarriers,bene�itsandincentivesencountered
OER-enabledprogrammes,andhowitisevaluated.MostoftheOER-enabled
programmes are cost savings as a bene�it, aswell as easier access to the
materials. Although, Pitt, et al. (2013) �ind very few negative student
responses on using OER-enabled programmes and Affordable Learning,
Georgia(2015)receivednegativefeedbackfromthestudentsastheycited
problemswithusability,organization,andthewritingstyleoftheresources
includedintheOER.Thistechnologymayhavesomeproblem,butnodoubtit
isgrowingfastandmakingtheOERindustrywhereBangladeshhasbeenthe
newmember.Someofthedepartmentsandinstitutesalreadyenteredinthe
OERadoptionwithdifferentoperators,say,dspaceandcreativecommon(CC).
Forinstance,BRACUniversityandDaffodilInternationalUniversityalready
placedtheirallpublicationsintheOERrepositorywiththeoperator–dspace–
and BOU already implemented 'BOU OER Repository' (http://www.
ebookbou.edu.bd/)usingtheopenlicensingundertheattributionoftheCC-
BYoftheoperator–CreativeCommons–whichcontainsthebuttons:onefor
SLM–eBooks–whereallSLMSaredepositedandanotherfor–BOUTube–
whereallvideomaterialsaredeposited.
Methodology
Thisstudy is intended toengagestudentsand fosteramore inclusiveand
equitableplatformonwhichtoconsiderbigpedagogicalinitiativeslikethe
creation/adoption of open educational resources. Objective is to bring
studentsintotheOERconversationisinformedbytheeducationalphilosophy
ofPauloFreire,theforemostadvocateofcriticalpedagogy.Thisstudyusestwo
tools–oneFocusGroupDiscussion(FGD)with20studentsforqualitativedata
usingthechecklistandonesurvey.89studentsintwoStudyCenters
(KalabaganLakeCircusGirls'HighSchoolandDhanmondiBoys'HighSchool)
25
OpenEducationalResources(OER)ImpactonStudentsatBangladeshOpenUniversity
undertheDhakaRegionalCenteroftheBOU.Studyincludesthestudentsof
theSSC(SecondarySchoolCerti�icate)programme(Grade9-10)oftheOpen
School. Atotalof89studentstookpartinthisstudythroughquestionnaire
usedLekertscalestoinvestigateattitudestowardsBOUOERRepositoryand
provided open ended responses for additional comments. Survey
administrator–the�irstauthor–identi�iedthestudentsusingsmartphones
withinternetconnectionandfrequentvisitorsofBOUOERRepository.Data
werecollectedbyaquestionnairewhichwasdesignedbythe�irstresearcher
(�irstauthor)andcheckedbyCEMCArepresentative–thesecondauthor. A
questionnaire with two sections, formed by questions about personal
informationandBOUOERRepositoryprogrammeswaspreparedandused.A
totalof25questionsonattitudeswith the followingdistributionof topics
wereasked:accesstoBOUOERRepository(1),attitudestowardsaccessibility
and thedevices foruseof text (4), attitudes towardsaccessibility and the
devicesforuseofvideo(6),attitudestolinkingoftextcontent(6),attitudes
towards navigation (5), attitudes towards interaction with instructor and
fellowstudents (5), attitudes toeffectivenessofmaterials (6).5questions
wereaboutthepersonalinformationsection(gender,age,grade,studycenter,
livingplace). Inquestionnaire,therewere�ivechoicesas“stronglyagree”,
“agree”,“neutral”,“disagree”and“stronglydisagree”.Thesechoiceshadvalues
from5 to1. In this study, the analytics ofBOUOER reform, as a realmof
University,isconductedthroughsuchaprocessofqualitativeresearch.
BOUOERPolicy-Analyses
Vision 2021 and the promise of establishing a digital Bangladesh drew
immensesupportfromthepeopleandthatcreatedpositivegroundsforthe
realizationofpowerofICTtoachievethesustainabledevelopment.Inline,the
country has been implementing ICT establishment projects such as A2i
(access to information) through the Ministry of ICT which created an
environmenttoimplementtheOERrepositoriesinBangladesh.
FrameworkforOERanalysis
BOUOERPolicy2014washibernatedforlongandwasnotyetimplemented.
Judith&Bull(2016)�indthattheimplementationofOERatthecourselevel
poses numerous challenges to education practitioners. To address these
challenges, Trotter & Cox (2016) develop an analytical framework which
called“OERadoptionpyramid”(Figure2).
26
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
Figure2:TheOERadoptionpyramid[Source:Trotter&Cox(2016)]
INTE
RNAL
LYDET
ERMIN
EDEX
TERN
ALLY
DET
ERMIN
EDINSTITUTIONSmaybeagentsofOERadoption
Capacityto�ind,use,createand/oruploadOER-
personallyorwithsupport
Accesstoinfrastructure:computers,internet,electricity
AwarenessofOER,theconcept,andhowitdiffersfromother
educationalresources
Permissiontouse/createOER,asdeterminedIPpolicy
INDIVIDUALSmaybeagentsofOERadoption
AvailabilityofrelevantOERofrequisite
quality
VolitiontoadoptOER
InstitutionalSocial
Personal
This �igure illustrates that some external and internal factors that affect
adoptionofOER,theyare:infrastructureaccess,legalpermission,intellectual
awareness, technical capacity, educational resource availability and
individual(or institutional)volition.Thisframeworkhasbeenusedinthis
studytoBOUoperatedinhighlydenselypopulatedandunilingualcountry
withaface-to-faceteachingmodel.Itiscomparativelypoorlyresourcedand
mandated for “underprivileged”. Therefore, this framework has beenwell
described for this study.BOUuses internet for longand ithasa complete
ComputerDepartmenttoprovideallsortsofDBA(DatabaseAdministration)
andPCsupportforadoptionofinternet.But,OERnotyetadoptedanditisfor
lackoflegalpermissionandCOLcameuptodevelopthepolicypaperforBOU.
DevelopmentoftheOERPolicy
HoldingacapacitybuildingworkshoponOERissuesin2014withthehelpof
theCOL,BOUbeginconsideringthe implementationofanOERPolicy.The
workshop�inishedwiththeoutputofdraftof'BOUPolicy2014'.Duringthe
workshop,34participants representing theconcernedschoolsof theBOU
receivedthetrainingandmadeactivecontributionstodevelopingtheOER
27
OpenEducationalResources(OER)ImpactonStudentsatBangladeshOpenUniversity
Policy. Essential knowledge onOER and open licenceswas presented and
discussedbytheparticipatingspecialiststodeepentheirunderstandingand
practicalskills. WaneMakintoshfromNewZealandalsodeliveredalecture
throughonlinefortheparticipantsandhepresentedthelessonslearnedfrom
the implementation of OER initiatives to inform the policy-makers. Prof
KhandakarMokaddemHossain,PVCofBOU–thePolicy-makerandhewas
enlightenedonaframeworkonthedevelopmentofOERpoliciesandstep-by-
stepguidancewereprovidedtofacilitateaneedsanalysisandtocontextualize
OER for BOU. The workshop not only built capacity of policy-makers in
developingsector-wideOERpolicies,butalsoresultedinthe�irstdraftofthe
of�icialOERPolicyforBOU. 30thAcademicCouncilapprovedtheBOUOER
Policy2014approvedandinthisway,legalpermissionforOERadoptioncame
intoexistence.
Policyanalysis
In2014, BOU OER policy came into existence and but, lack of strategies
represent salient responses that impact the practical processes of OER
implementationatthecourselevelinBOU. TheOERPolicydidn'tsetupthe
vision, say, for 2020, 2015, to support the establishment of a sharing
mechanismfortheproduction.Thismaybetheoneofthereasonsnottogive
driveforpreparingtheOERMasterPlantargetistospreadOERcultureand
empowerbothacademicandof�icialsoftheUniversitytoproduceandshare
high-qualityOERonline,furtherenhancingtheaccesstodigitalcontent.The
University already had the Open Accessed materials. But of the policy
formulation,theUniversityfeltintermsofusingOER,majoractivitiesplanned
so far include de�ining, designing and producing interactive e-books and
establishedtheBOUeLearningCenter.Thee-contentstandardsweretobe
�inalized. Through establishment of the eLeaning Center, the University
decidesfordesigninginteractivee-bookstosupportblendedlearninginthe
regulareducationalsystem.Inaddition,GovernmentimplementstheNational
EducationPolicy2010andthispolicystatesthat'BangladeshOpenUniversity
willbebuiltupasatruedigitaluniversityenrichedbyfacilitiesofIT'.Through
theonesentencepolicyhasconferredhugetasksonBOUandinlinewiththis
BOUhasbeendeployingtechnologiesinthedeliveryoftheprogramme.In
addition, the education policy also puts emphasis on operationalizing the
libraries through ICT by phases and thus opens upways to access global
knowledge (SoE,2016).Thepolicyhas cleardirectiononOERandcanbe
exploredfromthefollowingstatementcitedinthePolicy:
28
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
….enriched libraries will be set up in every college and university. All
research journals will be collected through electronic subscription. All
librariesofthecountrywillbeconnectedthroughnetworkingsothatany
student can have access to the resources of other libraries. By phases,
digitaleditionofbooksandjournalswillbemadeavailable. Recognizing
the importanceof the institutions, thestructural formatof thenational
libraryandarchiveswillbereorganizedandtheywillbebroughtunderthe
digitalsystem(SoE,2016,p,15).
Therefore,OERhasbeenimperativeforBOUandaswellforthenation.But,
OERarenotinplace.TheearlysignsoftheOERPolicy'simplementationshow
that ithashadapositive in�luenceonanumberofeducational issuesand
contexts.Thepolicyhasaprovisionforworkingahighpoweredcommittee
titled “Copyright Policy Standing Committee” to address any issues
concerning the proper interpretation of this Policy consisting of the
followings:
29
Chairman:ViceChancellor
Members:
Pro-ViceChancellor(s)
Treasurer
LegaladvisertoBOU
DeansoftheSchools
Twocopyrightexpert(external)nominatedbytheacademiccouncil
Director,Printing&PublicationsDivision
Registrar,he/shewillbethesecretaryofthecommitteetoo
Thecommitteedidnotworkatalland�inally,aprojectisdevelopedtomeet
thechallengesmentionedinthesuggestedframeworktheyare–intellectual
awareness, technical capacity, educational resource availability and
individual(orinstitutional)volition–toseekCEMCAsupport.Theawareness
of thisphilosophybeganwith theOERproject implementation committee
conductingseveraleventsandactivitiesaftertheOERMasterPlanwasformed
intheProjectPro�ile(PP).Duringtheprojectimplementation,avarietyofOER
activities and events also took place, including workshops for teachers,
administrators,andpolicypeople.PurposeoftheOERPolicystates:
OpenEducationalResources(OER)ImpactonStudentsatBangladeshOpenUniversity
“Thiscopyrightpolicyisintendedtoprovideclari�icationandguidelinesfor
BOUacademics,staffandlearnersregardingtheownership(copyright)of
createdworksandthepracticesforthepublication,use,reuse,remixand
distributionofmaterial.”.
In response, in 2017, the Project with permission of the BOU Authority
createdanOERRepository(http://www.ebookbou.edu.bd/)underlicensing
ofCC-BYoftheCreativeCommons.Policydecisionswereavailablebutlackof
awareness, capacity building, and individual volitionOER implementation
wasslowed.
BOUOERRepository
About 200 e-books have been uploaded in theOERRepository the policy
launching ceremony (March 2014) and in the OER development seminar
(April2017).The �inal tasks in the implementationstageare: releasingof
copyrightthroughCreativeCommonstosecureopenlicensing,gatheringOER
materials,andmakingtheOERavailablethroughaportal.ThroughtheProject
activitiesMBS programme is under process and this is, in fact, fullyOER-
enabledblendedbecauseeverycourseisof10lessonnotes,10PPTsand10
videolecturesand10face-to-facetutorialservices.Bycontinuingtopromote
theOERPolicyanddrawpeople'sinterestinparticipatinginOER,theBOUcan
expecttoseemoretransformationintheeducationsectorinthenearfuture.
DuringtheinitialformingofthetheoreticalstructureoftheOERPolicy,the
OERcommitteeshouldidentifythechallengesinproducingandsharingOER.
Surveywiththestudentsonattitudetowardsoftheexistingtherepositorysite
shalltoidentifythese.Thesurveyresultsarediscussedbelow:
ResultsandDiscussion
BOUprovidesstudentswiththeSLMsforeachcoursemainlyattheSSCand
HSCprogrammes.Mostofthetime,Universitymakesdelayinthedeliveryof
booksintime.Thisistimetheproblemhasbeenveryacute.Thisissituation,
learnershastheoptiontousethee-booksthroughaccessingtheBOUOER
Repository.
30
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
Learners'attitudetowardsonuseofOERrepositoryfor
SLMs
Table 1 illustrates the attitude scales on the use of e-books as alternative
sourceofrequiredtexts. Inthissection,studentswereaskedtoscaletheir
attitudeonalterativeoptionforaccessingrequiredtexts.Mostofthestudents
positivelyrespondedonaccessingtheBOUOERRepository(Meanvalueis
4.56andSD is0.88).During interviews, students'most immediatelynoted
theirsatisfactionwithcostsavings,andtheadditionalconveniencethatOERs
offered. When students talked about convenience, they often did so by
voluntarilycontrastingtheOERtoaprintedtextbook.
Tabletswere less frequentlyused(mean2.85andSD is0.87).Mostof the
studentsinterviewedrespondedpositivelyofusingacombinationofalaptop
ordesktop,andtheirphone.Studentssharedwhytheyprintedif theyhad
doneso(meanvalue4.01and0.67).Still,readingonasmartphonewasthe
nextmostcommonmethod.
31
Table1:Learners'attitudetowardsonuseofOERrepositoryforSLMs(N=98)
Items SDN Mean
IuseBOUOERRepositoryofe-booksformystudies
Iprinte-booksoutashardcopynothandedintime
Ireade-booksonapersonallaptoporcomputer
Ireade-booksonBOUcomputer
Ireade-booksonatablet
Ireade-booksonasmartphone
78
74
73
67
78
75
4.56
4.01
3.05
2.34
2.85
3.61
0.88
0.67
0.94
0.79
0.87
0.87
Theaccessingviatabletshasbeenlowandnegativeresponsesandtheyused
tabletsrarelytonever.This�indingindicatesthatstudentsownssmartphone
rathertablet.Thefulldistributionofresponsesalsoindicatesthatstudents
useacombinationofmethodstoaccessthecoursereadings,anddespitethe
prevalence of handheld and portable devices such as smart phones,most
students commonly used laptops or desktops to do their reading. During
interviews,studentsalsosharedhowtheyaccessedtheOERonadailybasis.
OpenEducationalResources(OER)ImpactonStudentsatBangladeshOpenUniversity
32
Learners'attitudetowardsonuseofOERrepositoryforBOUTube
BOUusesradio-TVbroadcastsandmakesavailablethesubjectspeci�icvideo
lecturesintherepository.Inordertoknowtheattitudesonthevideolectures
andtheresultisverypositive(meanvalue4.55andtheSDis0.87)although
theyfacedif�icultiesindownloadingtheOERvideoresources.Studentsmost
frequently citeddif�iculties in downloading (mean value is 3.71 and SD is
0.97).
Table2:Learners'attitudetowardsonuseofOERrepositoryforBOUTube(N=98)
Items SDN Mean
IuseBOUOERRepositoryofvideolecturesforstudies
Iexperiencedif�icultiesindownloadingresources
Iwatchvideolecturesonapersonallaptoporcomputer
IwatchvideolecturesonBOUcomputer
Iwatchvideolecturesonatablet
Iwatchvideolecturesonasmartphones
Watchingvideolecturesisnotachallengeforme
77
70
78
77
78
69
81
4.55
3.71
2.6
2.19
2.73
3.62
3.99
0.87
0.95
0.73
0.67
0.78
0.69
0.40
Table2mostofthemhavelookedforvideos.AspecialproblemfortheBOU
participantsislimitedaccesstointernet(mobileinternetmainly)thatmakes
italmostimpossibletodownloadvideo.Itmaybesurprisingtoseehowoften
videohavebeenusedbytheBOUlearners,consideringthebigproblemswith
accesstocomputersandinternet,butthisispossiblebysharingviaintranet
andportablememorydevices.
