Andrology

The current impact study follows on from two earlier evaluations of the project.

A formative evaluation of the Design Phase completed at the end of 2009 focused mainly on OER ‘take-up’ and production in the partner institutions (OER Africa 2009). This evaluation concluded that expectations and contractual targets had been met, or exceeded by an impressive margin, with project coordinators and participants in each partner institution having engaged OER in creative ways that were most appropriate to their own contexts.

The second evaluation, a mid-term evaluation titled ‘Phase 2 Evaluation: Consolidation and Sustainability’ (OER Africa 2011),reinforced the finding that individual and institutional participants in the project had made significant progress in producing OER as well as in developing OER-supportive policy environments. This they had done in their own distinctive ways, in a manner that was consistent with their own ethos, contextual realities, strategies and resources.
This impact evaluation focused more broadly on Network activities, including these four institutions and partnerships that have been formed since project inception in 2008, as well as broader usage of health OER by other users not affiliated with the Network.

Supporting Collaboration and Harnessing of OER Within the Policy Framework of KNUST: Report Prepared by OER Africa on Behalf of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). As part of a broader process of stimulating collaboration amongst distance education providers taking place under the auspices of the African Council on Distance Education’s Technical Committee on Collaboration, OER Africa and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) signed a Memorandum of Understanding that has established a framework for a joint programme of action. Accordingly, OER Africa is providing support to KNUST in review of its current policies to assess the extent to which they facilitate collaboration and alternative, open licences for its educational materials.

Although there are over a quarter of a million open courses published by an increasing number of universities, it remains unclear whether Open Education Resources (OER) is scalable and productively sustainable. The challenge is compounded when OER is examined in the light of its potential to allow both educators and learners in developing countries to contribute geographically bound learning resources in the context of varied infrastructural, technological and skill constraints. Between October and December 2009, 52 participants involved in various roles related to Health OER from five universities (one in the USA, two in Ghana and two in South Africa) were interviewed. The aim of the study was to investigate sustainability of OER based on possible cross-institutional collaboration as well as social and technical challenges in creating and sharing OER materials. The analytical framework was adopted from prior research in related areas: distributed scientific collaboration; cyber infrastructure; open source development; and Wikipedia. We adopted a qualitative approach for data collection, which included semi structured interviews and document analysis. The findings were analyzed and reported with many direct quotations included. The outcome of the data analysis is a model for productive, scalable, and sustainable OER based on cross-institutional collaboration. The report concludes with practical recommendations on how to the model can be operationalized.

As part of the Hewlett Foundation grant for the African Health OER Network, Professor Ken Harley (University of KwaZulu-Natal) conducts an annual external evaluation of the project. For his 2009 evaluation, Prof Harley interviewed participants at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), University of Ghana (UG), University of Cape Town (UCT), University of the Western Cape (UWC), the South African Institute of Distance Education (Saide) and the University of Michigan (U-M). In 2010, he conducted follow-up interviews with the same institutions. The 2010 evaluation was aimed at exploring institutional experiences, to establish how the project was being consolidated, and to start assessing issues of sustainability. Based on document analysis and institutional interviews, broadly, the evaluation concludes that:

• The African Health OER Network has supported institutions to develop OER based on institutional needs and choices. This in itself is a signifier of sustainability.

• Because of the modelling of OER production along institutional needs and choices, institutions have produced OER that are consistent with their “ethos, contextual realities, strategies and resources.” In other words, what is being produced will be utilised in the institution and is not designed for ‘show and tell’ to meet funder requirements.

• The development of OER has encouraged institutions to reconsider their policies on OER and also how they can support OER within their own means.