Adapting OER: Addressing the Challenges of Reuse When Designing for HE Capacity Development
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This document discusses the challenges of adapting open educational resources (OER) for use in a nationwide professional development course in Kenya. It describes how an OER course from the Open University (UK) on moving teaching online was remixed and localized for the Kenyan context. Key challenges included meeting national needs, adapting to the local context with variations, and constraints faced by learners with limited resources. Solutions involved conducting needs assessments, co-design workshops, and providing accessible, downloadable content with online and in-person support. Feedback found the adapted OER course had a positive impact on building digital education capacity in Kenyan universities.
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Adapting OER: Addressing the Challenges of Reuse When Designing for HE Capacity Development
- 1. Work together. Learn together. Grow together. Implemented by: Add Ukaid/UK Government, Embassy or HMG logo Add partner logo Adapting OER: Addressing the Challenges of Reuse When Designing for HE Capacity Development Fereshte Goshtasbpour, Rebecca Ferguson, Beck Pitt, Simon Cross and Denise Whitelock (The Open University, UK) Fereshte.Goshtasbpour@open.ac.uk @Gfereshte
- 2. 2 Background Pandemic and the urge to move on- campus teaching online within weeks Universities not having the skills nor the resources to change their pedagogic approaches to follow best practices in online educational settings There was an urgent need for contextually relevant professional training for educators that could be accessed at a distance
- 3. 3 Professional development and OER Good quality professional development takes time to develop but Open Educational Resources (OER) offer the opportunity to access relevant content. OER are “teaching, learning, and research materials that are either (a) in the public domain or (b) licensed in a manner that provides everyone with free and perpetual permission to engage in the 5R activities of Retain, Reuse, Revise, Remix and Redistribute” (Creative Common, 2010)
- 4. 4 Challenges of remixing and localising OER Although high quality OER relating to moving teaching online are available, there are challenges associated with adapting them to a new context(s). • Customising content to reflect local resources • Lack of non-English content (Dominance of English language resources and bias) • Translation and appropriate use of language in contexts with many dialects and languages within one country • understanding learner and educator contexts (e.g. connectivity, software) • Accessibility
- 5. 5 Challenges of remixing and localising OER • License type compactivity • Institutional policy and support • Institutional norms and traditions associated with learning and teaching • Cross-department collaboration (Wang and Towey, 2017; Amiel 2014; Ivins 2011)
- 6. 6 This study Research question What are the challenges involved in adapting OER for use on a nationwide professional development course and how can these be addressed?’ Context • OER- ‘Take Your Teaching Online’, a badged open course from The Open University (UK), hosted on the OpenLearn platform • Remixed and contextualised to design and deliver a nationwide capacity development programme (Skills for Prosperity Kenya) • Aim: to build expertise of Kenyan HE staff in digital education • Scope: all 37 public universities in Kanya • Audience: educators, support staff, managers
- 7. 7 This study Methodology • Method- Critical reflection (Hewitt, 2015 and Morely, 2008) • Participants- educators who designed the course • Data source- individual accounts; learning design documents including course outline, meeting notes, and reflective email conversations; the course; course engagement; post-course survey responses; and learner activity following completion. • Conceptual framework for analysis- Conole (2014 and 2018) 7 Cs of learning design: Conceptualise, Create, Communicate, Collaborate, Consider, Combine and Consolidate
- 8. 8 Findings: Challenging in reusing OER Challenges of adapting OER for an online nationwide capacity development programme Meeting national needs Retention and completion Adapting to local context (Kenya) Technical support Variation in local context Low resources (e.g., internet connection) Individual learner needs Staffing levels Learner agency Inclusivity Constraints on learners (e.g. time, workload) Accessibility Range of learner roles COVID-19 conditions Learner unfamiliarity with online learning Creation of new OER where appropriate Appropriate pedagogical approach Consultation and forward planning Assessment and recognition of learning OER sustainability
- 9. 9 Repurposing and localising the OER Pedagogical approach: The OU’s supported open learning (McAndrew & Weller, 2005) • flexible (learners work where and when they choose to fit in with their professional and personal commitments) Challenges to consider: • Conditions caused by Covid (workload, working hours, changing priorities, working off campus) • Staff motivation • Retention and recognition of achievement Solutions: • Asynchronous, self-pace delivery mode with flexible scheduling • Downloadable content • Recording of synchronous session • Distributed award system