Learners'attitudetowardsOERcharacteristicsoftexts
Thesurveyalsoaskedstudentswhatitwasliketolocatematerialsfromthe
OER. Students responded positively by reporting that it was very easy to
retrievethecoursematerialsfromtheOErepository.Studentshadaneutral
responseandonestudentfoundnavigatingtheOERtobedif�icult.Students
alsochosefromavarietyofoptionstoreportwhethertheyencounteredany
dif�icultiesassociatedwithaccessingtheOERmaterials.
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
33
Table3:Learners'attitudetowardsOERcharacteristicsoftexts(N=98)
Items SDN Mean
BOUe-booksarelinkedtootherlearningmaterials
BOUe-booksareformattedinPDFversion
BOUe-booksareeasytoeditintheweb
IcaneasilyremixtheBOUe-books
IcaneasilymodifytheBOUe-books
Icansharethee-bookstomyfriendsthroughsocialmedia
78
77
81
75
77
77
2.15
4.65
2.98
1.93
2.27
3.74
0.61
0.64
0.71
0.45
0.66
0.98
Learners'attitudetowardsOERforlearningexperiences
StudentsalsoreportedthattheOERdidnotimpacttheirclassparticipationor
their interest in the course. Students were most positive about the OER
increasing their satisfaction with the learning experience, and their
engagementwiththecourselessonsincontrasttoatraditionaltextbook.
Table4:Learners'attitudetowardsOERforlearningexperiences(N=98)
Items SDN Mean
Usingthee-booksiteincreasedmyinterestinthesubject
Usingthee-booksiteincreasedmyexposuretodifferentwaysoflearning
Usingthee-booksiteincreasedmysatisfactionwiththelearningexperience
Usingthee-booksiteincreasedmyengagementwiththelessons
Usingthee-booksitebuiltmycon�idence
73
77
77
82
85
4.58
4.19
3.45
3.51
4.52
0.74
0.40
0.90
0.98
0.85
The provision of high-performance digital devices and an effective
communicationnetworkfortheproductionanduploadofdigitalcontent:for
this,upgradesinnetworkcapacityandbetterdevicesareneeded.Motivation
tolearnhighest.This�indingwasnearlyidenticaltotheirratingoftheCourse
Quality.Bothratingsweregreaterthan3.97ona5-pointLikert-typescale.
FongandKwen(2007)examinedstudentmotivationtolearnandfoundthata
positive motivation to learn was associated with higher academic
achievement.
OpenEducationalResources(OER)ImpactonStudentsatBangladeshOpenUniversity
34
Impact
In addition to the structured questionnaire, two focus discussions were
conducted using a checklist. Students have been found that they arewell
informedabouttheBOUOERRepositorythroughtheirtutorsaboutallofthe
coursematerialsareavailableinoneonlinelocation.Theyreferencedthesite
aswellorganized,self-explanatory,andeasytonavigate.Someofthestudents
reportedthattheyusedtolookfortheoldbooksfromtheformerstudentsof
thesameprogramme.StudentsfoundthattheOERmadenodifferencetotheir
learninghabitsbesidesofferingmoreaccessibilityandconvenience.Ofthese
two, onementioned liking the ability to �lip back and forth in a textbook
insteadofscrolling.Acoupleofstudentsfoundthecoursereadingstobefar
less overwhelming than a textbook because they could focus in on the
important components. Another student mentioned her preference for
watching videos, a learning habit she had developed independently by
searchingforBOUTubevideosrelatedtocourses.Positiveattributesofonline
learning materials. The research that has emerged to explore online and
distance education in an effort to understand and improve high rates of
student attrition, can inform the design of OERs. In a qualitative study
conducted with distance education students with special needs, students
offeredseveralsuggestionstoimprovetheonlineeducationexperience.They
sharedtheirprioritiesforinstructorstomakeexpectationsclear,userubrics,
haveadetailedsyllabuswithduedates,createdirectionswithstep-by-step
instructions, and have a tutorial available on how to use technology
functionalities like an online discussion board (Catalano, 2014). These
suggestions are relevant to any learning context, but they offer important
insight intowhatstudents'value inordertoachievesuccesswith learning
materials. These suggestions are also consistent with students' positive
feedbackonthereliabilityandclarityofusingtheOER.Anotherimportant
aspectofthestudywastheopportunitytolearnmoreabouthowdifferent
learning materials impacted students. Based on the different materials
offeredontheOER,studentswereaskedtoratehoweachofthemsupported
their learningprocess, ifatall.Theresponseswereverypositive,withthe
majorityof studentsagreeing that eachmaterial supported their learning,
suggesting that students liked being able to use a variety of educational
materials.Studentsfoundtherequiredassignmentsandrequiredquizzesto
bemostsupportiveoftheirlearningprocess.
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
FuturePlans
BOUhastoensurethepositiveoutcomesoftheOERPolicythroughtackling
challengesandpreparingfutureplanofactions.Thegovernment'sgoalisto
preparestudentsforthe21stcentury'stechnologicalandscienti�icadvances.
In line with this, school curriculum authority made the ICT courses
compulsory to prepare citizens for dealing with the technology and
knowledgechallengesofthecomingerawithcon�idenceandenthusiasm.To
thisend,variousmoderntechnologieshavebeenintroducedtoschoolsand
societyaspartofimplementationofdigital-Bangladeshagenda.Nowitisfor
OERtomakefurtherimpacts,followingthefootprintofBOU'sdigitalpolicies.
OERfore-booksandvideolecturesarealreadymade.Inadditiontothis,more
OER-enabledblendedprogrammeswillbeincorporatedintheBOUacademic
portfolio. Intermsoflessonplanning,e-lessondesign,digitalteachingaids,
lessonactivities,differentiationresources,higherorderthinkingresources,
lessonstartersandplenaries, assessment for learning tools,behaviour for
learning tools and techniques, etc., collaboration should happen among
teachers,students,andvariouseducationalplayers.Studentsacrossalllevels
especially secondary level andhighereducationareexpected to formrich
networksofknowledgecreationandsharing.Thispracticewillenrichand
deepentheirlearningquality.Cronin(2017)�indsthatthatresearch-informed
policiesandcollaborativeandcriticalapproachestoopennessarerequiredto
support staff, students, and learning in an increasingly complex higher
educationenvironment. StudentsdependontheOERtoservethemjustas
wellasandinthesamecapacityasatextbook.The�indingsofthisresearch
indicatethatlearnersperceivethemselvesashighlymotivatedtolearnand
onlysomewhatpositiveintheirperceptionsrelatedtoOER.Thecurrentstudy
providedanevaluationofattitudestowardsOERandassociatedbehaviors,
and found that although students were unfamiliar with the term 'open
educational resources'. But they got information from the tutors about e-
books and tutors training on OER should ease the promotion of further
training and activities. There is already a culture of localized sharing and
borrowingofhardcopyof thematerial,but forstudent toengage inopen
educationalpractices(OEP)beyondtheinstitution,workneedstobedoneto
explore thewider barriers. OEP is possible in Bangladesh as the learning
materialsfortheformalschoolsarealsoavailableintheinternetforfreeof
use.
35
OpenEducationalResources(OER)ImpactonStudentsatBangladeshOpenUniversity
Conclusion
Alltheactivitiesdescribedinthispaperhavelaidthefoundationforsuccessof
BOUOERPolicy2014.First,becausetheOERPolicycorrespondstotheoverall
goals and aligns with other policies, it is less likely to encounter strong
opposition that could slow down or even halt progress. Second, the OER
CEMCA-BOUprojectismakingeffortstofurtherpromotecollaborationand
transparencyinadjustingthepolicy.Third,theOERPolicy'scommitmentto
providequalitymaterials,includingmonitoringandevaluation,shouldensure
thepolicy'ssuccessinmeetingthenationalgoals.Fourth,theImplementation
Plan is practical. And lastly, the key bene�iciaries in the OER Policy are
becoming more involved through various events that the OER Project
Implementation committee has organized. BOU is getting more mature
throughthreedecadesofpractices,lessonsandinnovationsandsuchmaturity
isbeingwellre�lectedinitsOERPolicy.
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38
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
Open Educational Practices at Uttarakhand Open University: From Policies to ImplementationC
ha
pte
r -
3
Jeetendra Pande
Abstract
Soonaftertheemergenceoftheopencoursewaremovement,in2002UNESCO
coinedthetermOpenEducationalResources(OERs)inaforumontheimpact
ofopencoursewareonhighereducationindevelopingcountries.Sincethen,
the OERmovement has gainedmuchmomentum and a globalmovement
towards collaboration in the development and sharing of content has
developedworldwide.UttarakhandOpenUniversity(UOU)hasembracedthe
OERapproachandstartedfollowingOpenEducationalPractices(OEP)after
adoptionofOERpolicyby it.UsingOERs, theUniversityhasdeveloped45
coursesandreleasedthemundertheCreativeCommonslicence.Inaddition,
theUniversityhasconductedmanyOERsensitisationworkshops,both for
policymakers and stakeholders, in the last fewyears. This paper presents
UOU's journey of adopting Open Educational Practices, from policy
formulationtoimplementation.
Introduction
UNESCO�irstusedthetermOERintheyear2002ataforumontheimpactof
opencoursewareonhighereducationindevelopingcountries.ThetermOpen
EducationalResources(OERs)referstoanytypeofeducationalmaterialthat
isinthepublicdomainoravailablewithanopenlicence,andthismeansthat
anyonecanlegallyandfreelycopy,use,adaptandre-shareit(UNESCO,2002).
OERswereoriginallyconceivedtosupporteducationbuttheyarealsobeing
seenasanalternativetotraditionaltextbooksinsomecountries.OERsare
availableinavarietyofforms,includingtextbooks,curricula,syllabi,lecture
notes,assignments,tests,projects,audio,video,animation,etc.
OneofthereasonsfortheincreasingpopularityofOERsinawiderangeof
institutionshasbeenthesteadyriseintextbookprices.ThepromiseofOERsis
basedonacultureofsharingandlearning,encouragingteachersandstudents
aliketoadoptexistingeducationalresourcesandadaptingandsharingthem
39
with others to maintain the cycle of collaboration and continuous
improvement.OERsofferequalaccesstoknowledgetoeveryoneandallow
resourcestobeadaptedformeetingaccessibilityneeds,thusmakingthem
equitable.Predominantlydigital,theyarebynatureaccessibleandbeingin
thepublicdomain,theyareaneconomicalteachingandlearningtool.Someof
thebene�itsandadvantagesofOERinclude:
n Improvedaccesstolearningmaterials;
n Increasedaccesstoresourcesinvernacularlanguages;
n Reducedcost;
n Supportforlifelonglearning;
n Curatableandcustomisable,tosuitcurricula;
n Enhanced accessibility to quality peer-reviewedmaterial, resulting in
curriculumenhancement;
n Improveddialoguewithpeersglobally.
ThispaperreviewsthejourneyofOpenEducationalPracticesatUttarakhand
OpenUniversity,frompolicyformulationtoitsimplementation.Thissection
isfollowedbyaliteraturesurveyofOERpracticesfollowedindifferentpartsof
theworld.Section3presentsUOU'sOERinitiatives.Section4discussesUOU's
strategic response to the recommendations made in the 2nd OERWorld
Congress on achieving SustainableDevelopment Goal 4 (SDG4). Section 5
discusses the successes, challenges and lessons learned from adoption of
Open Educational Practices at Uttarakhand Open University. The paper
concludeswithfew�inalremarkspresentedinSection6.
LiteratureSurveyonOERpracticesaroundtheworld
OER is best known as an 'open'movement and the general foundation is
simple:informationshouldbewidelydisseminatedandfreelyaccessible,in
ordertobene�itnotjustthetraditionallearnerbutalsothenon-traditional
andself-learner(Pena,2009).OERareeducationalresourcesthatarefreely
availableonthewebunderanopenlicense.Theopenlicensefacilitatesthe
adaptationandrepurposingofeducationalcontentsinvariedlanguagesand
cultural contexts,without thehurdleof seekingpermissionof the content
owner.Openeducationalresourcesandopeneducationpracticeshave the
40
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
potential to lower costs and increase participation in higher education
(Murphy,2013).
TheOERjourneystartedwithTheUniversityofTubingeninGermanythat
publishedavideoseriesofitslecturesonlinein1999.Thetimelineofsomeof
theOERinitiativesaroundtheworldissummarisedinTable1.
Table1:TimelineofOERjourney
EventYear
TheUniversityofTubingeninGermanypublisshesavideoseriesofitslecturesonlinein1999.
1999
MassachusettsInstituteofTechnology'sOpenCourseware(OCW)initiativewith32initialcourses.
2002
ChinaintroducedChinaOpenResourcesforEducation(CORE)incollaborationwithMIT'sOCW.
2003
• SalmanKhanlaunchedKhanAcademyprovidesfreeaccesstoK-12leveleducationalresources.
• TheOpenUniversity(OU)ofUKalsolaunchedOpenLearn,whichisanopenlearningplatformofOUandcontainsSelfInstructionalMaterialandothereducationresourcesthroughitswebsiteLearningSpace.
2006
• Apple Inc. also joined the OER movement in 2007 and unveilsITunes U service which is an open and free educational platformconstructed on the basis of iTunes that provides brand-newdevelopmentconditionsandideasfortheco-constructionandsharingofOERs(Lu&Zhang,2011).
• UniversityofMichiganMedicalSchoollaunchedinitiativedScribe,thatprovidesallpre-clinicalcurriculamaterialsasOER.
2007
YouTubelaunchedafreeeducationalchannel,YouTubeEDUthatconsistsofthousandsofeducationalvideos,includingthosefrompartnerslikeKhanAcademy,Stanford,andTED-Ed.
2009
Codecademy,anonlineinteractiveplatformthatoffersfreecodingclassesin9differentprogramminglanguages,waslaunchedtoprovidefreeOERsforlearningcomputerprogramming.
2011
TED(Technology,Entertainment,Design),anon-pro�itmediaorganisation,launchedTEDEdtoprovidefreeaccesstotop-qualityeducationalvideosfromtheworld'stopteacherstothemasses.
2012
StanfordUniversitylaunchedStanfordOpenEdXtoofferfreeonlinecoursesthatdrawmorethan350,000enrollmentsaroundtheworld.
2013
41
OpenEducationalPracticesatUttarakhandOpenUniversity:FromPoliciestoImplementation
OER's penetration in the developing world has been slower than in
industrialisedcountries,withtheexceptionofChina,India, Japan,Vietnam
and Indonesia (Kanwar, 2015). Indian government has supported OER
initiatives in both policy and practice. In 2008, the National Knowledge
Commission(NKC)calledforanationale-contentandcurriculuminitiativeto
stimulatethecreation,adaptationandutilisationofOERbyIndianinstitutions
andtheleveragingofOERproducedoutsideIndia(Perryman&Seal,2016).
