ppraising the Transformative Power of OERs for learner-centred teaching in Developing

Abstract

Sandhya Gunness, University of Mauritius, Mauritius

Conference Theme: Innovation

Summary: Open educational practices at the University of Mauritius

Abstract: Barriers to using OERs include lack of awareness about OERs and intellectual property rights, academic resistance and lack of motivation to adopt technologies in their teaching owing to increasingly heavier teaching and administrative workloads and availability of just-in-time and just-in–context alternatives through search engines. A pre-workshop questionnaire was devised in parallel with an online reflection forum to evaluate to what extent academics at the University of Mauritius are aware of OER sources, how they are using Open access material, to what extent they integrate technology in the classroom and how this transforms their teaching practices. Results show that academics access OER courseware, but could do with more training programs. In terms of teaching transformation, academics are willing to “step down” and acknowledge students with more “power” and responsibility for learning but also allowing them to evaluate their learning. This move towards learner-centeredness can be achieved with the right support - professional development programmes in educational technology and encouraging policies at the University of Mauritius.

Slide contents

  • Appraising the transformative power of OERs for learner-centred teaching at the University of Mauritius.
  • Project Aims and Objectives
  • Project Aims and Objectives
  • Barriers to using OERs include:
  • BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME
  • Open Educational Resources (OER) Task force Launch by ICDE (2006)
  • SO what are the problems we face at UoM?
  • SO what are the problems we face?
  • Transformative learning (Mezirow, 1991, 1995, 1996; Cranton, 1994, 1996)
  • Mezirow's
  • OLCOS roadmap
  • The Survey Instrument to evaluate Use of digital resources and faculty penchant for innovative teaching methods.
  • Proportion of digital material used for classes
  • Perceptions of repurposing Online material
  • Academic web-presence and collaboration
  • Awareness of OER Initiatives
  • Some reflections on collaborative learning
  • The shift towards providing more authentic learning experiences
  • Topic of increasing collaboration
  • Some nice surprises during OER week
  • AgShare - Moi University
  • University of Southern Queensland
  • OER in South Africa: University of the Western Cape
  • University of Manchester - Teaching Innovation (List of OERs)
  • Iberry – The Academic Porthole
  • JISC – UK digital technologies for education and research
  • References on Moodle
  • Discussion Points
  • Challenges
  • References