Our Mission

There is strong evidence that professional development is more effective when it is intentionally planned by higher education institutions (Özgenel et al. 2024; Solomon et al. 2023). OER Africa has developed two frameworks for continuous professional development (CPD): one for academics and one for academic and research librarians. The purpose of the frameworks is to capacitate higher education professionals to work innovatively in the modern world by making use of affordances such as open educational resources (OER), open pedagogies and digital technologies. An institution, faculty, department or individual can decide on current needs and use the framework to structure and implement a flexible professional development plan.

The Botswana Open University (BOU) wanted to give lecturers and tutors at BOU an opportunity to gain skills for facilitating online learning. OER Africa adapted the OER Africa online tutorial for Facilitating Online Learning (FOL) for the context of staff development at BOU. When students arrive in a face to face class, when a lecturer or tutor arrives to teach them, there is an immediate connection, a presence. Online, we can lose the connections that allow us to learn with and from each other. The art of online facilitation helps to re-create those connections, to create a presence.

UNESCO recently launched the OER Dynamic Coalition Portal, a collaborative hub that will support the growth of the global Open Educational Resources movement. This new platform serves as a space where various OER stakeholders – educators, policymakers, researchers, and OER advocates – can connect and share news, resources, and upcoming events.