The Indian government has started several innovative programmes, like
SHAKSHAT (an academic portal), National Mission on Education through
InformationandCommunicationTechnology(NMEICT),NationalProgramon
TechnologyenhancedLearning (NPTEL),OSCAR(OpenSourceCourseware
AnimationsRepository),E-Grid(aneducationalportalofIIIT,Keralathatis
supportedbyMHRD),etc.,(Dutta,2016).In2014,India's�irstMOOCplatform
–SWAYAM–wasannouncedbyIndia'sPrimeMinisterNarendraModiinhis
IndependenceDayspeech.Openeducationalpractices(OEP)havealsobeen
nurtured, for example , through the Wikimedia India Chapter
(http://wiki.wikimedia. in/) and Creative Commons India (https://wiki.
creativecommons.org/wiki/India), in addition to the Karnataka OER
(http://karnatakaeducation.org.in/KOER/en) and Subject Teacher Forum
(http://karnatakaeducation.org.in/KOER/en/index.php/Subject_
Teacher_Forum)TeachereducationprojectsledbyIndianNGOITforChange
(Perryman,2013).SeveralinstitutionsinIndiahaveinitiatedactivitiesinthe
areaofOERandareeitherdevelopingtheirownpoliciesorlookingforwardto
guidelinesfromtheGovernmentofIndia.Apartfromtheopenlicencepolicyof
NMEICT,someinstitutionsthathavesomekindofOERpolicyincludeIndira
Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), Vardhaman Mahaveer Open
University,KrishnaKantaHandiquiStateOpenUniversity,UttarakhandOpen
University, Odisha State Open University, Central University of Himachal
PradeshandtheUniversityofHyderabad.
OERinitiativesinUttarakhandOpenUniversity
The OER journey of UOU started in 2011 when the University hosted a
conference, in collaboration with CEMCA, where issues related to ICT
interventions in distance education and open educational resourceswere
presentedandshared.TheOERjourneyofUOUissummarisedinFigure1.
42
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
43
OpenEducationalPracticesatUttarakhandOpenUniversity:FromPoliciestoImplementation
Figure1:OERJourneyofUOU
2018
44
UOU'sstrategicresponsetoSDG4
Basedon the2ndOERWorldCongress,CommonwealthofLearning (COL,
2017)has identi�iedconcreteactions tomainstreamingOER forachieving
SustainableDevelopmentGoal4 (SDG4):Ensuring inclusive andequitable
qualityeducationandpromotinglifelonglearningopportunitiesforall.UOU's
strategic responses to the recommendations for concrete action by
educationalinstitutionsareasfollows:
1. DevelopedandimplementedInstitutionalOERpolicy:Realisingthe
importanceofOERsandtheadvantagesofferedbyOER,UOUdeveloped
andimplementedinstitutionalOERpoliciesin2014withthesupportof
CEMCA.ThepurposeofthisOERPolicyisto:
a) Make material available under Creative Common licenses: All
materialdevelopedby theUniversity is releasedon theuniversity
OER Repository site under Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Moreover,
material such as University/School blog contents, Lecture notes,
Powerpoint presentations, Acts, Statutes and ordinances of the
University etc. are released under Creative Commons Attribution-
ShareAlike4.0InternationalLicense.
b) Support voluntary participation of Faculty and others in
developing OER content: Faculty members of the University are
actively involved in the development of OER content. The course
materialofCerti�icateofComputerApplications(CCA),DiplomainIT
(DIT),Certi�icate inE-governanceandCyberSecurity(CEGCS)and
MasterofComputerApplications(MCA)aredevelopedandreleased
asOERs.
c) Clarifypublicationrightsandlicensingissues:TheSLMandthe
supplementarystudymaterialownedbytheUniversitycontainfull
licenseinformation.
d) Provideguidance indevelopmentandreviewofOERmaterials,
priortosharingthemonaworldwidescale:Asamatterofpolicy,
onlythematerialthatiseditedandapprovedbytheDirectorofthe
concernedschoolisreleasedasanOER.
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
e) De�inecollaborationswithinandoutsidetheuniversitywiththe
intenttoallowfreeaccesstothee-contents:UOUhassignedanMOU
withotherUniversities,likeIGNOUandOdishaOpenUniversity,for
freesharingofe-content.
2. Created institutional mechanisms for OER quality assurance:
Assuring the quality of OER helps build institutional reputation. It is
importantthatOERreleasedbyeducationalinstitutionsbeeducationally
effective. To ensure this, Uttarakhand Open University has created
internalmechanismsforqualityassurance.TheUniversity'scurriculum-
basedlearningresources,developedthroughpeerreviewingandstrict
quality assurance mechanism are inbuilt in the course development
process and do not require further reviewing for uploading on the
repository. All other contributions are peer reviewed within the
departmentbeforeuploadingontheOERRepository.
3. CreatedaninstitutionalrepositoryforOER:WhileOERsaredeveloped
ininstitutions,itisnecessarytosharethemeffectivelyforwideruse.This
ispossibleonlythroughtheestablishmentofaninstitutionalrepository
that allows easy discovery ofOERby anyone, anywhere in theworld.
UttarakhandOpenUniversityhasdevelopedanOERrepositorythat is
accessible at elearning.uou.ac.in. This portal has beendevelopedwith
CEMCA's active support and contains SLM, supplementary reading
material,videolectures,etc.,bothinEnglishandHindi.Verysoon,UOU
shallbemigratingtheOERrepositorytothedSpaceplatform.
4. Regularly organising OER capacity-building programmes for
teachers:Buildingthecapacitytounderstand,�indandintegrateOERsin
teachingandlearningisimportantformainstreamingOERs.Thecapacity
to curate anduseOERs is as important as creatingor remixing them.
While most teachers are not involved in creating or remixing OER,
everyoneshouldbeaneffectiveuserofavailableOERs.Therearemany
resourcesavailablefortrainingteachersaboutOER.UttarakhandOpen
Universityhaveconducted5capacitybuildingtrainingprogrammesfor
its teachersonOERoutofwhich4areorganisedwith the supportof
CEMCA.
5. Collaboratewithotherinstitutionstoavoidreinventingthewheel:
ThemainobjectiveofOERsiscostreductionthroughtheuseofopenly
45
OpenEducationalPracticesatUttarakhandOpenUniversity:FromPoliciestoImplementation
available materials. Economies of scale can be achieved through
collaborationincontentdevelopment.UttarakhandOpenUniversityhas
usedmanyOERresourcesofferedbyNPTEL,SaylorAcademy,Wikibooks,
Open Textbook Library, University of Minnesota's OER repository,
individualwebsite ofDavidEvans, Portland StateUniversity,BCOpen
Textbooks, O'Reilly and Free Tech Books. UOU has also indigenously
developed course SLMs for some of the courses, such as discreet
mathematics and cyber security, and released them under creative
common open licence. These courses are available at its repository
elearning.uou.ac.in.Asofnow,�ifty-threecourseshavebeendevelopedby
fullyorpartiallyusingOER.
6. Taken steps to improve the institution's ICT infrastructure: Using
OERinteachingandlearning,aswellasdevelopingOERineducational
institutionsdependsontheavailabilityofanaccessibleICTinfrastructure
andinternetconnectivity.UOUisconnectedtointernetthroughNKNand
theUniversityisplanningtocon�iguredSpaceforitsonlinerepository.
7. DevelopedaccessibleOER:TheUniversityhasdevelopedOERsusing
accessible, editable formats and technologies to enable their use and
reusebypeoplewithdisabilities.TheOpenandDistanceLearningsystem
doesnot require regularclassattendance, therefore it isverypopular
amonglearnerswithdisabilitiesandlearningdif�iculties.Basedonthe
recommendationsofMacCann,1996,thefollowingstepshavebeentaken
to ensure easy availability of learning materials for people with
disabilities:
P The University has ensured that learning material is available
through disk/website/repository. Most blind/visually impaired
students use computer-based synthetic speech output as their
primary means of accessing the learning materials. The learning
materialisavailableineditableformattofacilitatethelearnerswho
requirelargeprints,sothattheycanchangethefontsizeandstyleas
pertheirneeds.
P VideolecturesrecordedinHindiareusedtosupplementthecourse
material. The videos contain subtitles to assist the learners with
hearingdisabilities.
46
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
P Learners with neurological disabilities often have dif�iculty with
visualpresentationbecausetheirvisualmemorymaybe'scrambled':
theymayhavetroubleextractingmeaning fromtextandgraphics.
However, they have less dif�iculty with aural comprehension.
Therefore,anaudiotapeiseasierforthemtounderstand.UOUmakes
availableaudiotapestoitslearnersthatarealsobroadcastthroughits
communityradiochannel,HelloHaldwani.
P Manylearnerslearnbetterwithcomputers,particularlythosewith
intellectualdisabilities.Computerprogrammesthatprovidemulti-
sensoryinformationareextremelymotivating.Theyalsoprovidea
meansofteachinglearnerswithlimitedornoreadingskills.However,
theinformationislimitedbywhatisvisibleonthescreen.Learners
may feelsaferbecause theycangobackandretrieve information.
Online courses have been launched through its online Moodle
platform,toassistlearners.
Successes,ChallengesandLessonsLearned
Successes
UOUhassuccessfullymanagedtoleveragethepotentialofOERsforenhancing
thespreadofqualityeducation.ThisisimportantsinceUOUwassetupwith
themandateofdisseminatingqualityhighereducationintheIndianstateof
Uttarakhand that has historically been facedwith low levels of economic
growthanddevelopmentandisconstrainedbychallenginggeographicaland
climaticconditions.UOU'svariousachievementsinjustoveradecadeare:
n DevelopmentandimplementationofanInstitutionalOERpolicy.
n Developmentof45coursesusingOERsandreleasingthemundercreative
commonslicence.
n CreationofanOERrepository.
n Con�iguringaMoodleLMSandmobileapp forhostingsupplementary
videolecturesthatarerecordedbytheUniversityfacultymemberand
releasedunderopenlicence.
47
OpenEducationalPracticesatUttarakhandOpenUniversity:FromPoliciestoImplementation
Challenges
Despite UOU's tremendous efforts focused at deploying OERs, thus
simplifyingthetaskofdisseminatingnecessaryknowledgeeconomically,the
University�indsitselfshortofthetargetsthatithassetforitselfinternallydue
toarangeofconstraintspullingdownitsefforts.Themoreprominentofthese
challengesare:
n Sustainability
n Low level of OER acceptance: In general, people are wary of sharing
knowledgeandfearscrutiny.
n Lackofsuf�icientsupportfrompeoplechampioningtheOERroute.
n Lossofeconomicgain
n IdentifyingsuitableOERsfromamongtheplethoraavailableinthepublic
domainglobally.
n Understanding the intricacies and �ineprint accompanying conditions
thatdictatetheuseofOpenLicenses.
LessonsLearned
GiventhatUOUisayoungentity,justoveradecadeold,thespeedwithwhichit
hasembracedanddeployedOERsisremarkable.Movingatafastpacehas
howevermadeitcommittime-consumingandcostlyerrors,fromwhichithas
derivedvariouslearnings,someofwhichare:
n Costsavingisamyth:ItrequiresmoretimeandefforttodevelopSLMas
OERasweneedtobeextracautiousaboutthequalityandrelevanceofthe
material.ButitisahugesavingoncostfortheinstitutionthatadoptsOERs
anddevelopsSLM.
n Alternateopenlicenses:VariousoptionstotheCreativeCommonslicence
areavailable,suchasCrownCopyrightlicence,GUIlicence,etc.
n Most of the available OERs fail tomeet UNESCO's guidelines de�ining
OERs.Mostrepositories'contentisinpdforotheruneditableformats.Use
ofopenformats,suchasMSWord,wouldeaserevisionandremixingof
content.
48
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
Conclusion
Academics is a primary stakeholder in education and the stakeholders'
positive attitude contributes to the success of any policy implementation.
Therefore, the results of the study indicate that adoption and continued
movementontheOERroutewillkeephavingpositiveandbene�icialeffectson
highereducationinthetimetocome.Thiswouldbeespeciallysatisfyingfor
Uttarakhand that needs to deliver more with less �inancial resources in
variousareaspertainingtoitspeople'sdevelopment,amongtheprimaryones
beingeducation.
References
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TechPublications.
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QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
Thisisapre-printofanarticlepublishedinInternationalJournalofInformationTechnology.The�inalauthenticatedversionisavailableonlineat:https://doi.org/10.1007/s41870-018-0208-y]”.
Ch
ap
ter
- 4
Developmental Interventions through Open Educational Resource: A Case of Odisha State Open UniversityJayanta Kar Sharma
Abstract
Odisha State Open University, Sambalpur in a joint effort with the
Commonwealth EducationalMedia Centre for Asia, NewDelhi has built a
platform for acceptance of Open Educational Resources policy in the
educationalsystemofOSOUthroughbothcoursewritersandcoordinators
consideringSelfLearningMaterials,videolecturesandaudioclipsasthebase
forqualitativematerials.Thiscasestudytriestounderstandthe impactof
developmentalinterventionsundertakenbytheOdishaStateOpenUniversity
throughOER.Traditionallydistanceeducationwaslimitedinthenumberof
peopleservedbecauseofproduction,reproduction,anddistributioncosts.
Thisshifthassigni�icantimplications,andallowsdistanceeducatorstoplay
animportantroleintheful�illmentofthepromiseoftherighttouniversal
education.NewdistanceeducationtechnologiessuchasOpenCourseWares,
actasenablerstoachievingtheuniversalrighttoeducation.Throughatypical
modelofopenlicensing,OERallowsanyonetoaccess,customize,andshare
digitally published educational materials for free, with the end result of
advancingteachingandlearningworldwide.
Introduction
Theroleofdistanceeducation isshifting.Traditionally,distanceeducation
was limited in the number of people served because of production,
reproduction,anddistributioncosts.Today,whileitstillcoststheuniversity
time and money to produce a course, technology has made it such that
reproduction costs are almost non-existent. This shift has signi�icant
implications,andallowsdistanceeducatorstoplayanimportantroleinthe
ful�illmentofthepromiseoftherighttouniversaleducation.Atlittleorno
cost,universitiescanmaketheircontentavailabletomillions.Thiscontenthas
thepotentialtosubstantiallyimprovethequalityoflifeoflearnersaroundthe
world.Newdistanceeducationtechnologies,suchasOpenCourseWares,act
asenablerstoachievingtheuniversalrighttoeducation.Thesetechnologies
51
and the associated changes in the cost of providing access to education,
changedistanceeducation'srolefromoneofclassroomalternativetooneof
socialtransformer(Caswell,Henson,Jensen,&Wiley,2008).
So,theNationalKnowledgeCommission(2007)hasalsohighlightedthe
importanceofOERinwideningtheaccessofhighereducation.Ithasstated
that“NationalEducationalFoundationwithone-timeinfusionofadequate
fundsmustbeestablishedtodevelopaweb-basedrepositoryofhighquality
educationalresources.Openeducationalresources(OER)mustbecreated
onlinethroughacollaborativeprocess,poolingintheeffortsandexpertise
ofallmajor institutionsofhighereducation.TheOERrepositorywould
supplypedagogicalsoftwareforvariousprogramsrunthroughODEandbe
available for utilization by all ODE institutions. An enabling legal
framework thatwouldallowunrestrictedaccesswithoutcompromising
intellectualauthorshipmustbedevisedforthispurpose.”
OdishaStateOpenUniversity(OSOU),Sambalpur,incollaborationwiththe
CommonwealthEducationalMediaCentreforAsia(CEMCA),NewDelhihas
developedaplatformforacceptanceofOpenEducationalResources(OER)
policyintheeducationalsystemofOSOUthroughbothcoursewritersand
coordinatorsconsideringSelfLearningMaterials(SLM),videolecturesand
audioclipsasthebaseforqualitativematerials.Inadditiontoit,incorporation
oflicensingprocessthroughCreativeCommonswillbringanewframeworkin
thepublicationarenaofthehighereducationsystemofIndia.
Therefore,thevisionandmissionoftheOdishaStateOpenUniversityisas
follows:
Vision
n Tostriveforexcellenceinthe�ieldofHigherEducationbyusinglatest
methods&technologies;
n Toprovidebestqualitymaterialssupplementedbytraining,workshop,
hands-on practices, contact programmes, using audio-video resources
availablethroughOER&MOOCS;
n Give emphasis on skill based vocational courses for promoting
employmentopportunities;
52
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
n CollaboratewiththebestUniversities/Institutes/CentresofExcellence
foradvancementofknowledgeandskills;
n Makefulluseofeducationaltechnologies;
n Adoptthebestpracticesavailableinthe�ield;
n Promoteinnovationinteaching,learning,trainingandresearch;
n Establish Centres of Excellence in different �ields following Open &
DistanceLearning.
