Sarita Kumar and Savithri Singh conducted a survey to study awareness of open educational resources (OER) among content creators in India. They found that while many understand the importance of open education, there remains a lack of understanding about what constitutes OER and how to license content openly. Over 60% of respondents were unaware of how to license their materials as OER. The survey indicates that while India has actively participated in open education, more advocacy is needed to increase awareness of OER licensing and concepts among academic authors and institutions.

1. Sarita Kumar and Savithri Singh
Acharya Narendra Dev College (University of Delhi)
New Delhi, India
singh.savithri53@gmail.com
saritakumar@andc.du.ac.in
Cape Town, March 8-10, 2017
A study on awareness of ‘OER’ among
content creators

2. üSince the adoption of term OER by
UNESCO (2002), Indians have been
involved/appreciated the importance of
being ‘open’
üCape Town declaration in 2007 has
several Indian organizations and
individuals as signatories
üNational Knowledge Commission report
of India (2007) placed great emphasis on
open source software and open access
Introduction

3. üIn 2008, Govt initiative - National Mission
on Education using ICT - committed
towards the ‘Open’ mission
üIndia chapter of Wikieducator was
established
üCurrently has large number of members
advocating the use of OER in education.
üIn 2012, with Paris Declaration on OER,
UNESCO urged members to foster, use
and creation of OER
Introduction

4. ü OER movement at all levels of education - Primary,
Upper Primary, Secondary & Higher Education.
ü National level repositories like NPTEL, NME-ICT,
Sakshat, ePathshala, Swayam, NROER, eGyankosh, OSCAR,
NSDL, eklavya,VASAT etc.
ü Several Non Governmental Organizations (NGO’s)
playing a major role in e-Content development.
ü Creative Commons was introduced through affiliates in
2007, Since 2013 - have 3 organizations as affiliates.
ü Commonwealth of Learning, India office, CEMCA
(Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia)
promotes OER through the platform of Wikieducator.
Status In India

5. National Programme on
Technology Enhanced Learning
National Science Digital
Library (NSDL)
National Mission on Education through
Information and Communication
Technology (NME-ICT)
Content development efforts by Government and
various Universities

6. ü OER movement - Aims for reducing time &
cost of technology-enhanced learning yet…
Ø Success and sustainability reliant on large-scale
participation
Ø Requirement of consciousness and awareness
about OER.
ü Adoption of OER by Institutions
Ø Radically changing education scenario
Ø Providing opportunity to improve access and
quality of education
Need: OER Movement

7. ü Understanding Paradigm Shifts: Though many
understand importance of OER yet…...
o Not easily accepted in traditional colleges
o Educators and academicians do not believe in sharing
knowledge
o Resistance to Idea of ‘Open’
o Confusion exists on what exactly constitutes OER
o Lack of awareness / restricted knowledge
o Lack of ability to distinguish between open access,
accessible content and (true) OERs
ü Despite being authors - lack of awareness among
developers exists on OER concept, copyright
policies & various licenses under which their
materials is released.
Extent of OER Awareness

8. ü Conduct a survey among higher education
faculty particularly among authors of OER
content
ü Study the extent of penetration of the
understanding of the concept of ‘OER’
among them
ü Understand the constraints faced while
developing content
ü Recognize ways to propagate the
philosophy of OER
Objectives

9. https://docs.google.com/a/andc.du.ac.in/forms/d/1Ni
WOaX1JJWsRr97xKgPsPTOacK7_1bH036RZ7WsF
LD4/edit?usp=forms_home&ths=true
Methodology
Online structured
questionnaire prepared in
Google doc
Sent to faculty of different
streams and regions
Data collected, compiled and
analysed to comprehend/evaluate
views, awareness and issues

10. Questionnaire…
• Miscellaneous
Information
• 8 items
• Awareness –
OER and CC
• 14 Items
• Content
prepared
• 12 Items
• Profile
• Facilities
Section
A
Section
B
Section
D
Section
C

11. Profile of the Respondents
Age
Gender

12. Institution of the Respondents

13. Professional Status
Designation
Mode of Teaching

14. Teaching Profile
Teaching Experience
Discipline

15. Facilities at Institutions
Well equipped Institutions

16. Subject Area
Number of modules
Creation of e-content

17. Use of Copyright materials
63.3% - No copyright material

18. Use of Copyright materials : Permissions

19. Use of Copyright materials : Permissions?
ü 46.6% - believed that they did not use any
copyrighted material while creating
content
ü 24.1% - sought permission for using
material either themselves or was taken
by the parent institution
ü 13.8% - permission not required because
of use for preparation of educational
content.
ü 13.8% - Not aware

20. Copyright on created material
ü16.7% - No copyright
ü 60.0% - copyright with the institution
ü 13.3% - No idea
Shows unawareness about the OER concept

21. Licensing on created material
ü68.3% not aware about the licensing on
their modules
üIndicates limited awareness of OER
amongst academicians
9.2%9.8%

22. Awareness about OER
5.2% of the respondents had not
heard about OER
5.2%

23. Perception about OER
ü OER - different meanings; not aware about the
concept of open domain and open access
ü Only 10% - materials under ‘public domain’
ü 41.7% - Accessible educational material on web
ü 13.3% - OER confused with Open access
ü 26.7% - Under open license

24. Awareness about Public Domain
ü 36.7% - any web material
ü 46.7% - under specific license
ü 11.7% - unaware
ü Only 5.1% - no copyright
Indicates unawareness about OER

25. Release of Material as OER
Indicates unawareness about
License

26. Perception about Use of OER
5.2%

27. Challenges faced
ü 52.5% find difficulty in locating appropriate OERs.
ü 47.5% fear about the reliability and validity of OERs
ü 40.7% think time-intensive
ü 36.6% found difficulty in customizing OER according to
own need

28. Opinion about release of material
Almost 40% do not want to release their
material as OER or are unsure

29. Recommendations
• The advocacy and creating awareness of OER should
be a top priority, particular focusing on teachers and
senior administrators.
• Institutional OER policies should be formulated and
implemented to promote the use of OER by teachers.
• The teachers may be provided with incentives to
engage in OER work. The incentives can be in the form
of awards, recognition, promotional benefits etc.
• Quality of OER should be ensured and maintained by
adapting the available quality frameworks.
• Regular workshops and training sessions should be
organized to enhance the ICT and OER skills of faculty.

30. Suggestions &
Inputs