FGV Online Magazine - January 2011
Open Distance Education - The dissemination of knowledge in a world without borders.
FGV Online website: http://www.fgv.br/fgvonline
Global Trends in Open Education: Implications for Africa
Open Educational Consortium (OEC)
Prof. Dr. Stavros Panagiotis Xanthopoylos
Vice President ABED/Vice Dean FGV-IDE
Provides a definition and overview of personal boundaries, including personal space and multicultural experiences. The benefits of boundaries as well as issues with the lack thereof is covered. Ways to establish and maintain healthy boundaries is covered. Digital boundaries for couples is discussed.
Over the past 20 years, higher education has undergone major transformations, brought about by: (i) increasing internationalisation and student mobility; (ii) an ever-growing demand for quality higher education and lifelong learning; (iii) changing student demographics; (iv) the rise of online and blended learning, (v) cross-border higher education and (vi) recognition and quality assurance of qualifications in a digital world without borders. At the same time, access to the Internet and broadband service has increased. According to the International Telecommunications Union, 43 per cent of the world’s population is now online, with some form of regular access to the Internet, and the number of Internet users globally has reached 3.2 billion, of whom 2 billion are from developing countries (ITU, 2015). The huge growth in mobile connectivity, particularly in the developing world, has also brought online content and interaction to a global audience.
Since 2012, known as “The Year of the MOOC,” massive open online courses (MOOCs) have expanded worldwide, shaking up the higher education landscape and potentially disrupting the model of brick-and-mortar universities. Whilst higher education institutions have long been engaged in the delivery of online content (via, for example open educational resources and virtual learning environments), the rapid advent of MOOCs is regarded by some experts as an education revolution — according to Class Central (Shah, 2015a), the total number of MOOCs reached 4,200 in 2015. However, most of the current MOOCs are delivered by top universities in the Global North, which many observers consider a one-way transfer of knowledge from the developed countries to the developing world.
The present UNESCO–COL Guide on MOOCs is designed to raise general awareness amongst policy-makers in developing countries as to how MOOCs might address their concerns and priorities, particularly in terms of access to affordable quality higher education and preparation of secondary school leavers for academic as well as vocational education and training. With very few exceptions, many of the reports on MOOCs already published do not refer to the interests and experiences of developing countries, although we are witnessing important initiatives in more and more countries around the world.
Stavros Panagiotis Xanthopoylos is the Vice-President of the Brazilian Association for Distance Education - ABED, Professor, Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV-EAESP) in Brazil. See his presentation at the #EDEN2015 Annual Conference here. His talk is captured on video and will be published on the EDEN Youtube channel.
Read about EDEN: http://www.eden-online.org
Global Trends in Open Education: Implications for Africa
Open Educational Consortium (OEC)
Prof. Dr. Stavros Panagiotis Xanthopoylos
Vice President ABED/Vice Dean FGV-IDE
Provides a definition and overview of personal boundaries, including personal space and multicultural experiences. The benefits of boundaries as well as issues with the lack thereof is covered. Ways to establish and maintain healthy boundaries is covered. Digital boundaries for couples is discussed.
Over the past 20 years, higher education has undergone major transformations, brought about by: (i) increasing internationalisation and student mobility; (ii) an ever-growing demand for quality higher education and lifelong learning; (iii) changing student demographics; (iv) the rise of online and blended learning, (v) cross-border higher education and (vi) recognition and quality assurance of qualifications in a digital world without borders. At the same time, access to the Internet and broadband service has increased. According to the International Telecommunications Union, 43 per cent of the world’s population is now online, with some form of regular access to the Internet, and the number of Internet users globally has reached 3.2 billion, of whom 2 billion are from developing countries (ITU, 2015). The huge growth in mobile connectivity, particularly in the developing world, has also brought online content and interaction to a global audience.
