Open Educational Resources in Higher Education: A Global Perspective

329 Pages·2023·5.968 MB·English

by  Jako Olivier, Andreas Rambow

Future Education and Learning Spaces
Jako Olivier
Andreas Rambow Editors
Open Educational
Resources in
Higher Education
A Global Perspective
Future Education and Learning Spaces
ICT & Education in Uncertain Times
Series Editors
Ahmed Tlili, Smart Learning Institute, Beijing Normal University, Beijing,
Beijing, China
Daniel Burgos, Universidad Internacional De La Rioja, Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Maiga Chang, Athabasca University, Athabasca, AB, Canada
This series focuses on the possible education responses that can be implemented in
uncertain times. Uncertainty could happen in times of crises or also in normal situa-
tions, where some information or actions are not known, resulting in uncertain educa-
tional scenarios. Besides, it also shows how emerging technologies, including Arti-
ficial Intelligence, Blockchain, Educational Games and Virtual Reality/Augmented
Reality, will reshape the future of education to provide efficient learning/teaching
experiences and assessments. Furthermore, the series discusses innovative peda-
gogical and learning approaches (e.g., the use of open educational practices and
peer-to-peer learning) that can be applied in this rapid moving technological era
to maintain education, including in uncertain times. Particularly, new instructional
methods, such as game-based learning, should be designed based on the integrated
technologies to provide effective learning experience, resulting in better learning
outcomes. Future education should not solely focus on technology, but also on the
applied instructional methods, as well as the human touch to maintain authentic and
effective learning experience. The series also discusses how learning spaces can be
designed to meet the growing tendency of Open and Distance Education, where thou-
sands of learners can be taken the same course from different cultures, backgrounds
and learning needs.
This series aims to establish itself, through the published books/textbooks and
research, as a medium to provide guidelines and recommendations for different
stakeholders, including policy makers, educational designers, teachers and students
on how to enhance both learning and teaching experiences in the future for better
learning outcomes, as well as how to maintain education in uncertain times. It also
provides one-step ahead towards future education to prepare different stakeholders
for the rapid evolution of education, even in times of uncertainty.
·
Jako Olivier Andreas Rambow
Editors
Open Educational Resources
in Higher Education
A Global Perspective
Editors
Jako Olivier Andreas Rambow
Adviser for Higher Education Senior Consultant for Applied Learning
Commonwealth of Learning Solutions
Burnaby, Canada Senior Faculty Member Webster University
EA Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN 2731-7714 ISSN 2731-7722 (electronic)
Future Education and Learning Spaces
ISBN 978-981-19-8589-8 ISBN 978-981-19-8590-4 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-8590-4
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature
Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023
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Foreword
What is higher about higher education? Is it just the higher level of education beyond
primary and secondary education? Is it something to do with teaching a set of partic-
ular subjects? Or is it only about research and development? Universities are often
referred to as centres of higher education. Research and development activities are
also carried out by industry and specialised research centres but are hardly considered
part of the higher education system. The function-wise role of universities covers
teaching, research, and extension, providing a solid platform for higher education.
What makes the university an excellent example of higher education is not just its
function of teaching subjects at the advanced level or conducting research, but the
environment it provides for critical thinking, questioning the so-called truth, freedom
of expression, and free flow of ideas from generations to generations. Higher educa-
tion is a breeding ground for researchers, scientists, and philosophers, who play a
critical role in advancing our thinking and knowledge about our planet, country,
society, and self. In essence, higher education provides an ecosystem of ‘openness’
for creativity and innovations that propel our economies.
Over centuries of development, the focus of higher education has shifted from
sharing knowledge to ‘commodification of knowledge’ and ‘monetization of ideas’.
The emergence of Open Educational Resources (OER) at the beginning of the twenty-
first century brings fresh air to the higher education ecosystem when higher educa-
tion is not accessible to millions, is not affordable, and is plagued with issues of
poor quality in many countries. Low- and middle-income countries must focus on
providing increased access to quality higher education due to the relative advantages
of the high private and social rate of returns. As governments have competing priori-
ties, establishing brick-and-mortar universities as centres of excellence and providing
higher education to all who need it is not always an option. However, governments
can invest in creating enabling policies and digital infrastructure for open education
and OER to increase access to quality higher education.
The editors of this book bring in scholars from around the world to highlight the
crucial role of OER in increasing access, improving quality, and reducing higher
education costs. Focusing on the social justice agenda, chapters in the book high-
light the importance of the OER movement to support the United Nations Sustainable
v
vi Foreword
Development Goals, strengthen human rights and peace, and mitigate climate change.
The UNESCO OER Recommendation 2019 focuses on (i) policy development, (ii)
capacity building, (iii) equitable access to quality OER, (iv) developing sustain-
able business models, and (v) international cooperation. The book provides some
excellent case studies in these areas. OER offers opportunities for new pedagogical
practices and improved engagements in higher education by promoting students as a
