Exploring OER Awareness and Engagement of Academics from a Global South Perspective - a Case Study from Ghana
This study explored how academics in a Ghanaian university conceptualized and engaged with OER through a qualitative approach (in-depth interviews). “Access”emerged as the most dominant theme in how OER was conceptualized. Academics regarded OER positively; emphasizing its role in reducing the knowledge imbalances between the Global North and Global South and enhancing academic practices.... more
Countering linguistic imperialism with stories in the languages of Africa: The African Storybook initiative as a model for enabling in and out of school literacies
Background: In South Africa, and in many other African countries, official language-in- education policy supports the use of learners’ primary language(s) in early schooling. In reality, texts in the language(s) of the former colonial power are dominant, with high-interest texts in languages familiar to young learners in short supply or non-existent. Where government education departments... more
Open Educational Resources Differentiation: A cross-country study on differentiation in access, use and sharing of (Open) Educational Resources at universities in Kenya, Ghana and South Africa
The academic literature on open educational resources (OER) and practices in higher education has grown substantially over the past decade. OER is seen to offer endless possibilities for Sub-Saharan African universities by reducing costs of education, improving quality of education, as well as increasing access to quality education for all, among others. Sub-Saharan African universities... more
Open educational resources, student efficacy, and user perceptions: a synthesis of research published between 2015 and 2018
Although textbooks are a traditional component in many higher education contexts, their increasing price have led many students to forgo purchasing them and some faculty to seek substitutes. One such alternative is open educational resources (OER). This present study synthesizes results from sixteen efficacy and twenty perceptions studies involving 121,168 students or faculty that examine... more
Harnessing OER Practices to Drive Pedagogical Improvement: The Role of Continuing Professional Development
In our efforts to support African universities to understand and harness the concept of open educational resources (OER), /OER Africa/ has identified several practical constraints to achieving the widely anticipated potential for OER to contribute to achieving higher degrees of equity across higher education in Africa. Effective harnessing of OER practices depends heavily on the... more
Digital Fluency Course: Module 4 - Academic Integrity in a Digital Age
This is the fourth module in the Digital Fluency course for academics. In this module learners will be introduced to issues related to academic integrity, which has become a matter of increasing concern in the digital age. Use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has been widely embraced, and much information and many resources are readily accessible through the internet.... more
Digital Fluency Course: Module 1 - Digital Fundamentals
This module aims to provide skills, knowledge, and understanding of how to work in your digital environment in an academic context, and to enhance your skills to efficiently, critically, creatively, and safely work with digital technologies in your daily academic routine. more
Understanding the Impact of OER: Achievements and Challenges
Saide’s OER Africa initiative is delighted to partner UNESCO IITE in putting together this important publication. This builds on a long relationship between the organizations, based on our mutual commitment to enabling successful open learning for all, and on our belief in the potential of open educational resources (OER) in pursuing those ends. Unfortunately, the claims of OER in relation... more
The Effects of Institutional Support Factors on Lecturer adoption of eLearning at a Conventional University
Conventional Higher Education Institutions in Kenya are in the process of implementing eLearning projects. These initiatives are, however, fraught with challenges. At the Maseno University eCampus, an evaluation of statistics on the institutional LMS after two years of implementation revealed that many lecturers had minimal or no log-in statistics, an indication that there was a gap in the... more
Differentiation in Access to, and the Use and Sharing of (Open) Educational Resources Among Students and Lecturers at Technical and Comprehensive Ghanaian Universities
This paper is the second in a series of three with a common goal to present a fair OER picture for Sub-Saharan Africa, represented by large-scale studies in three countries: Kenya, Ghana, and South Africa. This paper examines a deliberate selection of four Ghanaian universities with randomly sampled students and lecturers. Distinct questionnaires for students and the lecturers have been used... more
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