Since 2012, known as “The Year of the MOOC,” massive open online courses (MOOCs) have expanded worldwide, shaking up the higher education landscape and potentially disrupting the model of brick-and-mortar universities. Whilst higher education institutions have long been engaged in the delivery of online content (via, for example open educational resources and virtual learning environments), the rapid advent of MOOCs is regarded by some experts as an education revolution — according to Class Central (Shah, 2015a), the total number of MOOCs reached 4,200 in 2015. However, most of the current MOOCs are delivered by top universities in the Global North, which many observers consider a one-way transfer of knowledge from the developed countries to the developing world.
The present UNESCO–COL Guide on MOOCs is designed to raise general awareness amongst policy-makers in developing countries as to how MOOCs might address their concerns and priorities, particularly in terms of access to affordable quality higher education and preparation of secondary school leavers for academic as well as vocational education and training. With very few exceptions, many of the reports on MOOCs already published do not refer to the interests and experiences of developing countries, although we are witnessing important initiatives in more and more countries around the world.
Stavros Panagiotis Xanthopoylos is the Vice-President of the Brazilian Association for Distance Education - ABED, Professor, Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV-EAESP) in Brazil. See his presentation at the #EDEN2015 Annual Conference here. His talk is captured on video and will be published on the EDEN Youtube channel.
Read about EDEN: http://www.eden-online.org
E-LEArn2017
PrE-confErEncEsymPosium
“moocsandopenEducationintheDevelopingWorld”
n
What do the World Bank, UNESCO, the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), the Inter-American Development Bank, and numerous
other organizations and institutions around the globe have in common? They are all engaged in fascinating experiments to
take advantage of advances in digital technologies and e-learning design to provide education, training, and professional development
opportunities to people in developing countries who previously could not partake of these opportunities. One such delivery
mechanism has been the massive open online course (MOOC) as well as various MOOC-like derivatives. Another is the use of
open educational resources (OER). These efforts are already benefitting millions of people, but much potential for expansion and improvement remains.
The Commitment of Higher Education to EFAamandasudic
Presentation by Djeneba Traore, Director General, West Africa Institute (WAI), Cape Verde, at International Association of Universities Conference 'From HEEFA to SDG4: Building on Achievements',
Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site
8 - 9 October 2015 - Barcelona, Spain
This is a paper which I presented during the 2016 APQN. The paper is about establishing OER in Fiji, how the establishment motivated directed QA process.
Emerging Trends of Remote Learning in the Higher Education Challenges and Opp...YogeshIJTSRD
The COVID 19 pandemic has not only affected higher education on a global scale, but it has also brought numerous challenges to the higher education community. Remote learning refers to situations where learners and lecturers or information sources, separated by time and distance, and therefore cannot meet their needs in a traditional classroom environment. It can encompass a wide variety of learning opportunities. This could include exploring the natural world, activities to support students’ local communities with appropriate social distancing , and engaging in hands on projects and artistic creations that stem from students’ passions and experiences. The purpose of the study is to emphasize the benefits and impact of remote learning on higher education. The research method of this study used the second hand data listed in different databases of books, research papers and related articles on remote learning and higher education on the Internet. The research results of the paper show that higher education in India lacks challenges in terms of declining institutional income and national budget cuts, deterioration of financial conditions among students, quality problems of remote learning, and inefficient credit transfers. The study also reports on various opportunities for higher education. Researchers have found that remote learning can help promote flexible schedules. Learn important skills enhance technical knowledge a safer and more accessible environment a world full of possibilities walk your own way and build long remote friendships. Higher education institutions need to improve their quality and reputation. Colleges and universities should have good infrastructure to attract students. The government must promote cooperation between Indian higher education institutions and top international institutions. It can also establish links between national research laboratories and research centers of top institutions to improve quality and conduct collaborative research. Mrs. Ani Smriti | Mr. Rajesh Kumar "Emerging Trends of Remote Learning in the Higher Education: Challenges and Opportunities after COVID -19 Situation" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-5 | Issue-4 , June 2021, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.compapers/ijtsrd41132.pdf Paper URL: https://www.ijtsrd.commanagement/general-management/41132/emerging-trends-of-remote-learning-in-the-higher-education-challenges-and-opportunities-after-covid-19-situation/mrs-ani-smriti
