Changes

You have heard of the National Curriculum Framework 2005, which speaks of contextual, inclusive and meaningful education. In your units on education, you have also read about constructivist learning models.  For these ideas to come true, relevant learning resources must be available for the students (teachers) and teachers (teacher-educator).  These resources must be contextual, easily available, allow for learners to modify and adapt for their requirements.

You have heard of the National Curriculum Framework 2005, which speaks of contextual, inclusive and meaningful education. In your units on education, you have also read about constructivist learning models.  For these ideas to come true, relevant learning resources must be available for the students (teachers) and teachers (teacher-educator).  These resources must be contextual, easily available, allow for learners to modify and adapt for their requirements.

Right now, in many cases, the textbook tends to be the most important resource for teachers, if not the only resource.  This resource is limited, made once in a year and represent on set of thoughts.  These resources are largely text based, have very audio visual resources and may not address multiple learning needs. External resources, though available, are also largely non-digital, expensive and cannot easily be adapted for local needs and contexts.  For critical and diverse perspectives to develop, multiple resources must be available and it must be possible for knowledge to be constructed and shared from multiple contexts. Otherwise, it is possible that only some forms of knowledge will remain important and other will die out. For knowledge sharing to freely happen, educational resources must become freely available, freely shareable and freely changeable to adapt to local contexts and needs.  You have also read about the role of ICTs in the creation, sharing and distribution of knowledge in section on ICTs and Society. Open Educational Resources (OERs), as they are called are such learning resources. Open Educational Resources are digital resources that are available freely, in multiple formats – text, audio, video – to allow for multiple learner needs.

Right now, in many cases, the textbook tends to be the most important resource for teachers, if not the only resource.  This resource is limited, made once in a year and represent on set of thoughts.  These resources are largely text based, have very audio visual resources and may not address multiple learning needs. External resources, though available, are also largely non-digital, expensive and cannot easily be adapted for local needs and contexts.  For critical and diverse perspectives to develop, multiple resources must be available and it must be possible for knowledge to be constructed and shared from multiple contexts. Otherwise, it is possible that only some forms of knowledge will remain important and other will die out. For knowledge sharing to freely happen, educational resources must become freely available, freely shareable and freely changeable to adapt to local contexts and needs.  You have also read about the role of ICTs in the creation, sharing and distribution of knowledge in section on ICTs and Society. Open Educational Resources (OERs), as they are called are such learning resources. They are available freely, in multiple formats – text, audio, video – to allow for multiple learner needs.

 

OER is a global phenomenon and began in 2001 with the launch of wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org), where knowledge was created and shared by many many people and not restricted to one person.  Following this, Massachussetts Institute of Technology, a leading university in the United States of America, released many of its course materials for free called Open Courseware (2001).

The term Open Educational Resource (OER) was coined at the 2002 UNESCO Forum on Open Courseware. Subsequently, its definition has been updated to the following:

The term Open Educational Resource (OER) was coined at the 2002 UNESCO Forum on Open Courseware. Subsequently, its definition has been updated to the following:

“They are educational materials and resources that are offered freely, are openly available to anyone and, under some licences, allow others to reuse, adapt and redistribute them with few or no restrictions. OER can include lecture notes and slides, lesson plans, textbooks, handouts given to students, videos, online tutorials, podcasts, diagrams, entire courses, and any other material designed to be used in teaching and learning. Thus, the scale of OER can vary significantly. They can be as large as a textbook or as small as a single photograph. They can make up an entire course or curriculum or can be used to enhance existing textbooks” (p. 2).

“They are educational materials and resources that are offered freely, are openly available to anyone and, under some licences, allow others to reuse, adapt and redistribute them with few or no restrictions. OER can include lecture notes and slides, lesson plans, textbooks, handouts given to students, videos, online tutorials, podcasts, diagrams, entire courses, and any other material designed to be used in teaching and learning. Thus, the scale of OER can vary significantly. They can be as large as a textbook or as small as a single photograph. They can make up an entire course or curriculum or can be used to enhance existing textbooks” (p. 2).

This is a global phenomenon and began in 2001 with the launch of wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org), where knowledge is created and shared by many many people and not restricted to one person.  Following this, Massachussetts Institute of Technology, a leading university in the United States of America, released many of its course materials for free called Open Courseware (2001).  In teacher education also, educational resources were developed collaboratively by a programme for Teacher Education in Sub Saharan Africa and published on http://www.tessafrica.net. These are some of the early initiatives in OERs; now many more OERs are available across the world teaching and learning.  In India, National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) (http://nptel.iitk.ac.in) and IGNOU have offered many of the courses as Open Educational Resources.

In teacher education also, educational resources were developed collaboratively by a programme for Teacher Education in Sub Saharan Africa and published on http://www.tessafrica.net. These are some of the early initiatives in OERs; now many more OERs are available across the world teaching and learning.  In India, National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) (http://nptel.iitk.ac.in) and IGNOU have offered many of the courses as Open Educational Resources.

= Kinds of OERs =

= Kinds of OERs =