Mission
n Providequalityeducationataffordablecosts;
n Reachouttopeopleleavinginrural/remotelocationsintheState;
n Create awareness among the people of the State about their rights &
dutiesandadoptscienti�icmethodsforsocio-economicgrowth;
n Collaborate with all Government Departments/State Resource
Centers/NGOsinallourendeavorstoreachtheunreached.
Conceptual Clari�ication: OER Policy of Odisha State
OpenUniversity
OpenEducationalResourcesarede�inedasteaching,learningandresearch
materialsinanymedium,digitalorotherwise,thatresideinthepublicdomain
orhavebeenreleasedunderanopenlicencethatpermitsno-costaccess,use,
adaptation and redistribution by others with no or limited restriction.
AdoptionofOERpolicyintheOdishaStateOpenUniversityenablesalearning
environmentforallthestakeholdersofOdishaStateOpenUniversitytocreate
anduseOERintheproductionofeducationalresourcesandenablesthemto
sharetheseunderappropriateopenlicences.
ThepurposeofthisOERPolicyisto:
n MakematerialsavailableundertheCreativeCommonslicences.
n Supportvoluntaryparticipationoffacultyandothersindevelopingthe
OERcontent.
53
DevelopmentalInterventionsthroughOpenEducationalResource:ACaseofOdishaStateOpenUniversity
54
n Clarifypublicationrightsandlicensingissues.
n ProvideguidanceindevelopmentandreviewofOERmaterialspriorto
sharingthemonaworldwidescale.
n De�inecollaborationswithinandwithouttheuniversitywiththeintentto
allowaccesstotheopencontent.
Applicability:
TheOERpolicyisapplicabletoallcontentdeveloperswithintheuniversity
andthoseengagedbytheuniversityforwritingmaterialsonshort-termbasis
assubjectmatterexperts.Alltypesoflearningmaterialsarereleasedinany
physical or electronic format. In caseswhere thematerial is developed in
collaboration/partnershipwithotherinstitutions,theguidelinesgoverning
thatcollaborationasindicatedintheMoU/MoCwillprevail.
TheUniversitysupportsfreeandopenaccesstoalleducationalresourcesand
will make them freely available on OER Repository through Creative
CommonsAttribution–allcontentsitownsorco-ownswiththefollowing
exceptions.AllOERmaterialssharedattheUniversityOERRepositorytothe
world at large will carry a disclaimer indicating that the material is for
educational purposes only and that the university absolves itself of any
practical misuse of the OER materials or their content. OER materials
authoredandpublishedbyfacultyandstaffoftheuniversityandothersdonot
necessarily re�lect the opinionof theuniversity.All learningmaterials are
publishedunderCC licence .Therefore, thechoiceof licencewillbe
decidedbythefacultyconcernedwhohasdevelopedthematerialandshallbe
vettedbytheinternalOERQualityReviewBoard.Orallmaterialsdeveloped
by it and having exclusive rights shall be released on the university OER
RepositorysiteunderCC-BY-SA;ForderivativesandreproductionsofotherCC
licensed materials, the University will respect the CC provisions and the
licensestherein.WhilesharingthematerialsoftheUniversityinappropriate
licenses, it does not permit derivatives to use the University logo for
differentiationfromtheoriginal.
Beinga responsiblehigher educational institutionand tomaintain its
quality,OSOUhasitsownQualityAssuranceandReviewSystemregarding
OERwithfollowingresponsibilities:
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
55
n TheUniversityOERRepositorystrivestoprovideresourcesofthehighest
quality.Thereviewingprocesswillbecarriedoutatdifferentlevels.
n Universitycurriculumbasedlearningresourcesdevelopedthroughpeer
reviewingandstrictqualityassurancemechanisminbuiltinthecourse
developmentprocesswillnotrequirefurtherreviewingforuploadingon
therepository.Allothercontributionswillbepeerreviewedwithinthe
departmentbeforeuploadingontheOERRepository.
n The OER Board will adopt a set of quality assurance guidelines and
indicatorstohelpteachersfocusonqualityofOER.
n Attheuniversitylevel,anOERBoardwillbecreatedtoreviewpolicyas
wellastheproduction,deliveryandaccessprocessesofOER.
NeedsofOER@OSOU
ThespecialfeaturesofODLandOERarequitesimilarandsupportiveofeach
other.Bothusesmoderncommunicationandinformationtechnologies,Wide
choiceofsubjects,satisfyingindividuallearner'sneeds,interestsandabilities,
noupperagerestrictionsalongwithlongertime-range(1-5yrs.)tocomplete
certain courses of study – with credit accumulation facilities, Continuous
AssessmentSystem through TMA (Tutor MarkedAssignments)orCMA
(Computer-MarkedAssignments),conductingPersonalContactProgramme
(PCP) through multi-channel delivery approach/Printed self-learning
materials/tutors and academic counselors with supports of interactive
periodical magazines, Audio-video Programmes, Telecast-Broadcast, Tele-
conferencing (one way video – two and audio or two way video) and a
dedicated website for providing information to learners. In such an
environment, potential bene�its of using OER can gear up the entire
educational systemasOpenEducationalResources (OER)are free, canbe
used without asking permission from the author; allow the creation of
multiple copies for distribution; are predominantly digital and therefore
accessiblethroughtheInternet,arenotboundgeographically,areadaptable,
allowingotherstorepurposethemfornewuses;cansupportlearningatone's
ownpace;allowaccesstohugeamountsofdataandinformationthroughOER
repositories.
IntermsofdevelopinganOERTextbookplatform,OERprovideacosteffective
setof teachingresourcesand theiropennatureencouragesothers to take
copiesandreworkthemtosuitnewcontexts.Alsobeingdigitalmeansthat
DevelopmentalInterventionsthroughOpenEducationalResource:ACaseofOdishaStateOpenUniversity
56
theyaredistributedviatheinternetandareaccessiblefromanywhereinthe
world.Beingdigitalalsomeansthatinmanyinstancestheycanbeeditedor
enhancedusingcommonsoftwareeditingtools.WhenOERareorganisedto
achieve a particular curriculum objective inside an OER Textbook, then
learnershavesomecontroloverhowquicklyormethodicallytheypacetheir
learning.Inspiteofforegoingpotentialbene�its,OERhasfewlimitationsbyits
nature. UsersofOERfacevariouschallengeswhenitcomestoharnessing
these resources. Current frustrations for users ofOER include sourcing of
appropriate OER, understanding open licenses adaptation, requires new
skills, traditionalmind-setspredominate,Robust Internetconnectivityand
good ICTavailability are essential to access and adaptOERandabove all,
mindsetsandincentivisationofhigherauthoritytowardsOERcreation.
InitiativestakenbyOSOUtopromoteOER
TopromoteOER,Universityhastakendifferentkindsofinitiativesofwhich
thefollowingareremarkable:
a. TrainingProgrammeonOpenEducationalResources(OER)&Openand
Distance Learning (ODL) organised by CEMCA, New Delhi in
collaborationwithOSOU,Sambalpurfrom11to13February,2016:
b. Workshop on 'Technologies for Open Textbooks' organised by
CommonwealthofLearning(COL)andhostedbyOSOU,Sambalpurfrom
25to27February,2016
c. SensitisationWorkshop on 'Institutional Open Educational Resources'
organizedbyCEMCA,NewDelhiincollaborationwithOSOU,Sambalpur
on5October,2016:
d. Workshopon'CreateandRepurposeofOERforLearning'organisedby
OSOU,SambalpurincollaborationwithCEMCA,NewDelhifrom25to27
October,2016:
TheCommonwealthEducationalMediaCentreforAsia(CEMCA)supported
the Odisha State Open University (OSOU), Sambalpur for the OER policy
�inalisation and implementation as developmental interventions in the
improvement of qualitative Higher Education in the state of Odisha. The
objectiveof the trainingprogramme is to designand develop the OER
material for thestudents of the university.TheSelfLearningMaterials
(SLM)canbeadopted,conceptualisedandtranslatedfromsomeofthebest
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
57
materials preparedby thebest teachersfrom within thecountry and
abroad. Butwhenthehandsontraining,�ieldwork,practiceteachingand
otherhandsonactivitieswillcome,thelocalresourcepersonswillbetrained
bytheuniversitysothatwiththehelpofthismaterialsavailablethroughOER
thatareofinternationalstandard,theywillbeabletodeliveratthelocallevel.
Objectivesofthisinitiativearetounderstandandidentifythedevelopmental
interventions throughOER in theOdisha StateOpenUniversity. Thebasic
interestistoobservethedevelopmentalactivitiesundertakenbytheHigher
EducationInstitutionintheintegrationandimplementationoftheOERPolicy
and its impact over the HEI. To accomplish this motto, the study was
undertakenprincipallybyasubjectiveapproach,gatheringinsideandoutside
information on the singular practice from a generally modest number of
members. Information or data was assembled through meetings, centre
gatherings, an online overview andworkshops. Furthermore, quantitative
information was gathered from online and of�line resources during the
workshops,andfromapreliminarysurveyofmembers'integrationofITin
generalandaspectsoftheirworkonidentifyingwiththereuseandsharingof
resourcesinspeci�ic.
After conducting such workshops and sensitisation programme users,
creators'participantshavegained:
1. Awarenessaboutthebasictheoreticalconceptsandpracticesrelatedto
OERswithininstitutionalcontext.
2. Competencies associatedwith academic practices related to OER and
openlicences.
3. KnowledgeandskillsinOERrelatedfunctionalareasincludingcreationof
quality assured course materials and search, �ind and reuse of OER
materialstobeintegratedincoursematerials.
4. AwarenessabouttheOSOU–OERpolicyadoptedbytheUniversityandits
expectationsfromtheacademicstaffs,coursedevelopmentteamsandthe
tutorialteams.
PotentialBene�itsofusingOER inOdishaStateOpen
University(OSOU):
TheinclusionofOERintheeducationalsystemofOSOUhasbeenbene�ittedby
varioussegments,suchas:
DevelopmentalInterventionsthroughOpenEducationalResource:ACaseofOdishaStateOpenUniversity
58
1. Single Repository of Learning and Teaching Resources as 'e-
Gyanagar’
Teacherscomplainthatapartfromthemselves,thestudentstoocaneasilyget
distracted by non-curriculum resources on the Internet especially when
searchingforOER.TheOERTextbookplatformwillallowasinglerepositoryof
quality-vetted resources not requiring access to the wider internet. The
platformalso offers teachers away around the problemof having to �irst
sourcealargepoolofappropriateOER.So,introductionof'e-Gyanagar'asa
singlerepositoryofOdishaStateOpenUniversity(OSOU)hasbeenableto
make necessary solutions to the large pool of problems of teachers and
students.
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
2. SolutionofCosteffectivenessthroughOpenlicenses
TheOERplatformdealingwithSelfLearningMaterials(SLM),audiolessons
and video lessons are extremely cost effective to develop, and they are
signi�icantlycheaperthanpurchasingtraditionaltextbooks.Thisispartlytrue
becauseoftheOERopenlicencesthatnegatesubscriptionsorpurchasesand
partlybecauseonepersoncandevelopthematerialsforasinglesubjectand
thensharethesewidelywithcolleagues.
59
Figure1:ProgrammewishSLMStatussincelasttwoyears
3. AccessibilityandaffordabilitythroughMobileApp
The gift of OER is the accessibility and affordability of higher education
throughtheMobileAppOSOU.Themobileappisdesignedtoensurethatall
information and activities of the University can be accessed by its
stakeholdersanytime,anywhere.Thishasmadetransformationintherobust
educationalsystemthroughsystematicarrangementandavailabilityofSelf
LearningMaterials(SLM)alongwithaplatformoffeedbackthatistobemore
interactive with the students and the faculty; the students and the study
centres;thefacultyandthestudycentres.
DevelopmentalInterventionsthroughOpenEducationalResource:ACaseofOdishaStateOpenUniversity
4. Development of opportunity for admission through e-Admission
process
TheintroductionofOnlineAdmissionportaloftheUniversityase-Admission
processhasremarkablyprovedtheconceptof'ReachtotheUnreached'within
thelimitedresourcesoftheinstitution.studycentres;thefacultyandthestudy
centres.
60
Programme-wiseadmissionAcademicsession2017–18
Pro�ileofLearnersAcademicSession2017-18
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
Recommendations
Recommendations for overcoming challenges to OER in Indian Higher
Education
As a result of the sequential development of the institution, the following
recommendationsmaybetakencareofas:
n AllhighereducationinstitutionsinIndiamayadoptandimplementthe
OERpolicytogetthebene�itofOER;
n Licensingpolicymaydifferintermsofformsandformatsandfromone
coursetoanotherinthesameinstitution;
n CreationofaConsortiumofOpenUniversitiesofIndia(COUI)tocreatea
platformfordiscussionanddeliberationonissuesofmutualinterestand
facilitateacademiccollaborationsfordesign,developmentanddeliveryof
onlinecourses/MOOCs;
n HEInstitutionsmaydeveloptheirownOERRepositoryonanappropriate
platformbyusingFOSSbasedsoftware;
n Organise more interactive and participatory workshops to make
necessaryawarenessofthedevelopmentalconceptofOER;
n DevelopmentofOERinregionallanguagesmaybeencouragedtoenhance
theaccessibilityofthecoursesbythemasses;
n Institutionsmaydeclareaninteroperablemetadataschematoorganise
OER materials in order to share OERs in the inter-university
environment;
n InstitutionalOERrepository'suser interfaceshouldhaveuser-friendly
environmenttoretrieverequireddocument;
n Creation of an LMS under OSOU to set off the process of academic
collaborationformutualbene�it;
n Inclusion of Flow-Charts, video tutorials and screen shots for the
descriptionofprocessesinvolvedintheapplicationofLMSandCMS;
n Provision of more time for hands on training to develop the self-
suf�iciencyoftheparticipantsintheapplicationofICT-enabledacademic
initiatives;
61
DevelopmentalInterventionsthroughOpenEducationalResource:ACaseofOdishaStateOpenUniversity
n Creation of curriculum-based teams fromamongst the participants to
designanddeveloponlinecourses/OERforthecoursesbeingofferedby
OSOU;
n InclusionofCaseStudiespertainingtoIndiaoranySouth-AsianCountry
tomakeitmorerelevanttotheIndianaudience.
Conclusion
Thus,thepresentworlddemandscreativityandinnovationfromallofus.A
cultureoflearningneedstobedevelopedsoastoequippeopletoprosperina
rapidly evolving, knowledge-based world. A computer-enhanced learning
environmentcanhelpmakethemuchneededtransitionfromjust'knowing'
to'sharing'.ThroughaplatformlikeOER,theHEIscanoutreachthegoalof
Universaleducationacrosstheglobe.
OERisaconceptrooted inthebelief thatunrestrictedaccesstoeducation
shouldbeentitledtoeverybody.Throughacommonmodelofopenlicensing,
OER allows anyone to access, customise, and share digitally published
educationalmaterialsforfree,withtheendresultofadvancingteachingand
learningworldwide.OERhaslimitlesspotentialtoexpandknowledgeamong
lifelonglearnersaroundtheworld.BelievinginthecapacityofOER,thereach
and impact of open coursewareneeds to be extendedby encouraging the
adoptionandadaptationofopeneducationalmaterialsaroundtheworld.In
India,wearestillinthenascentstagesofusingOER.
However,therehavebeenrecommendations,fortheGovernment,atdifferent
platformsfordevelopinganationale-contentandcurriculuminitiative.Both
shouldinitiallyfocusontherapidproductionandacquisitionofcontentin
highneedareaslikeagriculture,teachertraining,basicandappliedsciences
and engineering, technical education, liberal arts and social sciences,
communication skills, ethics andvalues, publichealth, andhigh end skills
includingmanagement.Ourprojectsshouldnotbecopiedormodeledonthe
linesofthosedevelopedinothercountries.Ourmodelshouldbebasedonour
needssuchasmultiplicityoflanguagesandavailableresources.Also,more
efforts would need to be made for 'Building Awareness, Voice, and
Understanding'abouttheissue.