Presentation about how Open Education Consortium advances openness in education around the world. Presentation was made at OER: Impact and Outcomes Conference, 8-9 December 2014, Paris, France (http://www.college-etudesmondiales.org/fr/content/conf-open-educational-resources-impact-outcomes)
GlobalNxt University offers high quality interactive education centered on a global learning community of students and professors, delivered in a flexible, online, community based format aimed squarely at working professionals who are committed to fulfil their management and leadership potential. To know more visit http://www.globalnxt.edu.my
Student as producer and open educational resources: enhancing learning throug...Sue Watling
Student as producer and open educational resources: enhancing learning through digital scholarship in Effective Learning in Social Science (ELiSS), 4 (3).2012
Enabling Motivated Instruction Outcomes through Technology Accessijtsrd
The research was conducted at Cebu Technological University Barili Campus, Barili, Cebu as a bases for Proposed Curriculum and technology integration Instructional Guide Through Departmental LAC sessions to strengthen the Domains and Objectives during actual instructional setting. The 650 respondents 600 Students and 50 Teachers distributed from three secondary schools in Toledo City Division namely Luray II National High School, Matab ang National High School and Toledo City Science High School wherein Descriptive –Correlation and Purposive sampling was used for the distribution of survey questionnaire instrument which aims to assess the level of technology Implementation integration in instruction in senior high school curriculum through its domains and objectives such as classroom activities, Research Works, Product Performance Task Monthly School Celebration Activities, Faculty Professional Communication, Learners Extrinsic motivation towards academics and Learners Monthly Percentage Attendance as well as to determine the barriers and challenges occur during the implementation of technology integration towards curriculum instruction a basis for upgraded instructional guide to be developed. Gathered data were treated using total weighted points, weighted mean, and correlations. Based on the findings and after a careful analysis and interpretation of the study, it is concluded that enabling motivated instructional guide through technology access is the best way to enhance learners 21st century skills. Maria Katrina S. Macapaz "Enabling Motivated Instruction Outcomes through Technology Access" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-4 | Issue-6 , October 2020, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd33301.pdf Paper Url: https://www.ijtsrd.com/management/management-development/33301/enabling-motivated-instruction-outcomes-through-technology-access/maria-katrina-s-macapaz
"Successfully organizational, methodological and pedagogical approaches to Lifelong Learning programs in the United States"
Presentation at ITEA-2013, IRTC, Kyiv, Ukraine
http://itea-conf.org.ua/2013/
What are the chances of your country winning the 2018 World Cup?
FGV's mathematical model predicts that Brazil has the greatest chances of winning.
http://fgv.br/emap/copa-2018
Interval observer for uncertain time-varying SIR-SI model of vector-borne dis...FGV Brazil
The issue of state estimation is considered for an SIR-SI model describing a vector-borne disease such as dengue fever, with seasonal variations and uncertainties in the transmission rates. Assuming continuous measurement of the number of new infectives in the host population per unit time, a class of interval observers with estimate-dependent gain is constructed, and asymptotic error bounds are provided. The synthesis method is based on the search for a common linear Lyapunov function for monotone systems representing the evolution of the estimation errors.
Date: 2017
Authors:
Soledad Aronna, Maria
Bliman, Pierre-Alexandre
E-LEArn2017
PrE-confErEncEsymPosium
“moocsandopenEducationintheDevelopingWorld”
n
What do the World Bank, UNESCO, the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), the Inter-American Development Bank, and numerous
other organizations and institutions around the globe have in common? They are all engaged in fascinating experiments to
take advantage of advances in digital technologies and e-learning design to provide education, training, and professional development
opportunities to people in developing countries who previously could not partake of these opportunities. One such delivery
mechanism has been the massive open online course (MOOC) as well as various MOOC-like derivatives. Another is the use of
open educational resources (OER). These efforts are already benefitting millions of people, but much potential for expansion and improvement remains.