- 10. 10 Repurposing and localising the OER Pedagogical approach: The OU’s supported open learning (McAndrew & Weller, 2005) • inclusive (needs of different learners are accommodated) Challenges to consider: • Attending to national, local and role related needs • Attending to needs of learners with disability • learners’ unfamiliarity with online learning • Constraints on learners (e.g. time) • Limited resources (broadband, devices used) Solutions • conducted role-based needs assessment based on JISC digital capabilities framework (3 groups) • Liaised with a local educational consultant • Conducted co-design workshops with stakeholder to create new content, activities, images and illustrations
- 11. 11 Repurposing and localising the OER Pedagogical approach: The OU’s supported open learning (McAndrew & Weller, 2005) • Solutions • Provided downloadable content in multiple formats • Provided accessible content via an accessible learning platform (OpenLearn Create) • Adapted and contextualised the course language and activities • Provided online study skills sessions • Provided one-to-one support (online and in Kenya) • Established an online community of practice for support
- 12. 12 Repurposing and localising the OER Pedagogical approach: The OU’s supported open learning (McAndrew & Weller, 2005) • social (learners have the opportunity to communicate and meet) Challenges to consider: • Enable learners from different universities to communicate and network safely • Enable learners to communicate with course academic and technical teams Solutions • Established an online community of practice (peer interactions and communication with the course academic team) • Ran expert webinars and discussions • Offered special-occasion webinars (e.g. mid-course and graduation webinars) • Offered mentoring sessions • Ran practical workshops
- 13. 13 Repurposing and localising the OER Pedagogical approach: The OU’s supported open learning (McAndrew & Weller, 2005) • learning support (staff provide academic expertise, support and guidance) Challenges to consider: • Learning/pedagogical support • Technical and administrative support Solutions • Online community of practice (peer and educator support) • Practical workshops • Technical and admin support • Kenya-based support
- 14. 14 Future of this OER 2022-2023 • We have updated and revised the content of original Take Your Teaching Online (2018) open course based on feedback from course educators and participants to offer it again as a free CPD course (suitable for a global context) • 3 Kenyan universities are repurposing and localising this course to offer it to a larger number of staff in their universities and as a route for promotions • The government of Kenya (State Department) will make the course available to more staff in both public and private universities after project ends
- 15. 15 Participants’ feedback Impact case study vignettes: https://bit.ly/3xgZbJR Programme impact videos: https://bit.ly/3wTtpSZ
- 16. 16 Q & A Thank you! fereshte.goshatsbpour@open.ac.uk @Gfereshte
- 17. 17 Acknowledgement Illustrations in this presentation are original or remixed versions of a selection of images produced by Visual Thinkery for the UK-Aid Funded Skills for Prosperity Kenya programme, and are licensed CC BY 4.0
- 18. 18 References Amiel, T. (2013) “Identifying barriers to the remix of translated open educational resources”, The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, Vol. 14, No. 1, pp 126-144. https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v14i1.1351 Conole, G. (2014) “The 7Cs of Learning Design – a new approach to rethinking design practice”. In Bayne, S., Jones, C., de Laat, M., Ryberg, T. and Sinclair, C. Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Networked Learning 2014. [online], https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/fss/organisations/netlc/past/nlc2014/abstracts/pdf/conole.pdf, Edinburgh, UK. Conole, G., (2018) “Developing digital literacies through continuing professional development”, Educația Plus, Vol 19, No. 1, pp.21-30. Hewitt, E. (2015). Building bridges: the use of reflective oral diaries as a qualitative research tool. International Journal of Research & Method in Education. 40(4):1-15. Doi: 10.1080/1743727X.2015.1114601 McAndrew, P., Weller, M. (2005) Applying Learning Design to Supported Open Learning. In: Koper, R., Tattersall, C. (eds) Learning Design, Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-27360-3_17 . Morely, C. (2008). Critical reflection as a research methodology. In Liamputtong, P. and Rumbold, J. Eds. Knowing Differently: Art-based and Collaborative Research Methods. Chapter 14: 148-163. New York: Nova Science Publishers. Wang, T., & Towey, D. (2017, December). Open educational resource (OER) adoption in higher education: Challenges and strategies. In 2017 IEEE 6th International Conference on Teaching, Assessment, and Learning for Engineering (TALE) (pp. 317-319). IEEE.