62
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
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McGill,L.(Ed.)(2012).Openeducationalresourcesinfokit.HigherEducation
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http://www.sakshat.ac.in/Document/OER_Policy.pdf
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64
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
Open Educational Resource Repository:
An Initiative of Netaji Subhas Open University
Ch
ap
ter
- 5
Barnali Roy Choudhury
Abstract
Netaji Subhas Open University, Kolkata with supports of Commonwealth
Educational Media Centre for Asia, New Delhi has developed an Open
EducationalResourcesRepositoryasanimplementationofOpenEducational
Resource policy. Open Educational Resources (OER) are the inevitable
componentoftheeducationalsystemspeciallyinODLmode.Withtheadvent
ofwebandhardwarecomponent, it ismucheasier todevelop/collectand
disseminateeducationalmaterialsforwideningupthescopeandcoveragesof
teaching-learningprocess.Thispaperisgoingtoconcentratesontheissues
relatingtoneedofinstitutionalrepository,developmentofinstitutionalOER
repository,InstitutionalOERpolicydevelopmentanduseofOERrepository
forfurtherdevelopmentoftheeducationalsystemworldwide.
Introduction
Lowcostofhardwareandrevolutionofopensourcesoftwaregearedupthe
OpenandDistanceLearning(ODL)environment.Inthepresentscenariowe
have already encountered different types of educational technologies and
toolsintheopendomain.Aboveall,theOpenpractice(s),ingeneral,andOpen
Educational Resources, in particular, play a vital role to achieve equitable
qualityeducation forall.Likewise,other �lavoursofOpenInnovationsand
OpenEducationalResourcesareeconomically,legally,technicallyandsocially
freetoaccess.Hereeconomicallyfreeindicatesavailablefreeofcost;legally
freemeansmaterialsareinthepublicdomainorreleasedwithalicencethat
allowsforReuse,Revise,Remix,RetainandRedistribute(5Rs);technical
issuesmeansusingofopenstandards,opensoftwareandopenformatsatthe
timeofgeneratingOERmaterials;andthetermsocialissuesmeansthatifany
educational material is available, then it has the provision to maintain
academic integrity that is bene�icial for the entire community. Open
Educational Resources include syllabus of a full course, lab notes, study
65
materials,images,illustrations,maps,charts,casestudies,lessonsformatted
fora learningmanagement system, interactiveexercises,practiceproblem
sets, recorded lectures/events, assessment tools, multimedia/interactive
tutorials,software.OERhasitsof�icialrootsinaforumentitled“Forumonthe
ImpactofOpenCoursewareforHigherEducationinDevelopingCountries”in
2002organisedbyUNESCOandsponsoredbytheWilliamandFloraHewlett
Foundation (Hewlett Foundation) where the exact term was coined. But
history begins with the learning environment as the continuation of the
declarationmadebyMITwhentheyreleased50highereducationcoursesas
opencontentjustoneyearbacktoshareknowledgeinanopendomain.Soitis
not anewconceptnowadays. Since2002, theCommonwealthofLearning
(COL)andUNESCOportraytheirfootprintsconsistentlybypromotingOERin
ordertostrengthentheeducationalenvironment.
ThereareseveralprovisionstoaccessOERthroughaggregatorordatabases
orfromrepositoriesgloballylike the WOUOERRepository,OERAsia,OER
Commons, OER Online Archive, Open Educational Resources (OER) Africa,
GLOBE, Creative Commons, Copyright Licenses, OAsis : COL Open Access
InstitutionalRepository, theOrangeGrove, RRUOpenEducationalResource.
AndintheIndianperspective,NROERisthereandisacollaborativeplatform
initiated by the Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of
Human Resource Development, Government of India and managed by the
Central InstituteofEducationalTechnology,NationalCouncilofEducational
ResearchandTraining.
Abovementioned repositories are continent speci�ic by following general
subjects.Lookingintotheconsideration,educationalmaterialsthatbasically
structured with subject speci�ic syllabus and curriculum offered by
institution(s).Tohandlesuchasituation,theintuitionalrepositorymayjustify
needs of learners in a university system, especially in distance education.
Institutional repository is a system that collects,preserves, organises, and
providesnavigational access to scholarly communicationsof a community
(Hockx,2006).Institutionalscholarlyproductsmayincludestudymaterials,
faculty research outputs, student theses and dissertations, e-journals,
datasets, and so on. Institutional Repositories facilitate a provision for an
institutiontoshowcaseitsscholarlyoutput,introduceitsef�icienciestothe
digitaldocuments,andsoothingcrisisinscholarlycommunication(Gibbons,
2004).
66
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
NeedsofInstitutionalrepositoryforauniversitysystemareasfollows:
n Collection,preservationanddisseminationofsubjectspeci�iceducational
materials.
n Providingfreeaccesstoeducationalmaterials,lab-basedpracticesand
otherresearchoutputsofuniversitywithinandoutsidetheinstitutionin
24X7mode.
n Increasinge-visibilityofthescholarlyworksproducedattheinstitution
topromotequalityeducation.
n Maximisingtheimpactoftheuniversity'sresearchandteachingactivities.
n Increasedcommunityparticipationinthelearningenvironment.
n Motivateslearners'behavior.
Duetotheemergenttrendtowardsdigitallyborneducationalmaterialsand
lack of appropriate scholarly content, management systems among
universitieshavemadedigitalrepositoriesmoreimportantforthecollection
anddisseminationofscholarlymaterials(Budapest,2002;Chan,2004;Lynch,
2003).
Adigitalrepositoryistobeneededtohandlearichsetofeducationmaterial
providedbytheNSOU,andbykeepinginmindaboutlearners'pointofview,
for ease of access of the educational materials, NSOU developed its
institutional Repository as Institutional Open Educational Resources
RepositorybydeclaringitseducationalmaterialsasOERunderthecreative
commons licence. For right execution of the initiative, CEMCA
(Commonwealth EducationalMedia Centre forAsia), COLhas raised their
handtosupportNSOU.CEMCAtookinitiativestopromoteOERforequitable
qualityeducationforwhichtheytooklotsofinitiativesindividuallyandwith
participationfromUNESCO.
TheCommonwealthofLearning(COL),inpartnershipwithUNESCOandthe
GovernmentofSloveniaandwiththegeneroussupportofTheWilliamand
Flora Hewlett Foundation, conducted follow-up surveys of world
governments and key stakeholders. Regional Consultations on Open
EducationalResourceswerealsoheld.Inannouncingthe2ndOERCongressat
67
OpenEducationalResourceRepository:AnInitiativeofNetajiSubhasOpenUniversity
theUN,thePresidentofSlovenianotedthatthe“globalizationofthedigital
transformationisoccurringsoswiftlythatitwillhavetobeactivelyaddressed
by the UnitedNations and, in order to copewith social and technological
challenges,itisnecessarytostartwiththeeducationofyouth.”
So,withtheproactivesupportsofCEMCA,andCOL,theNetajiSubhasOpen
UniversityalreadybuiltitsinstitutionalOERrepositorytocateritslearners
communitywithSLMs,audio-visualmaterials,andsoon.Tocarryforward
withtheuniversitymotto,“Toreachtheunreached”,theNetajiSubhasOpen
University took the initiative to launch its Open Educational Resource
RepositorywithsupportoftheCommonwealthEducationalMediaCentrefor
Asia (CEMCA), NewDelhi. Advent features of ICT and the introduction of
collaborative,participativeandcommunicativeWeb2.0technologieslearning
environmenthavegonethroughaparadigmshiftfromprintedtodigital.Thus
accessibilityofresourcesisalsoincreasingdrasticallyindifferentformsand
formatsday-by-day.ThatisactuallytheimportantrequirementofanOpen
and Distance learning environment. Apart from this, the learning
environmentofthe21stcenturyisnotsimplyaboutreachingmorepeople,but
about improving the quality, sustainability, granularity and diversity of
educationalopportunities.Thus,duetoitsnaturalcharacteristics,implication
of OER is most comprehensive in open and distance learning (ODL)
educationalsystem.
Open Educational Resources (OER) are built on two convictions: that
“knowledgeisapublicgood”andthat“theinternetisagoodwayofsharing
knowledge.”NSOUgracefullyagreedwithsuchthingsandkeepingviewonthe
presenttechnology-drivenscenario,theUniversitylaunchedtheNSOU-OER
Repository to widen accessibility of educational materials along with the
followingobjectives:
P Providefacilityforlifelonglearning.
P Makeeducationaffordabletothedisadvantagedcommunityincorerural
areas.
P Contributetothesocio-economicdevelopmentofthenation.
BeforedevelopinganinstitionalOERrepository,NSOU,Kolkatahasadopted
institutionalOERpolicyforICTbasedstudentsupportfor29programmes
throughout its academic sessions. Now the University is enriching its
68
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
institutionalOERrepositorytoopenupgoodpossibilitiestopromotebetter
learning opportunities that are being �it with the local contextual and
cultural needs. Objectives behind framing the OER policy are to ensure
affordableanduniversallyaccessibleteaching-learningresourcesinorderto
enrich learning experiences; make easily sharable materials with the
provisionsofopenlicensingsystemslikecreativecommons;updatematerials
that can be edited, augmented, customised, combined and reformatted by
anyone;amplifyaccessoflearningresources;assistwithbothteachingand
learning freeofcostor in lessexpense;supportvoluntaryparticipationof
facultyandothersindevelopingOERcontent;andprotectintellectualworks
fromplagiarism.OERpolicyofNSOUisframedontheOERpolicytemplate
framedbyCEMCA.Asperthatformat,NSOUhasimplementedpolicyissuesas
follows:
StrategicOutputs To ensure inclusive and equitable quality educationopportunitiesbyrepurposingofhighqualityopeneducationalresources(OER)throughinstitutionalpolicies
OERCreation Content contributors to use, create and publish OERs toenhance the quality of the relevant resources with visibleacknowledgment under prede�ined creative common licence.OERs, name of the copyright owner(s), author(s), date andCreative Commons licence should be declared and publishedproperly.
KnowledgeSociety Domain Expert, Faculty, Staff and student's community mayframeknowledgesociety
ContentDevelopers AnypersonengagedinthedevelopmentofteachingandlearningmaterialsusedbytheUniversity.
Copyrights ©[NSOU][Year].[Nameoftheresource]ismadeavailableunderaCreativeCommonsAttribution-[speci�ic]4.0License[linkofthecclicenseversion]
OpenLicense CreativeCommonLicensetostatetheactualpermissionto5Rs
PolicyDeclaration Speci�icPolicyStatements
• Theremay be different policy issues for different scholarlyoutputsoftheNSOU.
• Researchpapers,UniversityReports-CC-BY-NC-ND
• SLMs-CC-BY-NC-SA
• A/VLectures,Lab-basedhandsonvideomaterials–CC-BY-NC-SA
69
OpenEducationalResourceRepository:AnInitiativeofNetajiSubhasOpenUniversity
70
Scope/Applicability ThispolicyappliestoallpublicationsofNSOUoncoursematerials,andotheracademicpublicationscreatedbytheUniversitysubjecttoapprovaloftheappropriateAuthorityoftheUniversity.
QualityAssurance
andReviewSystem
TheOERBoardwilladoptasetofqualityassuranceguidelinesandindicatorstohelpteachersfocusonqualityofOER.
Liability • AllOERmaterialsattheNSOUOERRepositorysharedwiththeworld at large will carry a disclaimer indicating that thematerial is for educational purposes only and that theuniversity absolves itself of any practicalmisuse of the OERmaterials or their content. OER materials authored andpublishedbyfacultyandstaffoftheuniversityandothersdonotnecessarilyre�lecttheopinionoftheuniversity
• All learning materials published under CC licence shouldincludethefollowinginformationinthecreditpage
• ©[NSOU][Year].[Nameoftheresource]ismadeavailableunderaCreativeCommonsAttribution-[speci�ic]4.0License[linkofthecclicenseversion]
Roleofthe
Faculty/Teachers/
ContentDevelopers
• The facultymemberresponsible fordevelopmentofacourseshallberesponsibleformanagementandadoptionofOERinthespeci�iccourse.
• Ingeneral,theconcernedfacultyshouldsearchforappropriateOERtoadopt/adaptinacourse,therebyreducingthecostofthecourseproduction,aswellasreducingthetimetoproducesuchmaterial,andimproving.
• e-studentlearning.
• IfnoOERisavailableinatopic,thenthatpartofthecontentshouldbedevelopedeitherbyinternalfacultyorbyengagingan appropriate expert from outside as per the normalprocedure of the University. When an external writer isengaged, the material should be reviewed, and appropriatecopyright assigned to the University with indemnity to theUniversity forPlagiarism, ifany, so that thematerialcanbereleasedbytheUniversityunderCClicence.
Institutional
Arrangements
• Teaching-learningmaterialsproducedbytheuniversityshallbesharedinasuitableonlineplatform.
• CentralITdepartmentshallberesponsibleforprovidingaccesstoallthestakeholders,andmaintenanceoftheplatform.
• FacultyandstaffmembersengagedinOERdevelopmentshallberegularlyprovidedwithcapacitybuildingopportunitybytheIT department to familiarise the stakeholders of theopportunitiesandtechnicalfeasibleoptionsoftheplatform.
• RegularupdateonCopyrights,OERandOpenLicenceshallbeorganisedbytheITdepartmenttopromotetheuseofOER.
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
AglimpseofNSOUOERRepository
Aninstitutionalrepositoryisaplatformforidentifying,collecting,managing,
disseminating,andpreservingeducationalresourcescreatedindigitalform
(RoyChoudhury,2016).TosearchOERmaterialsforfreeaccesstosustainable
andqualityeducationalmaterialstocatertotheUniversitymotto“Meeting
theUnmet”,asinglepointfederatedsearchmechanismisneeded.Inviewof
this, a dynamic system is prerequisite to build such a repository where
organisationofmaterialscouldassuretheretrievalofrequireddocumentsat
therighttimetotherightperson.Severalsoftwareareavailableintheopen
domain and in the commercial domain for development of a Repository.
Eprint, Greenstone, Dspace, DOKS Software, MYCORE Software, SOPS
SoftwareandFedoraarefewofthem.Amongallofthesesoftware,Dspaceis
the most comprehensive one since this dedicated software is quali�ied
throughtheconceptualisedsocial-andtechnical-orientedquali�iedindicators
(Atenas & Havemann, 2014) like Featured resources, Authorship of the
resources, Keywords of the resources, Inclusion ofmetadata, Multilingual
support,Inclusionofsocialmediatoolsforsharingresources,Speci�icationof
thetypeofCreativeCommonsLicencesperresource,Sourcecodeororiginal
�iles available. Educational materials of NSOU are non-linear by nature
becauseofseveralformsandformatsofdifferentkindsofmaterials.Weneed
�irsttosetthemetadataschema.Dublincoremetadataschemaisincorporated
withDspacetomanagethedescriptivestructure.Descriptivemetadatacan
manageidenti�ication,selection,collection,linkages,usabilityanddiscovery
ofresources.Thiscouldeasilyhelprecognisethereuse,remix,redistribution
of OER, clarity of rights, and resource discovery. Dspace has a strong
controlledvocabularyanditonlyhasthelicencetoredistributetwocontrol
vocabularies – Norwegian Science Index (nsi.xml) and Swedish Research
subjectcategoriesforef�icientinformationretrieval.