The Commitment of Higher Education to EFAamandasudic
Presentation by Djeneba Traore, Director General, West Africa Institute (WAI), Cape Verde, at International Association of Universities Conference 'From HEEFA to SDG4: Building on Achievements',
Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site
8 - 9 October 2015 - Barcelona, Spain
This is a paper which I presented during the 2016 APQN. The paper is about establishing OER in Fiji, how the establishment motivated directed QA process.
Emerging Trends of Remote Learning in the Higher Education Challenges and Opp...YogeshIJTSRD
The COVID 19 pandemic has not only affected higher education on a global scale, but it has also brought numerous challenges to the higher education community. Remote learning refers to situations where learners and lecturers or information sources, separated by time and distance, and therefore cannot meet their needs in a traditional classroom environment. It can encompass a wide variety of learning opportunities. This could include exploring the natural world, activities to support students’ local communities with appropriate social distancing , and engaging in hands on projects and artistic creations that stem from students’ passions and experiences. The purpose of the study is to emphasize the benefits and impact of remote learning on higher education. The research method of this study used the second hand data listed in different databases of books, research papers and related articles on remote learning and higher education on the Internet. The research results of the paper show that higher education in India lacks challenges in terms of declining institutional income and national budget cuts, deterioration of financial conditions among students, quality problems of remote learning, and inefficient credit transfers. The study also reports on various opportunities for higher education. Researchers have found that remote learning can help promote flexible schedules. Learn important skills enhance technical knowledge a safer and more accessible environment a world full of possibilities walk your own way and build long remote friendships. Higher education institutions need to improve their quality and reputation. Colleges and universities should have good infrastructure to attract students. The government must promote cooperation between Indian higher education institutions and top international institutions. It can also establish links between national research laboratories and research centers of top institutions to improve quality and conduct collaborative research. Mrs. Ani Smriti | Mr. Rajesh Kumar "Emerging Trends of Remote Learning in the Higher Education: Challenges and Opportunities after COVID -19 Situation" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-5 | Issue-4 , June 2021, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.compapers/ijtsrd41132.pdf Paper URL: https://www.ijtsrd.commanagement/general-management/41132/emerging-trends-of-remote-learning-in-the-higher-education-challenges-and-opportunities-after-covid-19-situation/mrs-ani-smriti
Presentation about how Open Education Consortium advances openness in education around the world. Presentation was made at OER: Impact and Outcomes Conference, 8-9 December 2014, Paris, France (http://www.college-etudesmondiales.org/fr/content/conf-open-educational-resources-impact-outcomes)
GlobalNxt University offers high quality interactive education centered on a global learning community of students and professors, delivered in a flexible, online, community based format aimed squarely at working professionals who are committed to fulfil their management and leadership potential. To know more visit http://www.globalnxt.edu.my
Student as producer and open educational resources: enhancing learning throug...Sue Watling
Student as producer and open educational resources: enhancing learning through digital scholarship in Effective Learning in Social Science (ELiSS), 4 (3).2012
Enabling Motivated Instruction Outcomes through Technology Accessijtsrd
The research was conducted at Cebu Technological University Barili Campus, Barili, Cebu as a bases for Proposed Curriculum and technology integration Instructional Guide Through Departmental LAC sessions to strengthen the Domains and Objectives during actual instructional setting. The 650 respondents 600 Students and 50 Teachers distributed from three secondary schools in Toledo City Division namely Luray II National High School, Matab ang National High School and Toledo City Science High School wherein Descriptive –Correlation and Purposive sampling was used for the distribution of survey questionnaire instrument which aims to assess the level of technology Implementation integration in instruction in senior high school curriculum through its domains and objectives such as classroom activities, Research Works, Product Performance Task Monthly School Celebration Activities, Faculty Professional Communication, Learners Extrinsic motivation towards academics and Learners Monthly Percentage Attendance as well as to determine the barriers and challenges occur during the implementation of technology integration towards curriculum instruction a basis for upgraded instructional guide to be developed. Gathered data were treated using total weighted points, weighted mean, and correlations. Based on the findings and after a careful analysis and interpretation of the study, it is concluded that enabling motivated instructional guide through technology access is the best way to enhance learners 21st century skills. Maria Katrina S. Macapaz "Enabling Motivated Instruction Outcomes through Technology Access" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-4 | Issue-6 , October 2020, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd33301.pdf Paper Url: https://www.ijtsrd.com/management/management-development/33301/enabling-motivated-instruction-outcomes-through-technology-access/maria-katrina-s-macapaz
"Successfully organizational, methodological and pedagogical approaches to Lifelong Learning programs in the United States"
Presentation at ITEA-2013, IRTC, Kyiv, Ukraine
http://itea-conf.org.ua/2013/
What are the chances of your country winning the 2018 World Cup?
