A Guide to Quality in Online Learning
Existing quality assurance frameworks, guidelines, and benchmarks show that quality in online learning has many dimensions. This guide summarizes the key quality issues in online education in a concise and accessible manner. The guide is structured in the form of 16 ‘Frequently Asked Questions’, followed by an additional reading list focused on quality benchmarks and international best... more
A Guide to Quality in Post-Traditional Online Higher Education
The quality assurance of post-traditional higher education is not straightforward, because openness and flexibility are primary characteristics of these new approaches, whereas traditional approaches to quality assurance were designed for teaching and learning within more tightly structured frameworks. This guide, structured in the form of ‘Frequently Asked Questions’, grapples with this... more
The Impact of OER and eLearning on Higher Education in Africa
Presentation by Catherine Ngugi and Neil Butcher at the African Education Week, Sandton Convention Centre, 2nd - 4th July 2012 more
OER Sensitization Workshop: Open University of Sudan, November, 2011. Introducing Creative Commons Licencing
Presentation by Neil Butcher at the Open University of Sudan on Creative Commons licencing. more
A Basic Guide to Open Educational Resources (OER)
This Guide comprises three sections. The first – a summary of the key issues – is presented in the form of a set of ‘Frequently Asked Questions’. Its purpose is to provide readers with a quick and user-friendly introduction to Open Educational Resources (OER) and some of the key issues to think about when exploring how to use OER most effectively. The second section is a more comprehensive... more
Open Educational Resources and Higher Education
This paper examines the concept of OER in more detail, offering a simple, clear definition, explaining the economic and educational potential behind that definition, introducing examples of OER practices around the world, exploring legal considerations, and highlighting some of the challenges to releasing the transformative potential of OER. more
Leveraging the value of openness and collaboration in Health Education: The value proposition of Open Educational Resources in South Africa (2nd National Health Sciences Education Conference in Cape Town, South Africa) July 2009.
Presentation by Neil Butcher, OER Africa Strategist, at the 2nd National Health Sciences Education Conference in Cape Town, South Africa on the 3rd July 2009. more
Knowledge Management Strategies for Distance Education
During the past century, rapid development of an information society and growth in the quantity of accessible information was given considerable momentum with the development of information and communication technologies (ICT), which allow people to interact with each other and to share digital information relatively easily. An example of this is the Internet. For many people the information... more