Netaji Subhas Open University hosted its institutional OER repository as
NSOU-OERRepository.ThroughthisrepositoryNSOUisintendedtoempower
its4.5lakhlearnerssituatedatWestBengalinablendedapproach.Inorderto
openupgoodpossibilitiestopromotebetterlearningopportunitiesthatbe�it
the local contextual and cultural leads in brief. This repository is mainly
concentratingitsfocusonthestrategicoutputofimplementingOERtoensure
inclusiveandequitablequalityeducationalopportunitiesbyrepurposingof
high quality Open Educational Resources through institutional policies in
71
OpenEducationalResourceRepository:AnInitiativeofNetajiSubhasOpenUniversity
Identi�icationof
EducationalMaterials
Organizationof
EducationalMaterials
IndexingofKeyterms
Search&Retrieval
order to facilitate innovative, collaborative and interactive learning
environmentwherelearnerssettheirowngoalsorownobjectivesratherthan
beingrestrictedbytheinstitution.
Netaji Subhas Open University is now catering to approximately 4.5 lakh
learnerswith its 142 study centres by fostering �lexible online admission
facility. Six schoolsof studieshave alreadybeen assigned to carryout the
responsibilitytoconductnearabout55courses(UG,PG,Diploma,PGDiploma
&Certi�icatecourses)inablendedapproachtocreatelearner-centricquality
education.Syllabiincludesfullcourses,coursematerials,Modules,Textbooks,
streamingvideos,syllabus,labnotebooks,studyguides,images,illustrations,
casestudies, lessons, interactiveexercises,practiceproblemsets,recorded
lectures/events,assessmenttools,software,etc.Theuniversityrecentlyhas
adopted the Open Educational Resource Policy for its ICT supported
programmes inorder toenrich thecapacitiesof learners, researchersand
professionalsbygeneratingOERbasedonthesyllabiofNSOUbyfollowing
structure:
NSOU-OERUserEnd
NSOU-OERrepositoryisarobustplatformwithFOSS-based(FreeandOpen
Source Software) architecture and federated search mechanism. The
UniversitygenerallyofferstechnologyembeddedfacilitieslikeWebsite,On-
lineadmission,E-mail,SMSalert,instantmessaging,e-SLMe-LectureMobile-
Learning,etc.
NSOU-OERrepositoryisaccessiblefromtheOERRepositorybuttonofNSOU's
home page < http://www.wbnsou.ac.in/index.shtml > or from direct URL
<nsouoer.krc.net.in>.Byclickingonthisbutton,NSOU-OERrepositoryhome
pageisthere.Thisrepositoryconsistsoftwosearchoptions–searchNSOU-
OER repository (centralized search service) and search other OER
72
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
repositories(Federatedsearchservice)tobroadensearchoutsidetheNSOU
repository. NSOUacknowledgesCEMCA'scontributionbysharingitslogoin
thehomepageoftherepositoryhere.Thispagealsodeclarestheadopted
creativecommonslicenceforeachmaterialavailableunderthisrepository.
NSOUreleasesallitsdocumentundertheCC-BY-SA-NClicence.
Figure1:NSOU-OERHomepage
ServicesofNSOU-OER
NSOU-OER consists of the federated search mechanism for information
retrievalandhencethisplatformismorethantheOERrepository.Ratheritis
anopenplatformthatincludes10reputedOERrepositoriesoftheworldalong
withbrowsingcategoryofopentextbooks,openthesisanddissertation,open
images, open videos, open courses and links of databases like connexion,
Curriki and many more. This service broadly facilitates searching and
browsingforuniversitygeneratedmaterialsandforothermaterialsavailable
outsidetheuniversityrepository.
InstitutionalOERrepositoryofNSOUisaccessiblebyclickingontheSearch
NSOU OER repository option (as shown �igure 2), where Educational
materialsofNSOUareavailablecategorically.
73
OpenEducationalResourceRepository:AnInitiativeofNetajiSubhasOpenUniversity
Figure2:SearchNSOU-OER
BrowsingofNSOU-OER
NSOU-OER Repository facilitates browsing by Whole community, Author,
Subject(s)anddateof Issue. Figure3shownalloptionsbeingcateredby
NSOU-OER.
BrowsingbyCategory
Figure3:BrowseNSOU-OERbycategory
74
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
BrowsingbyCommunitiesandCollectionsofNSOU-OER
By clicking on the “Browse” button on the second topmost option of the
repository home page, all sub-communities of Educational materials will
showup.Thestructureofcommunityandsubcommunityisasfollowsfor
eachschoolofstudies(SchoolofProfessionalStudies,SchoolofEducation,
andSchoolofVocationalstudies):
Figure4:Browsebycommunity&subcommunity
ThiscommunityandcollectionofNSOU-OERisbasicallydevelopedonthe
basisofthestructuraldesign(�igure:4)
BrowsingbyAuthor,Subject,andDateofpublication
Alongwiththecommunityandcollection,thisrepositorycanbeaccessibleby
narrowing down its search option with author, subject and year of issue
(�igure:5).
75
OpenEducationalResourceRepository:AnInitiativeofNetajiSubhasOpenUniversity
Figure5:Browsingbyauthor,subjectanddateofpublication
Evenusermaybrowsebysub-communities.
Figure6:Browsingbysub-communities
76
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
Browsebyitemtypeisanotherrelativebrowsingoptioninbrowsingoption.
Figure7:Browsingbyitemtypes
Atthetimeofclickingonanycollectionoftherepository,itwillautomatically
retrieverelatedmetadataandthefulltextasshownin�igure8and�igure9
consecutively.
Figure8:Fulltextaccessofanitemandinformationrelatedtometadata
77
OpenEducationalResourceRepository:AnInitiativeofNetajiSubhasOpenUniversity
The browsing option of NSOU-OER repository facilitates users different
optionstoretrieverequireddocument(s).UsersmaybrowseNSOU-OERwith
thefollowingoptions:
a) ByCommunitiesandSub-communities;
b) Byitemtypelikeprintandnon-printmaterials
c) Bychoosingdifferentkindsofavailableeducationalmaterials.
d) ByindividualcollectionofNSOU-OER.
NownextsectionwillstatethesearchfacilityofOERrepository.
78
Figure9:FullTextaccess
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
SearchfacilityofNSOU-OERRepository
Searchfacilityofasystemretrievesspeci�icpieceofdataofusers'querywith
thehelpofkeywords/search terms/search criteria.Usersmay �ilter their
searchqueryby choosingoptionswhichare clearly shownby the snapof
NSOU-OERsearchinterface(�igure:10).
Figure10:NSOU-OERsearchinterface
79
Figure11:Searchbykeyterms
OpenEducationalResourceRepository:AnInitiativeofNetajiSubhasOpenUniversity
SearchResult
Searchresultcontainsspeci�icapproachesofusers'query.Inthisrepository,
theusermayretrieverequireddocumentsbygivingpropersearchtermlike
title,author,subjectetc.Eventheymightbeabletonarrowdowntheirsearch
bychoosingadvancesearchoptionthatbasicallyworksasa�ilteratthetimeof
typingquery.
Figure12:Searchresult
80
By clicking on search button it will automatically retrieve metadata of
documentalongwithfulltextdocumentasshownin�igure13.
Figure13:MetadataofItem Figure14:FullTextsearchresult
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
ThemostcomprehensivefeatureofthisOERrepositoryisitsmultilingualand
multi-format retrieval. Search result of this repository includes text based
materials, audio/video lectures in English and Bengali language. It has
potentialstosupportdifferentregionallanguages.
Figure15:TextbasedandA/Vlecturesbasedsearchresult
IncaseofAudioVisualMaterials,�ileswillautomaticallystartdownloadingat
thetimeofclicking.
WhatelsedoesNSOU-OERdo?
NSOU-OERisareachplatformwithmaximumopeninitiatives like linksof
Opencourses,Openimages,Openvideos,Opentextbook,Opendatabases,etc.
Theselinksmayhavebroadenedthescopeandcoverageofthispenplatform
beyondtheuniversitypremise.
81
Figure16:OtherlinksofOpeninitiatives
OpenEducationalResourceRepository:AnInitiativeofNetajiSubhasOpenUniversity
Figure17isfacilitatingsearchofOERmaterialsfromthemostpopularand
useful OER repository. Search queries will be forwarded to the source
repositorythatenablesuserstooptfulltextdocumentsfromthere.
Figure17:SearchotherOERrepository
Aftertypingasearchterm,searchquerieswillbeautomaticallydirectedtothe
source OER repository. The user may opt search results from other than
NSOU-OERrepositories.
82
Figure18:Retrievalofdocumentfromotherrepository
This robust and dynamic platform facilitates student to opt formaximum
number of qualitative educationalmaterials in order to support equitable
education for all. Success of OER depends on its implementation and
implications.Nextsectionwillberepresentingitsusageanalysistomeasure
userimpactsonthebasisofretrievedstatisticaldatadated23rdNovember,
2017.
UsageAnalysisofNSOU-OER
DevelopmentofNSOU-OERisanongoingprocess.AsofMay2018,3318hits
arethere.Morethan58educationalresourceshavebeenuploadedincluding
studymaterialsandaudio/videolectures.Morethan900materialsareyetto
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
83
bedoneafterconvertinginOERcompatibleformat(workinprogress).Study
revealsmostvisiteddocumentsarevideolectures.
Figure19displaysState-wiseview/accessofNSOU-OERrepository.Hence
among9states,mostvisitedstateisKolkatathenBangaloreinsecondposition
andMumbaiisin3rdposition.
Figure19:Topcountryview
MostoftheusersarefromIndiawith70%views.Andrest30%arefromother
partsoftheworldincludingtheUnitedStatesofAmerica.
Figure20:Topcountryviews
OpenEducationalResourceRepository:AnInitiativeofNetajiSubhasOpenUniversity
70%viewsweremadebythestudentcommunityofKolkata.
Figure21:Topcityviews
QualityAssurance
ByfollowingtheTIPSframework,threedimensionalqualitycheckisexpected
forNSOUOERmaterials.Theseare:i)FitforPurpose,ii)Costef�iciencyandiii)
Transformative. Keeping this in mind, NSOU has a quality check policy
mentionedinthefollows:
ContentlevelQualityassurance
TheNSOUOERRepositorystrivestoprovideresourcesofthehighestquality.
Thereviewingprocessiscarriedoutatdifferentlevels.Thecurriculumbased
learning resources developed through peer reviewing and strict quality
assurancemechanism inbuilt in the course development process will not
require further reviewing for uploading on the repository. All other
contributionswillbepeerreviewedwithinthedepartmentbeforeuploading
ontheOERRepository.OnthebasisoftheTIPSframework(http://cemca.
org.in/ck�inder/user�iles/�iles/OERQ_TIPS_978-81-88770-07-6.pdf) the
OERBoardwilladoptasetofqualityassuranceguidelinesandindicatorsto
help teachers focusonqualityofOER(inprocess).TIPSqualityassurance
frameworkistheretosupportthedevelopmentanduseofOERthatincludesa
setof38criteria that theboardmight considerat the timeof judging the
qualityofOER.Thesecriteriaaregroupedasfollows:
n T-TeachingandLearningProcesses
n I-InformationandMaterialContent
84
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
n P-Presentation,ProductandFormat
n S-SystemTechnicalandTechnology.
At theuniversity level, anOERBoard (constitutes the followingmembers:
Vice-chancellor,ChairpersonoftheBoardDirector/Of�icer-in-Chargeofthe
Schools of Studies Two OER experts nominated by the Vice-Chancellor)
alreadyhasbeencreatedtoreviewpolicyaswellastheproduction,delivery
andaccessprocessesofOER. Eachandevery resourcemustmention the
licenceinstipulatedformatasfollows:
©[NSOU][Year]. [Name of the resource] ismade available under a Creative
CommonsAttribution-[speci�ic]4.0License[linkofthecclicenseversion],India
Reference,Propercitation
To maintain academic integrity and avoid plagiarism, each and every
contributorhastoacknowledgesupportedandusedmaterials.Itisbetterto
usematerialsavailableintheopendomainwithopenlicencetocreateOER
materials. Whether it is available in the open domain or one is using
copyrightedmaterials(withpriorpermissiontouse),itisveryimportantto
manageresourcesin a proper and systematicwayatthetimeofcreating
OER.Itismandatorytoacknowledgeactualresponsibleauthor(s)forusing
source(s) of each and every piece of information for a research work.
Dependingonsubjectspeci�icityandpublisher/publication,differenttypesof
citation styles are available in the educational domain. American
Psychological Association (APA), the Chicago Manual of Style, Modern
LanguageAssociation(MLA),etc.,andeventheIEEE,Naturehavetheirown
referencingstyle.NSOUmainlyrecommendstheAPAcitationstyle6thedition
(http://pitt.libguides.com/content.php?pid=101667&sid= 764329) for the
SocialScienceandHumanitiesstreamandforthesciencestreamitistheMLA
8thedition(http://pitt.libguides.com/citationhelp/mla8thedition)ismore
expected.
ProcessofSubmissionforPublishing
Hereisgraphicalrepresentationoftheentirepublishingprocess.However,
before publishing materials it should be con�irmed that documents are
generatedandavailableinopenformatfollowedbyopenstandards.
85
OpenEducationalResourceRepository:AnInitiativeofNetajiSubhasOpenUniversity
SubmissionInternalPeer
ReviewEditor
TechnicalsectionReview
OERBoard Publish
86
Conclusion
Implementation of OERs to ensure inclusive and equitable quality
education opportunities (“Education - United Nations Sustainable
Development,” 2017). By repurposing of high quality open educational
resources (OER) through institutional policies in order to facilitate an
innovative, interactive and collaborative learning environment where
learner'ssettheirownobjectivesratherthanberestrictedbyinstitutions.
Amodeloflow-costOERplatformusingregionallanguageforapprox.210
millionBengalilearnersworldwide.
Easeofavailabilityofeducationalresourcesfromanywhereatanytimeby
anyone.
Usingtechnologicalinnovationsinthedistancelearningenvironmentto
bridgethegapbetweenlearnersandteachers.
MaketheuniversityamodelforstateuniversitiesofIndiaforlearning
practiceandskilldevelopmenttoenrichthequalityofeducationasper
globalstandard.
Sustainableimprovementofresourcesinordertoachieveexcellencein
theeducationalsector.
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
Recommendations
ForsustainabledevelopmentofOERmovement,requirementsofthesystem
demandfewrecommendations:
1. Pan-CommonwealthOERConsortiatocreateacrossplatformtomaintain
uniformity and resource sharing for optimal use of cost, time and
manpower.
2. ANationalICTMandateforsmoothrunningofthedevelopedsystem.
3. NationalOERMandatetoenhanceuseofOERmaterialsinordertoreach
democratisationofknowledge.
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90
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
Ch
ap
ter
- 6
Access to Vocational Education through
OER and ICT: An EvaluationAnirban Ghosh
Abstract
NetajiSubhasOpenUniversity(NSOU)wasestablishedin1997toofferthe
undergraduate and post graduate degree courses for the purpose of
democratisationofhighereducationataffordablecost.Theobjectiveofthe
settingupofNSOUwastocreateaknowledgesociety.Inthe21stcentury,ifa
personhasknowledgeandskill,she/hewillhaveanedgeoverothersinthejob
market. The University started to offer undergraduate courses and
postgraduatecoursesintheyear1998and2000respectively.Itrealisedthat
onlygeneraleducationcannotful�ilthemissionoftheuniversity.Inorderto
minimisethegapbetweendemandandsupplyofskilledworkforceandalsoto
promoter self-employment, the university introduced vocational courses
withtailoringanddressdesigningtocatertotheneedsofthesocietyin2003.
Subsequently,thenumberofvocationalcoursesincreasedovertheyears.At
presentNSOUoffers19vocationalcourses throughanetworkof34study
centresspreadalloverthestateofWestBengal.Since2014–15,theUniversity
iscloselyworkingwithCOL-CEMCAtopopularisethevocationalcoursesin
the state and also for the qualitative improvement of the course delivery
system like improvement in the content of the coursematerials, capacity
buildingforthetrainers,developmentofe-content,etc.Thepaperfocuseson
someoftherecentinitiativestakenbytheUniversitythatensureinclusiveand
equitablequalityeducationandpromote lifelong learning.Thispaperalso
highlights the impact of the COL-CEMCA intervention for quality
improvementofthecoursecontentanddeliverysystemofthetwovocational
courses, viz., Pre-primary Teachers' Education-Montessori (Diploma) and
TailoringandDressDesigning(AdvancedDiploma).