FGV's mathematical model predicts that Brazil has the greatest chances of winning.
http://fgv.br/emap/copa-2018
Interval observer for uncertain time-varying SIR-SI model of vector-borne dis...FGV Brazil
The issue of state estimation is considered for an SIR-SI model describing a vector-borne disease such as dengue fever, with seasonal variations and uncertainties in the transmission rates. Assuming continuous measurement of the number of new infectives in the host population per unit time, a class of interval observers with estimate-dependent gain is constructed, and asymptotic error bounds are provided. The synthesis method is based on the search for a common linear Lyapunov function for monotone systems representing the evolution of the estimation errors.
Date: 2017
Authors:
Soledad Aronna, Maria
Bliman, Pierre-Alexandre
Ensuring successful introduction of Wolbachia in natural populations of Aedes...FGV Brazil
The control of the spread of dengue fever by introduction of the intracellular parasitic bacterium Wolbachia in populations of the vector Aedes aegypti, is presently one of the most promising tools for eliminating dengue, in the absence of an efficient vaccine. The success of this operation requires locally careful planning to determine the adequate number of individuals carrying the wolbachia parasite that need to be introduced into the natural population. The introduced mosquitoes are expected to eventually replace the Wolbachia-free population and guarantee permanent protection against the transmission of dengue to human. In this study, we propose and analyze a model describing the fundamental aspects of the competition between mosquitoes carrying Wolbachia and mosquitoes free of the parasite. We then use feedback control techniques to devise an introduction protocol which is proved to guarantee that the population converges to a stable equilibrium where the totality of mosquitoes carry Wolbachia.
Date: 2015-03-19
Authors:
Bliman, Pierre-Alexandre
Soledad Aronna, Maria
Coelho, Flávio Codeço
Silva, Moacyr da
The resource curse reloaded: revisiting the Dutch disease with economic compl...FGV Brazil
This paper shows that the Dutch disease can be more formally characterised as low economic complexity using ECI-type indicators; there is a solid and robust inverse relationship between exports concentrating on natural resources and economic complexity as measured by complexity indicators for a database of 122 countries from 1963 to 2013. In a large majority of cases, oil answers for shares in excess of 50% of exports. In addition to empirical panel analysis, we address case studies concerned with Indonesia and Nigeria and introduce a brief review of the theoretical literature on the topic. Indonesia is considered in the literature as a good example in avoiding the negative effects of the Dutch disease, whereas Nigeria is taken as a bad example in terms of institutions and policies adopted during the seventies and eighties. The empirical results show that complexity analysis and Big Data may offer significant contributions to the still-current debate surrounding the Dutch disease.
Date: 2017-03
Authors:
Camargo, Jhean Steffan Martines de
Gala, Paulo
The Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA) was right: scale-free comple...FGV Brazil
The main purpose of this paper is to apply big-data and scale-free complex network techniques to the study of world trade, with a specific focus on the investigation of ECLA and structuralist ideas. A secondary objective is to illustrate the potentialities of the use of the new science of complex networks in economics, in what has been recently referred to as an econophysics research agenda. We work with a trade network of 101 countries and 762 products (SITC-4) which generated 1,756,224 trade links in 2013. The empirical results based on network analysis and computational methods reported here point in the direction of what ECLA economists used to argue; countries with higher income per capita concentrate in producing and exporting manufactured and complex goods at the center of the trade network; countries with lower income per capita specialize in producing and exporting non-complex commodities at the network’s periphery.