Editor's Notes
- Pandemic and the urge to move on-campus teaching online within weeks. skills nor the resources to change their pedagogic approaches to follow best practices developed and trialled in online educational settings over the past three decades
- In order to address the research question, the three educators who designed the course reflected critically on each stage of the learning design, focusing on the use of OER. Sources of data for this critical reflection were: individual accounts; learning design documents including course outline, meeting notes, and reflective email conversations; the course; course engagement; post-course survey responses; and learner activity following completion. Individual narratives and personal experiences of the three lead educators were used to strengthen the overall account. Before the course, educators define what, why and who the course is designed for and decide its principles and pedagogical approach (Conceptualise). While the course is running, students are supported to engage in activities that provide opportunities for learning; creating new materials or repurposing existing ones (Create), communicating and interacting (Communication), working together (Collaborate); and then reflecting and working on assessment tasks (Consider). As the course ends, learning designers and educators can reflect on the success of the design and how it could be modified, taking into account factors such as time required for tasks, activity types, and timeline of different activities (Combine). Finally, course effectiveness is evaluated, and changes are made (Consolidate).
- IMPORTANT- explain conditions caused by COVID (working from home=unreliable and expensive internet) The course ran during the pandemic when most learners were in full-time employment. Five delivery considerations were therefore critical: flexible scheduling, retention challenges, Internet access, learners’ limited experience of online study, and inclusion / accessibility. The course had to be delivered online, offering flexibility with minimum demand on staff time. An asynchronous self-paced delivery mode was chosen. The flexible scheduling enabled learners to engage at their own pace, fitting study around their work and family commitments. This flexibility was also valuable for learners with disabilities such as dyslexia or long Covid that can make concentrating and remembering information difficult. The disruption caused by the pandemic to personal and professional lives meant there was a risk learners would be unable to complete the course. A distributed award system of digital badges and a certificate was developed to encourage participation and completion. Badges were awarded for successful completion of the first and second halves of the course, and everyone who completed the course also received a certificate. The pandemic meant most university staff in Kenya were working off-campus. This had connectivity and access implications (i.e. limited or unreliable internet). The course was therefore available in multiple formats that could be downloaded. This allowed learners to download learning resources when they had Internet access and then work on them offline. Flexible scheduling enabled learners to engage at their own pace. The option to study in short bursts and return to challenging material provided the time necessary to process and engage with content. However, although most of the measures taken to support learners were successful, when the course ran, this flexibility affected peer interactions and the course community activities negatively
- Accessibility and inclusion strategies included provision of technical support and guidance through an accessible learning platform, downloadable learning content, an online community of practice and a technical team. Learning content and activities were designed to meet international accessibility standards, all images and diagrams were accompanied by alternative text for screen readers, and all videos had transcripts. Transcripts accommodated not only the needs of some learners with disabilities but also the needs of learners who did not have the bandwidth to view a video but were able to download a transcript. In addition, when revising the content, local images and examples were used, clip-arts were repurposed, and examples of inclusive practice were provided. Accessible content (e.g. ALT text; video transcription; flexible scheduling)
- Accessibility and inclusion strategies included provision of technical support and guidance through an accessible learning platform, downloadable learning content, an online community of practice and a technical team. Learning content and activities were designed to meet international accessibility standards, all images and diagrams were accompanied by alternative text for screen readers, and all videos had transcripts. Transcripts accommodated not only the needs of some learners with disabilities but also the needs of learners who did not have the bandwidth to view a video but were able to download a transcript. In addition, when revising the content, local images and examples were used, clip-arts were repurposed, and examples of inclusive practice were provided. Matatu)
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