Introduction
Skills andknowledge are thedriving force of economic growth and social
development for any country. Potentially the target group for skill
developmentcomprisesallthoseintheworkforce,includingthoseentering
91
thejobmarketforthe�irsttime,thoseemployedintheorganisedsectorand
thoseworkingintheunorganisedsector.Indiahassetatargetofskilling500
millionpeopleby2022.OneofthegreatestadvantagesfortheIndianeconomy
isthesustainedgrowthoftheworkforcepopulation.Wehavetoconvertthe
huge young population into demographic dividend. Harnessing the
demographicdividendthroughappropriateskilldevelopmenteffortswould
provide an opportunity to achieve inclusion and productivity within the
country. The skill development initiatives help in employment generation,
economic growth and social development. Skills mean employability and
mobility.Soaskilledpersonwillhavegreateropportunityinthejobmarketas
wellasher/hisverticalorhorizontalmobilitywillbeeasier.
AtpresentskillsbaseoftheIndianeconomyisquitelowascomparedtoother
developedeconomiesoftheworld.Manyofthedevelopedeconomieshave60
to80%asskilledworkersofthetotalworkforce.Koreahasashighas96%
skilledforce.IncaseofIndiaonly2%personsintheagegroupof15–29years
havereceivedformalvocationaltrainingandaround8%arereportedtohave
received non-formal vocational training. 1976–77 saw the beginning of
Vocationalisationofeducation.Littleprogress,however,couldbemadeinthe
next25years.Thetraditionalparadigminwhichthecreamofthestudents
madethemostofgeneraleducationwhilethelesstalentedonesoptedfor
vocationaleducationcontinued.2006onward,vigorousattemptshavebeen
madetointegrategeneralandvocationaleducationinviewoftheincreasingly
emergingnationalimperativethatthechildhasarighttoeducationandskill
developmentgearedtogainfulemploymentwhenshe/hegrowsup.Learners
shouldbeequippedwithtechnicalaswellasbasiccommunicationskillsto
match the expectations of employees in terms of competency and
performance.Hence,theneedforcontinuousengagementwithindustryand
hence, too, theneedtotake intoaccounttheconditions inwhichaperson
/employeeperformsbecauseworkingconditionsnaturallyhaveanimpacton
theemployee'sabilitytodeliver.Allthisleadsustotheintertwinedissueof
standardizationascompetenciesareobservableandmeasurable.Thus,from
ananalysisofallthemajorissuesinvolvedemergestheconvergingpoint–the
need to frame, to structure competencybased curriculum. Sowehave to
enhancetheskilldevelopmentinfrastructureinsuchawaythatallthepersons
who enter the workforce acquire relevant skills before entering the job
market. But in the short run it will not be possible to develop adequate
infrastructure to impart the skilldevelopmentprogramme.Anothermajor
92
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
problemisthattheoutgoinguniversitygraduatesenteringthejobmarketlack
employability.
The present scarcity of skilled labour can be addressed by the open and
distancelearningsystem(ODL).TheODLsystem,becauseofitsinbuiltlearner
friendlyfeatureand�lexibility,hasthepotentialtoenablethelearnerstodeal
with the challenging and dif�icult task of acquiring skills. Through ODL
methodology and with the help of Information and Communication
Technology(ICT),VirtualLabortory,Virtualworkshop,agreaternumberof
personscanbetrainedwithaspeci�icskill.Apartfromtheelectronicmedium,
different channels like a network of study centres, vocational centres and
NGOscanbeusedforthevocationalcapacitybuildingthatinturncanhelpin
socialdevelopment.PublicPrivatePartnership(PPP)mayalsobeexploredto
impart vocational training. By ODL system through inclusive education, a
larger number of people can be trained. With proper planning, the
employabilityoftheruralyouthcanbeenhancedwithregionspeci�icdemand
andmodularbasedvocationaltraining.Thiswillexpandtheself-employment
opportunity. The migration from rural area to urban area can also be
minimisedbyprovidingpropervocational training through ICTmeditated
ODLsystem.
AbouttheSchoolofVocationalStudies(SVS)NSOU
OpenandDistanceLearningisincreasinglybecomingpopularbecauseofits
�lexibilityandlearnerfriendlyapproach,particularlytothosewhocouldnot
getaccesstotheformaleducationsystem.NetajiSubhasOpenUniversityis
not only imparting education as an alternative to the formal system of
education,i.e.,conventionalcourses,butalsoinareassuchasvocationaland
non-conventionalcourses.Thisistheareawherethedistanceeducationcan
be used extensively to provide education that can prepare the skilled
workforce for society. The University is providing vocational and non-
conventionalcoursessothatthelearnerscanengagethemselvesinincome-
generatinglivelihood.Itisnotpossiblefortheformaleducationsystemalone
toprovidedesirednumberofskilledworkers.Insuchasituation,theSchoolis
givingtheopportunitytoupgradetheskilloftheexistingworkforceaswellas
of the fresh graduates by providing seamless vocational education and a
platterofpioneeringcoursesnon-conventionalinnature.
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AccesstoVocationalEducationthroughOERandICT:AnEvaluation
The SVS offers 19 vocational courses through 34 study centres located
throughoutthestateofwestBengal.Allthecoursesaredulyrecognisedbythe
UniversityGrantsCommission-DistanceEducationBureau(UGC-DEB).The
annualintakeofthevocationalcoursesisaround2000learners.
ContributionofCOL-CEMCA
VocationalEducationplaysavitalroleinhumanresourcedevelopmentofthe
countrybycreatingskilledmanpower,enhancingindustrialproductivityand
improvingthequalityoflife.Theobjectiveofthevocationaleducationisto
create a workforce empowered with improved skills, knowledge and
internationallyrecognisedquali�icationstogainaccesstodecentemployment
andensureIndia'scompetitivenessinthedynamicgloballabourmarket. It
aimsatincreaseinproductivityofworkforcebothintheorganisedandthe
unorganised sectors, seeking increased participation of youth, women,
disabledandotherdisadvantagedsectionsandtosynergiseeffortsofvarious
sectorsandreformthepresentsystem.Skilldevelopmentinitiativessupport
employmentgeneration,economicgrowthandsocialdevelopmentprocess.
Taking into consideration the importance of vocational education and
training,theCommonwealthofLearning-CommonwealthEducationalMedia
Centre forAsia (COL-CEMCA)has come forward to joinhandswithNetaji
SubhasOpenUniversityforthepurposeofpromotingvocationaleducation
andtrainingintheStateofWestBengal.Lotofjointinitiativeshavebeentaken
by the University to increase the access to vocational education and to
improvetheinstitutionalcapacityforprovidingservicestothestudentsinan
effective manner. The COL-CEMCA has extended �inancial support and
expertisetoundertakethefollowingjointprojectsattheNetajiSubhasOpen
University.
i. Upgradation and alignment of syllabus of all Vocational Courses to
NSQF(2014–2015)
ii. Development of blended course materials for Tailoring and Dress
Designing(vocationalcourse)(2015–16)
iii. DevelopmentofNSOUOERrepository(2015–16),(wwwhttp://nsouoer.
krc.net.in)
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QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
iv. VocationalEducation&TrainingofferingthroughMobileLearning:An
InnovativeODLApproach(2016-17)
v. Increase Access and Improve Institutional Capacity for Sustainable
DevelopmentthroughVocationalEducationandTraining(2017-–2020)
TheSchooldevelopedtheblendedmaterialsoftwocourses,viz.,i)Tailoring
andDressDesigningandii)Pre-PrimaryTeachers'EducationMontessoriwith
�inancialassistanceofCOL-CEMCA.Thestudentsofthesetwoprogrammes
aregiventheprintedSLMsandA/Vlectures.AlltheSLMsandtheA/Vlectures
arealsoavailableonNSOUOERRepositorywiththeappropriateCClicences
that have been developed with the help of COL-CEMCA. The School of
Education(SOE)hasalsodevelopedtheblendedmaterials(SLMsandA/V
lectures)onInclusiveEducationwiththe�inancialassistanceofCOL-CEMCA.
TheSOEhasrecentlylaunchedacerti�icatecourseonInclusiveEducation.
Allthevocationalcoursescreatenewjobopportunitiesattheurbanandrural
areasoftheState.Aboutseventhousandlearnersweretrainedduring2009to
2016indifferenttradesoutofwhichthetailoringanddressdesigningand
Pre-primary Teachers' Education-Montessori are most popular. The
Universityhasdevelopede-SLMsandisuploadingmaterialincludingvideo
lectures on its web portal/OER repository to facilitate anywhere anytime
learningandreachouttoeventhosewhoarelefttofendforthemselves.Under
the4thproject,initiativesweretakentoreachtheremotestudentswiththem-
learning facility. It helps the students of remote areas without internet
connectivityleadingtoeducationthroughindividualhandsets.
Theon-linelearningaimsatincreasingtheknowledge,skillsandproductive
capabilitiesofthelearnersinaglobalsituation.Onlinelearningisimportant
notonlyforeconomicreasonsbutithassigni�icantsocialbene�itsaswell,by
broadeningaccesstohighqualityeducationandtrainingopportunitiestothe
varioussegmentsofoursociety. Ithasapotential to reduce theeconomic
disparitiescausedbydenialofeducationtotheeconomicallydeprivedsector
offeringthembetterworkopportunitiesandincomegrowthatalllevels.
NowtheUniversitychangesitsdeliverymodefromonlyprintmaterialsto
digital academic content. The students are nowgetting not only the print
materialsbutalsothedigitalformofSLMs(CD-ROM),SDCardfortheof�line
mode and e-SLMs, A/V lectures for online mode of delivery. Since the
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AccesstoVocationalEducationthroughOERandICT:AnEvaluation
University is providing e-content through of�line and online, the trainers
shouldknowthetechniquesandprocedurestousetheICTinadditiontotheir
own subject/discipline. The trainers have to take the responsibilities for
deliveryofcoursesthroughtheuseofICT,sothatthestudentscantakefullest
advantage of personalised teaching-learning experiences effectively. The
University conducts anorientationprogramme for the trainerseveryyear
underTrainingofTrainers'(ToTs)programme.
Toreach-outtoadditionallearnerswithmorelearnerfriendlypackages,the
School has taken up a project during the next three year (2017–20) for
successfulimplementationofCOL-CEMCAintegratedhighereducationmodel
withsupportofCEMCA.Followingaretheactivities:
n Conductbaselinesurveyforfeedbackfromtheexistingstudents.
n Createanddevelope-contentforallthevocationalcourses.
n MakeavailablealltheUniversityresourcesonNSOUOERRepositorywith
appropriateCClicence.
n Developwebportal,facilitatingthetraineesandemployerstointeract.
n Organiseoutreachprogrammesinruralareastosensitisethepotential
learners.
n Organisejobfair.
Thepurposeofalltheactivitiesistoincreasetheaccessibilityofthepotential
studentsindifferentvocationalcoursesandalsotoimprovetheinstitutional
capacityforthebettermentofsupportservices.
Vocationaleducationhastobeviewedfromdifferentmulti-layeredpractices.
Oneisofcoursethehandsontraining.Theotherisemploymentgeneration
and sustainability, whether the training programmes can lead to wage
employmentorself-employment.Ifso,therehastobefollowupmeasuresto
seewhatthetraineesinavocationalprogrammehaveachievedandwhether
therehasbeenaprogressintermsofemployabilityandincomegeneration.
Alsowhetheranyindustryhasemployedanytraineewhohascompletedthe
vocationalcourseinaparticulartrade.
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QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
ImpactofCEMCA'scontribution
TheMobileapplicationenabledtoaccesstheLearningManagementSystem
(LMS). The app is also enabled forOf�line content viewing facility for the
studentsusingamicroSDcard.Itdelivershighqualitytechnologypowered
courses,usingitspowerfulandhybridmobileplatform,therebyremovingthe
needforacomputerandahigh-speedInternetconnectionforthestudents.
Usingtheplatform,studentsfromevenremoteandruralareasofthecountry
willbeable to learnonline for theirdiplomason their smartphones.The
studentsgetaccesstotheirvirtualclassroomthroughtheiruniqueloginID
andPasswordwithin the Student Portal. The entire student portal is also
availableonamobileplatform.Studentsgetaccesstoticketingsystemand
theire-mailsthroughthesame.
Table1clearlyshowsthatsince2013theenrolmentinboththecourseshas
increasedsigni�icantly.Italsoshowsthatboththecoursesaremorepopular
among the females than the male s tudents . S ince , these are
workshop/practicalbasedcourses,theintakecapacitypercentreis�ixed.But
duetointerventionofCOL-CEMCAtowardstheICTadoption,theenrolment
hasincreasedsteadily.During2014–15,lotofinitiativeslikeupgradationof
syllabus,developmentofe-content,anddevelopmentmobileapphadbeen
takenupandthisincreasedtheenrolmentinthesaidtwocourses.Sothejointprojects
withCOL-CEMCAhasin�luencedstudentaccessibilityinvocationalcourses.
97
Table1:EnrolmentontheCEMCAsupportedcourses.
Courses/yearofadmission
2016 2015 2014 2013
M M MMF F F F
DiplomainPre-primaryTeachers'
Education-Montessori
124 456 108 431 142 360 171 390
TailoringandDressDesigning 233 260 101 243 197 266 108 139
M=MaleandF=Female
AccesstoVocationalEducationthroughOERandICT:AnEvaluation
Mobile learning (M-learning) throughmobile phones canmakeuse of the
learning management system that is already available through internet.
Wheretheinternetaccessibilityislimited,mobilephonescanalsofacilitate
thelearningprocessonof�linemodethroughmicroSDcards.Withoutany
restrictions,thestudentscannowaccessthelearningresourcesanywherein
the world where internet is available. The University launched the
M-learningprojectonapilotbasisforitsvocationalToTprogrammenamely
theDiplomainPre-PrimaryTeachers'Education(DPTTE-M)andAdvanced
DiplomainTailoringanddressdesigningcourses.Since2013theenrolment
hassteadilyincreasedintheabovetwocourses.
Duringthelast4–5years,theUniversityhasbeentakingupalotinnovative
initiatives for the students enrolled in vocational courses. A survey was
conducted among the students to investigate themobile learning bene�its
including ICT support and to analyse the students' perception onmobile
learning. Under the project the structured questionnaire was circulated
amongtheenrolledstudentstoexaminetheirattitudeandself-ef�icacyabout
theM-learningandonlineICTsupport.
Thestudyshowsthatalmostallthestudentsenrolledinthisparticularcourse
use mobile phones and majority of these mobile phone have numerous
features like pictures, video, games, instantmessaging and internet. Even
somelow-endmobilephoneshavethesefeaturesthatenablethemtobeused
ineducation,research,reading,etc.
Table2:AttitudetowardsM-learning
Amobiledevicecanhelpmetoattainmoreideasinlearning
ItemsStronglyDisagree
(%)
Disagree(%)
Neutral(%)
Agree(%)
StronglyAgree(%)
80.0 6.5 5.0 5.0 3.5
Amobilephoneishelpfulformylearning
22.5 70.0 2.5 3.5 1.5
Ifeelboredusingamobiledevice xx 2.5 7.5 2.0 85.0
Ilovetouseamobiledeviceinlearningactivities
15.0 30.0 12.5 25.0 17.5
Icanusemymobiledevicewithoutthehelpofothers
87.5 5.0 7.5 xx xx
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QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
Table3:Learners'self-ef�icacyofM-learning
Icandownloada�igurefromtheinternetusingamobiledevice
ItemsStronglyDisagree
(%)
Disagree(%)
Neutral(%)
Agree(%)
StronglyAgree(%)
77.5 15.0 2.5 5.0 xx
Icanlogontothewebsiteonmymobiledevice
78.5 17.00 2.0 2.5 xx
Icancheckahyperlinktoenteranotherwebsiteusingmymobilephone
60.0 25.0 5.0 7.5 2.5
Icanuseamobiledevicetodiscusswithpeersaboutthelearningmaterials
6.5 68.5 12.5 7.5 5.0
Icantakepicturesonmymobiledevicetoshowtherelatedinformation
92.5 5.0 2.5 xx xx
Ithinkmobilesareveryidealforlearning 71.0 11.0 9.0 6.5 2.5
Tables2,3and4exhibithowthestudentsareef�icientinusingtheirmobile
phones.InTableI,itisinterestingtonotethatthemostoftherespondentsare
notboredinusingtheirmobiledevicesbuttheyareleastinterestedtousethe
deviceforlearningpurposethoughtheythoughtthatthemobiledevicescould
beusedforlearningnewideas.