creator of knowledge and facilitating collaboration. The use of OER in teaching and
learning has a default advantage that improves students’ understanding of copyrights
and good academic practices. Repositories play a vital role in the sharing and distri-
bution of OER. Therefore, efforts must focus on making available teaching, learning,
and research materials with open licences discoverable. Chapters in the book also
highlight issues related to gender equality, diversity, inclusion, and how OER are
used in different contexts.
Readers of this monograph will receive insights from the personal experiences of
the authors of the chapters in using, developing, and mainstreaming OER. While the
role of every individual in the higher education ecosystem is significant to make it
truly higher, leaders need to focus on creating enabling environment by adopting rele-
vant policies and providing professional development opportunities to adopt OER.
In addition, there is also a need to focus on the essence of higher education and ask
questions about OER and open education. I am sure readers will reflect and ask ques-
tions relevant to their context. To paraphrase Noble Laureate Rabindranath Tagore,
let everyone awake in the higher education environment, ‘where the mind is without
fear’ and ‘where knowledge is free’. OER will help us in this direction.
Sanjaya Mishra
Director: Education
Commonwealth of Learning
Burnaby, Canada
Contents
1 Contextualising Open Educational Resources in Higher
Education .................................................... 1
Jako Olivier and Andreas Rambow
2 Open Educational Resources: A Catalyst for Social Justice
and Equality .................................................. 15
Ebba Ossiannilsson
3 Developing Supportive Policies and Strategies for Their
Implementation: Student Experience with Real-World Cases ...... 35
Tanja Urbancˇicˇ, Dominic Orr, Mitja Jermol, and Tel Amiel
4 Open Educational Resources: The Promise, Practice,
and Problems in Tertiary and Post-secondary Education .......... 55
Deborah Anne Banker and Dana Kay Manning
5 The Collaborative Picture Book Format as an Open
Educational Resource for Socialisation, Learning, Teaching
and Assessment in Higher Education ............................ 77
Chrissi Nerantzi and Paola Corti
6 Reflections on Remixing Open Access Content into Open
Educational Resources: A New Paradigm for Sustainable
Data-Driven Language Learning Systems Design in Higher
Education .................................................... 99
Alannah Fitzgerald, Shaoqun Wu, Jemma König, Steven Shaw,
and Ian H. Witten
7 Who Builds It, Who Benefits? Deepening Student and Faculty
Knowledge About Wikipedia’s Scholarly Value .................. 129
Laurel Smith Stvan
vii
viii Contents
8 Legacy Building Through a “Teaching with Technology”
Open Textbook Project ........................................ 155
Susie Gronseth, Haoyue Zhang, and Waneta Hebert
9 A Mixed-Methods Study with MOOC Learners to Understand
Their Motivations and Accessibility Needs ....................... 175
Francisco Iniesto, Patrick McAndrew, Shailey Minocha,
and Tim Coughlan
10 Repositories of Open Textbooks for Higher Education:
A Worldwide Overview ........................................ 203
Maria Perifanou and Anastasios A. Economides
11 Integrating Open Education Resource Praxis and Feminist
Pedagogy in Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies ............. 229
Jessica Turcat
12 The Wikipedia Education Program as Open Educational
Practice: Global Stories ........................................ 251
LiAnna L. Davis, Shani Evenstein Sigalov, Filip Maljkovic´,
and João Alexandre Peschanski
13 Open Educational Resources for Literacies, Diversity, Equity
and Inclusion: The Case of Integrating Wikidata into Higher
Education .................................................... 279
Shani Evenstein Sigalov, Anat Cohen, and Rafi Nachmias
14 Open Educational Resources in the English for Academic
Purposes Context ............................................. 307
Lucas Kohnke, Dennis Foung, and Eric Ho
Chapter 1
Contextualising Open Educational
Resources in Higher Education
Jako Olivier and Andreas Rambow
Abstract This book aims to explore the current state of open educational resources
(OERs) research and innovation worldwide by bringing together some of the key
authors in the field and the book provides in-depth research while also highlighting
recent and innovative open education practices. In this chapter, the theoretical basis
is presented for this book, while an overview is presented for the following chapters.
Within this context, this chapter shows the relevance of the Theory of Transformative
Learning and andragogy as theoretical concepts for open education. Each chapter—
obtained through an open call followed by a review process—has its own aims and
methodologies, but they all relate to open education and OER.
· ·
Keywords Open educational resources Open educational practices Open
· · · ·
pedagogy Higher education University education Andragogy Theory of
transformative learning
1.1 Introduction
This book explores Open Educational Resources (OERs) and open educational prac-
tices (OEPs) through research conducted on this topic globally. This book engages
with intersections between OER, social justice, equality, and policy in terms of OERs.
Numerous examples of open praxis are also included, ranging from OER courses
to the affordances of artificial intelligence, data-driven learning, and open textbooks
in this context. This book covers several key areas in which OER scholarship is
currently focused: social justice, open pedagogy, policy, artificial intelligence, and
open praxis. Furthermore, this book explores the current state of OER research and
innovation worldwide by bringing together some of the key authors in the field.
B
J. Olivier ( )
Commonwealth of Learning, 4710 Kingsway, Burnaby V5H 4M2, Canada
e-mail: [email protected]
A. Rambow
George Herbert Walker School of Business & Technology, Webster University, Leiden Campus,
The Netherlands
e-mail: [email protected]
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 1
J. Olivier and A. Rambow (eds.), Open Educational Resources in Higher Education,
Future Education and Learning Spaces, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-8590-4_1