Date: 2017-03
Authors:
Gala, Paulo
Camargo, Jhean Steffan Martines de
Freitas, Elton
Cost of equity estimation for the Brazilian market: a test of the Goldman Sac...FGV Brazil
As an approach to determining the degree of integration of the Brazilian economy, this paper seeks to test the explanatory power of the Goldman Sachs Model for the expected returns by a foreign investor in the Brazilian market during the past eleven years (2004-2014). Using data for the stocks of 57 of the most actively traded firms at the BM&FBovespa, it begins by testing directly the degree of integration of the Brazilian economy during this period, in an attempt to better understand the context in which the model has been used. In sequence, in an indirect test of the Goldman Sachs model, the risk factor betas (market risk and country risk) of the sample stocks were estimated and a panel regression of expected stock returns on these betas was performed. It was found that country risk is not a statistically significant explanation of expected returns, indicating that it is being added in an ad hoc fashion by market practitioners to their cost of equity calculations. Thus, although there is evidence of a positive and significant relationship between systematic risk and return, the results for country risk demonstrate that the Goldman Sachs Model was not a satisfactory explanation of expected returns in the Brazilian market in the past eleven years, leading us to question the validity of its application in practice. By adding a size premium factor to the model, there is evidence of a negative and significant relationship between companies’ size and return, although country risk remains not satisfactory to explain stock expected returns.
Date: 2017-03
Authors:
Guanais, Luiz Felipe Poli
Sanvicente, Antonio Zoratto
Sheng, Hsia Hua
A dynamic Nelson-Siegel model with forward-looking indicators for the yield c...FGV Brazil
This paper proposes a Factor-Augmented Dynamic Nelson-Siegel (FADNS) model to predict the yield curve in the US that relies on a large data set of weekly financial and macroeconomic variables. The FADNS model significantly improves interest rate forecasts relative to the extant models in the literature. For longer horizons, it beats autoregressive alternatives, with a reduction in mean absolute error of up to 40%. For shorter horizons, it offers a good challenge to autoregressive forecasting models, outperforming them for the 7- and 10-year yields. The out-of-sample analysis shows that the good performance comes mostly from the forward-looking nature of the variables we employ. Including them reduces the mean absolute error in 5 basis points on average with respect to models that reflect only past macroeconomic events.
Date: 2017-03
Authors:
Vieira, Fausto José Araújo
Chague, Fernando Daniel
Fernandes, Marcelo
Improving on daily measures of price discoveryFGV Brazil
We formulate a continuous-time price discovery model in which the price discovery measure varies (stochastically) at daily frequency. We estimate daily measures of price discovery using a kernel-based OLS estimator instead of running separate daily VECM regressions as standard in the literature. We show that our estimator is not only consistent, but also outperforms the standard daily VECM in finite samples. We illustrate our theoretical findings by studying the price discovery process of 10 actively traded stocks in the U.S. from 2007 to 2013.
Date: 2017-03
Authors:
Dias, Gustavo Fruet
Fernandes, Marcelo
Scherrer, Cristina Mabel
Disentangling the effect of private and public cash flows on firm valueFGV Brazil
This paper presents a simple model for dual-class stock shares, in which common shareholders receive both public and private cash flows (i.e. dividends and any private benefit of holding voting rights) and preferred shareholders only receive public cash flows (i.e. dividends). The dual-class premium is driven not only by the firm's ability to generate cash flows, but also by voting rights. We isolate these two effects in order to identify the role of voting rights on equity-holders' wealth. In particular, we employ a cointegrated VAR model to retrieve the impact of the voting rights value on cash flow rights. We finnd a negative relation between the value of the voting right and the preferred shareholders' wealth for Brazilian cross- listed firms. In addition, we examine the connection between the voting right value and market and firm specific risks.