Today's young generation is very technology savvy and use their mobile
phonesforvariouspurposesinday-to-daylife.Theyarenowusingthedevices
todownloadtheuniversitiesA/Vlectureandalsothecontentthatisavailable
onlineintheOERRepository.Speciallyforthestudentswholiveintheremote
places,thisinitiativereallyhelpsthemandthestudentsaremotivatedtoget
theirlecturesandcoursecontentthroughtheonlineandof�linemodes.
Table4:Learners'attitudetowardsA/VlecturesintheSDCard/Repository
A/Vlectureisagooduseoftechnologyforlearningatadistance
ItemsStronglyDisagree
(%)
Disagree(%)
Neutral(%)
Agree(%)
StronglyAgree(%)
48.5 28.5 11.0 4.0 8.0
A/Vlecturesmotivatelearnerstolearneffectively
38.5 29.0 19.0 6.0 7.5
Pictures,diagramsandgraphicsintheA/Vlecturesenhancelearning
31.0 57.5 7.5 4.0 xx
VideoanimationmakestheA/Vlectureattractiveandunderstandable
45.0 32.5 10.0 6.0 6.5
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AccesstoVocationalEducationthroughOERandICT:AnEvaluation
TheUniversitytriedtomotivatethestudentstousetheirmobiledevicesfor
their learning purpose. To facilitate the anywhere any time learning, the
universitydevelopedtheA/Vlecturesanddigitisedcoursematerialsforthe
studentsoftheteachertrainingprogramme.Theuniversityencouragedthe
studentstousethemobilephonestohaveexperiencesofanywhereanytime
learning.TheseA/Vlecturesanddigitisedcoursematerialsweredistributed
inaMicroSDcardamongthestudents.Wheretheinternetconnectivitywas
not available, specially in rural areas, the students took advantage of the
of�linemode,i.e.,theyusedtheMicroSDcard.Thesamecontent(A/Vlecture
andcoursematerials)isalsoavailableontheuniversitywebsite/Repository
and thiscanbeaccessedonlineany timeanywhere.Thestudyshows that
there is positive impact of mobile technology by which the educational
contentcanbedeliveredbothbyonlineandof�linemodes.
ThesurveywasconductedtoexaminetheimpactofCOL-CEMCA'sprojecton
thelearnersofpre-primaryteachers'education-Montessoriandtailoringand
dress designing courses. The result in Table III is very encouraging. The
studentsareveryhappytohavetheexperienceofhearingthelecturesfrom
eminent teachers in the �ield through online and of�line mode. It is not
necessarytoattendtheface-to-facecounsellingtoheartheparticularlecture.
Iftheywish,theycanalsoheartheparticularlecturefornumeroustimesto
understandthesubject.TheA/VlecturesoftheUniversityarebecomingvery
popular among the students as well as the teachers. For the practical
componentsofthevocationalcourses,face-to-facediscussionsarearranged
inthestudycentreswherethetrainersdemonstrate/discussthematterwith
thelearnersattheparticularstudycentre.Ithelpsthelearnerstounderstand
whatthecontentisintheA/Vlectures.
RoleofMultimediaCourseware
The multimedia courseware includes both print and non-print media of
academicresources.AftertheadoptionoftheOERpolicy,boththeprintand
non-print coursematerials of the vocational courses of the university are
released under the CC licence, CC-BY-NC-SA. The multimedia delivery of
coursesalsoinvolvestheF2Fteaching,onlinechatting,etc.Itoffersfreeand
immediate access to digital materials including previous years' question
papers, A/V lectures, lesson plans, e-SLMs, etc., facilitating personalised
learning.Theteacherscanalso track the individual learnerabouthis/her
progressinaparticularcourse.
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QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
Goal4oftheSustainableDevelopmentGoal(UNDP)istoensureinclusiveand
equitablequalityeducationandpromotelifelonglearningopportunitiesfor
all.COL-CEMCAHigherEducationIntegratedModelhasbeendevelopedto
achieveGoal4oftheSDGs.Thisisanapplicationbasedmodelthatincludes
capacity building of the teachers, development of OER, strengthening the
studentsupportmechanism,reachingthemarginalisedpopulation,linkage
with industry to sustain the skill development programmes, providing
employment, promoting entrepreneurship with the skills to become
�inancially independent.TheOERdevelopedforthevocationalcoursesare
verypopulartothelearnersspeciallytowomenlearnerswhocannotattend
theF2Fclassroomteachingregularly.Sinceboththecoursesunderstudyare
practical based and job-oriented, the multimedia courseware helps the
learnerstoacquiretheskillsandknowledgeinthesubjectdomaintomake
thememployable.
Conclusion
Wecannotignorethepotentialoftechnologiestoimproveaccesstoeducation
and skills training. Learning must lead to sustainable development that
includes economic growth, equity and environmental conservation.Today,
integrationof ICTandOERintotheacademicprogrammeisanecessityto
increaseaccess.Ifwearetomeetthechallengesofbothqualityandquantityin
impartingskills,wemusttakeaninnovativeapproachtoeducation–thebrick
andmortarapproachwillnotbesuf�icient.ThedevelopmentofOERandthe
potentialofMassiveOpenOnlineCourses(MOOCs)inthevocationalcourses
havebeendiscussed.Theimpactofnewtechnologyisbeingfeltanecessity
acrossthecourses.ThedevelopmentofnewICTisalreadyhavingamajor
impactontheteaching-learningprocessofboththeconventionalandODL
modes.TheadvancementofICThasbroughtnewopportunitiestorestructure
theteaching-learningprocesswhetheritistheODLsystemorregularsystem.
Inthepresentcentury,wearelivinginthedigitalage.Thedistanceisnomore
there.TheaccessibilityisbeingfacilitatedbytheICTthroughOER,MOOCs,etc.
Inthe21stCentury,boththesystemsofeducationarebeingconvergedby
integratingtheICTintheteaching-learningprocess.
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AccesstoVocationalEducationthroughOERandICT:AnEvaluation
Reference
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Grimson, J. (2002). Re-engineering the curriculum for the 21st Century.
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102
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
BriefPro�ileofthe
EDITOR AND AUTHORS
ManasRanjanPanigrahi,Ph.D.joinedtheCommonwealthofLearning(COL)
asProgrammeOf�icer(Education)oftheCommonwealthEducationalMedia
Centre for Asia (CEMCA), New Delhi, India on May 2014. Before joining
CEMCA, he served in the Department of Educational Planning and
Management, College of Education and Behavioural Sciences, Haramaya
University, Ethiopia, East Africa as Associate Professor in Education from
2010-2014.Dr.Panigrahihasalsoservedthe IndiraGandhiNationalOpen
University(IGNOU),NationalCouncilforEducationalResearchandTraining
(NCERT), and Manav Rachna International University, amongst others in
differentcapacities.DrPanigrahihasover15yearsofexperienceinresearch,
designanddevelopmentandteachingatunder-graduateandpost-graduate
level of teacher education. With a blend of academic and professional
quali�ications in teacher education, distance education and training and
development,hehasbeenpromotingtheuseofInformationCommunication
Technology(ICT),anduseofOpenEducationalResources(OER)aroundthe
world.Dr.Panigrahihaspublishedanumberofresearcharticles,conceptual
papers,monographsoneducationandeducationaltechnologyandauthored
various reports/policy papers for national and international level
institutions;organisedandattendedvariousacademicworkshops/training
programmes/professional events/expert committee meetings,
teleconferencing, video conferencing, audio and video production and
conferences.Deliveredlecturesatvariousplacesinthecountryandabroad
and presented papers in various national/international conferences. His
areasofinterestareextensiveuseofICTineducation,educationaltechnology
andhighereducationandopenanddistancelearning.Hecanbereachedat
mpanigrahi[at]col[dot]org
Mr. Mizanoor Rahman is the Assistant Professor of the Open School of
Bangladesh Open University. He has been working at the BOU since its
inceptionin1993.HedidhisMasterofCommerce(M.Com.)degreewithFirst
ClassinFinanceandBankingandstartedhiscarrierattheBOU.Duringhis
active service he also did his MBA degree from the Central Queensland
University, Australia. He also did his Bachelor of Education degree from
103
Bangladesh Open University. He is fond of creating and leading the ICT-
enabled teaching projects and also building partnerships in different
international organiations. He had been the Team Leader of the British
Councilfunded'INSPIREprojectonVideomediatedclassroom:BOU-OU,UK
Partnership (ended 2017), Team Member of the European Union funded
projecton'BlendedLearning:BOU-EUpartnership(continued)'andtheTeam
leaderofCEMCAfunded'OERproject:BOU-CEMCApartnership'and�inally,
theCoordinator of the 'OER-basedVocationalEducation&Training (VET)
Project'.Inaddition,hehadbeentheCoordinatoroftheJSCprojectoftheBOU
OpenSchool fundedby theRoyalNetherlandsEmbassy (RNE).Duringhis
activeservicehepublished80+researcharticles indifferent international
journals/conferences.Inaddition,Mr.Rahmandeveloped20+booksinthe
�ieldofbusinessanddistanceeducation.Healsovisited30+countries for
academicpurposes.Hecanbereachedatmizan2006[at]yahoo[dot]com
Jayanta Kar Sharma, Ph.D. did his Masters Degree in 1983 and Ph.D. in
Comparative Literature in the year 1987 from Visva-Bharati University,
Santiniketan.He started his career as lecturer inNorthBengalUniversity,
Siliguri from March 1985 and subsequently joined the Odisha Education
services (OES). Hewas appointed as �irst Registrar of Odisha State Open
University,Sambalpur,Odisha,Indiaandcontinuingassuchtilldate.Heisalso
hasanadditionalchargeofControllerofExaminationsandComptrollerof
FinanceoftheUniversity.His�ieldofspecialisationiscomparativeliterature,
Dalitandminoritystudiesandtranslation. Hehaspublishedthreebooks,
editedtwelvebooksandmanyjournalsindifferentlanguagesandmorethan
sixtyresearchpapersandchaptersinNationalandInternationaljournalsand
books. He is a creative writer as well. He has published three poetry
collectionsinHindiandEnglish.Heisa lifememberofsomeNationaland
Internationalliterary/researchassociations.Hehaspresentedmorethan60
researchpapers,chairedsessionsandwasinvitedaskeynotespeakerinmany
International and National Seminars/ Conferences. He is associated with
many literary and research associations/ organisations as member/life
member.HewasawardedthetitleofSahityashree,andSahityaBhushanby
IICCA, Chandigarh. Also awarded Gyan Bharati Rastriya Shiksha Award,
NationalAwardofExcellence,BestTeacherAwardbyGlobalManagement
Council,Ahmedabad.HehasbeenawardedwithBharatExcellenceAward,
MotherTeresaGlobalAward,BestIndianPersonalitiesAward,BestCitizen
Award, SwamiVivekanandaExcellenceAward,Honoris causa ofDoctor of
104
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources
Humanities(D.Hum)fromDIAM,Nagaland.Passionateaboutmusic,hehas
producedfourdevotionalmusicCDsandfourDVDsparticularlydedicatedto
LordJagannath.Hecanbereachedatjk[dot]sharma[at]osou[dot]ac[dot]in
JeetendraPande,Ph.D.isworkingasanAssistantDirector(Research)and
AssistantProfessorofComputerScienceDepartmentatUttarakhandOpen
University,Haldwani.Hehas tohis creditmore than9 researchpapers in
InternationalJournals,12papersinconferenceproceedingsand3refereed
books.Hiscurrentareaof interestsarecybersecurity,computerforensics,
component based software development, mobile learning and Open
EducationalResources.Dr.PandehasworkedintheareasComponentBased
Software Development and Cyber Security. He has been involved in
development of pliability metric for optimal component selection for
componentbasedsoftwaredevelopment.Hehascarriedoutmanyprojectsas
aPrincipalInvestigatorsanctionedbytheCommonwealthEducationalMedia
Center for Asia, USERC and Government of Uttarakhand. Presently he is
working on an International Project funded by the Commonwealth of
Learning, Canada. Dr. Pande has been reviewer for several archived
international journals: International Journal Of Software Engineering &
KnowledgeEngineering(WorldScienti�ic,Singapore),JournalofInformation
Technology&DecisionMaking (World Scienti�ic, Singapore), International
JournalofComputerSystemsScienceandEngineering(UnitedKingdom)are
tonameafewofthem.Heisamemberofseveralacademicandprofessional
bodies in theareaof computer scienceanddistanceeducation.He canbe
reachedatjpande[at]uou[dot]ac[dot]in
Anirban Ghosh, Ph.D. is currently holding the position of Professor of
CommerceatNetajiSubhasOpenUniversity.Dr.GhoshistheDirectorofthe
School of Professional Studies and School of Vocational Studies of the
University. He hasmore than 14 years of teaching experience at the Post
Graduatelevel.Hisspecialisationisaccountingandtaxation.Hereceivedthe
prestigious AAOU Staff Exchange Fellowship from Korea National Open
University(2010),ShanghaiOpenUniversity(2014)andUniversitasTerbuka,
Indonesia(2017).Hehasspecialinterestinthestudentsupportservicesof
open and distance learning system. He has conducted lot of research on
distanceeducationinIndiaandabroad.Dr.Ghoshhaspublishedfourbookson
commerce and management at National and International levels as sole
authorandpublished�iveeditedvolumesonODLandinhisowndiscipline.He
has authored a good number of research papers in the National and
105
BriefPro�ileoftheEditorandAuthors
Internat ional peer rev iewed journals . He can be reached at
anirban1972[at]gmail[dot]com
Barnali Roy Choudhury is presently working as Assistant Professor of
LibraryandInformationScience,NetajiSubhasOpenUniversity.Sheisalso
formerLibrarianofAcharyaJagadishChandraBoseCollege,Kolkata.Sheis
concentratingonissuesrelatingtodevelopmentandimplementationofOpen
EducationalPractice(OEP)policy,OEP/OERRepositoryanddevelopedOpen
Educational Resource (OER) Repository of Netaji Subhas Open University
undertheProjectsupportedbyCEMCA-COL.Anotherimportantworkofthe
content contributor on OEP is “Resource Optimization” (ISBN 978-92-3-
100076-8).ThispublicationisavailableinOpenAccessundertheAttribution-
ShareAlike3.0 IGO(CC-BY-SA3.0 IGO) licenceandwaspublishedon2015
fromUNESCO.HerareaofinterestsareOpenAccess,OpenSourceSoftware,
Open and Distance Learning, E-Learning, MOOC, Content Management
Software, Library Management Software; Digital Library Software;
CommunityInformationService&Systems,InformationandCommunication
Technology,OpenHarvestingSystem;OpenJournalSystems.Sheisauthorofa
good number of individual research articles, Self-Learning Materials
publishedinNationalandInternationalplatformsandmemberofCurriculum
DevelopmentCommittee.ApartfromthissheisAssistingOpenAccessIndia
CommunityasCo-Convener.Hecanbereachedatbarna[dot]chakrabarti
[at]gmail[dot]com
106
QualityHigherEducationOpportunitiesThroughOpenEducationalResources