@celTatis
@OER_Hub
OPEN
EDUCATION
RESEARCH
HUB
A Tale of Two Globes:
Exploring the North/South
Divide in Use of OER
Beatriz de los Arcos
Rob Farrow
Beck Pitt
Martin Weller
The Open University, UK
#opened15

Project Co-PILOT

OERRH Survey Data: 7,700 responses from 175 countries

bit.ly/OERRH_SurveyData
CCBY-NCRichardhttps://flic.kr/p/daKBTG

CCBY-NDWesDickinsonhttps://flic.kr/p/q7tS35
divide?

N=7635 Global South 24% Global North 76%
Role
38% informal learners
29% formal learners
32% educators
45% informal learners
28.4% formal learners
23.2% educators
Gender
62% male
36.6% female
44% male
55% female
Age 28% 25-34 years-old 22.3% 25-34 years-old
Educational Qualification
38% postgraduate
32% undergraduate
34.5% postgraduate
26% undergraduate
Employment status
48.3% full-time
13% part-time
47.2% full-time
17.7% part-time
English native speakers 31% 75%
Internet Access
56% mobile
49% home broadband
70% mobile
89% home broadband

Educators Global South Global North
Gender
58% male
42% female
48% male
52% female
Age 28% 35-44 years-old 26% 45-54 years-old
Educational Qualification
60% postgraduate
24% undergraduate
64% postgraduate
20% undergraduate
Employment status
67% full-time
16% part-time
61% full-time
23% part-time
English native speakers 39% 76%
Teaching experience 49% >10 years 57% >10 years

89.5
83.6
74.5
76.7
60.8
61.3
18.1
19
60.4
76
49.8
64.5
51.4
41.9
10.5
32.9
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Shopped online
Used spreadsheet software
Used a VLE to teach
Used cloud-based storage
Shared an image online
Downloaded a podcast
Recorded and uploaded a podcast
Downloaded a file using a torrent client
South
North
Digital literacies*

80
39.8
16.2
28.8
23.2
13.8
76.1
38.1
12.7
22.8
24.3
14.6
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
I have adapted open educational resources to fit my
needs
I have created open educational resources for study or
teaching
I have created resources myself and published them on
an open license
I have added a resource to a repository
I have added comments to a repository regarding the
quality of a resource
I have added comments to a repository suggesting ways
of using a resource
South
North
Engagement with OER

The OER Engagement Ladder (Wild, 2012)
http://www.open.ac.uk/score/files/score/file/OER%20Engagement%20Study%20Joanna%20Wild_full%20research%20report.pdf

“[Wild’s] model does not allow for consideration of
contextual factors enabling and inhibiting OER use
in development contexts”. (Perryman & Seal, 2015)
Open educational practices and attitudes to openness across India: reporting the findings
of the OER Research Hub pan-India survey. OER15, 14-15 April 2015, Cardiff.

34.9
62
59.7
36.2
17.1
31.1
23.7
20.1
24.9
46.5
48.6
50.8
26.9
50.7
30
32.4
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Not having enough time/opportunities to experiment
Finding suitable resources in my subject area
Finding resources of sufficiently high quality
Finding resources that are relevant to my local context
Not being skilled enough to edit resources
Overcoming technology problems when downloading
resources
Not having connections with OER-using peers
Getting work colleagues/managers to accept the use
of OER
South
North
Challenges in using OER*

Global South Global North
I have adapted OER to fit
my needs
80.2% 87.8%
I have created resources
for teaching
34% 42%
I have created resources
and published them under
an open license*
8.9% 17.6%
Educators + technology as challenge =

?
CCBY-NC-NDTigerPixelhttps://flic.kr/p/dE5mzu

42
62.3
59
75.4
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
I have improved my skills in ICT
OER allow me to better
accommodate diverse learner
needs
South
North
Technology
barriers
Not relevant to
local context
Impact of OER on teaching
challengechallenge

34.9
62
59.7
36.2
17.1
31.1
23.7
20.1
24.9
46.5
48.6
50.8
26.9
50.7
30
32.4
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Not having enough time/opportunities to experiment
Finding suitable resources in my subject area
Finding resources of sufficiently high quality
Finding resources that are relevant to my local context
Not being skilled enough to edit resources
Overcoming technology problems when downloading
resources
Not having connections with OER-using peers
Getting work colleagues/managers to accept the use
of OER
South
North
Challenges in using OER*

CCBYMattBrownhttps://flic.kr/p/qPkG8v
connecting

Open Education Research Hub
• Research into open education and strategies for building
worldwide open education research capacity
• Available for research & consultancy (short & long term)
• Current projects include:
•