Date: 2017-03
Authors:
Autor
Scherrer, Cristina Mabel
Fernandes, Marcelo
Mandatory IFRS adoption in Brazil and firm valueFGV Brazil
Using diff-in-diff approaches and the propensity-score matching, this study focuses on firm-level Tobin´s q and Market-to-book outcomes for Brazilian firms who in 2008 were required by Law 11.638/07 to adopt the full International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) by 2010. Brazil’s tier-system of corporate governance standards for publicly-traded firms, its uniquely wholesale adoption of the IFRS, and the previously considerable gap between its national GAAP and IFRS readily lend the scenario to research, which thus far finds small or inconsistent results when focused on IFRS adoption-related outcomes in Europe and China. However, while these features recommend the transitioned Brazilian equity market to analysis, additional unique features, such as its small population size and its limited historical data -- of varied quality – increase the challenge in selecting a suitable empirical methodology. Using quarterly data from 2006-2011, control firms in the Nivel II and Novo Mercado tiers of Bovespa which already complied with higher quality accounting standards are matched to treatment firms in the Regular and Nivel I tiers with similar averaged values of size and sector. Our results suggest that there is a positive impact on Tobin´s q and Market-to-book for firms who are forced to adopt IFRS in Brazil. We can observe the same results when we consider all variables winsorized at 5% level. We also find a positive relation between the firm value (measured by Tobin´s q and Market-to-book) and net income. Firms with higher net income are more likely to have higher Tobin´s q and Market-tobook. In an opposite way, we find a negative relation among firm value, size, Ebit-to-sales, sales growth and PPE-to-sales. All results are statistically significant at 1% level. '
Date: 2017-03
Authors:
Sampaio, Joelson Oliveira
Gallucci Netto, Humberto
Silva, Vinícius Augusto Brunassi
Dotcom bubble and underpricing: conjectures and evidenceFGV Brazil
We provide conjectures for what caused the price spiral and the high underpricing of the dotcom bubble of 1999–2000. We raise two conjectures for the price spiral. First, given the uncertainty about the growth opportunities generated by the new technologies and their spillover effects across technology industries, investors saw the inflow of a large number of high-growth firms as a sign of high growth rates for the market as a whole. Second, investors interpreted the wave of highly underpriced IPOs as an opportunity to obtain gains by investing in newly public companies. The underpricing resulted from the emergence a large cohort of firms racing for market leadership. Fundamentals pricing at the IPO was part of their strategy. We provide evidence for our conjectures. We show that returns on NASDAQ composite index are explained by the flow of high-growth (or highly underpriced) IPOs; the high underpricing can be fully explained by firms’ characteristics and strategic goals. We also show that, contrary to alternatives explanations, underpricing was not associated with top underwriting, there was no deterioration of issuers’ quality, and top underwriters and analysts became more selective.
Date: 2017-03
Authors:
Autor
Carvalho, Antonio Gledson de
Pinheiro, Roberto Benjamin
Sampaio, Joelson Oliveira
Contingent judicial deference: theory and application to usury lawsFGV Brazil
Legislation that seems unreasonable to courts is less likely to be followed. Building on this premise, we propose a model and obtain two main results. First, the enactment of legislation prohibiting something raises the probability that courts will allow related things not expressly forbidden. In particular, the imposition of an interest rate ceiling can make it more likely that courts will validate contracts with interest rates below the legislated cap. Second, legal uncertainty is greater with legislation that commands little deference from courts than with legislation that commands none. We discuss examples of effects of legislated prohibitions (and, in particular, usury laws) that are consistent with the model.
Date: 2017-03
Authors:
Guimarães, Bernardo
Salama, Bruno Meyerhof
Education quality and returns to schooling: evidence from migrants in BrazilFGV Brazil
We provide a new education quality index for states within a developing country using 2010 Brazilian data. This measure is constructed based on the notion that the financial returns obtained from an additional year of schooling can be
seen as being derived from the value that market forces assign to this education. We use migrant data to estimate returns to schooling of individuals who studied in different states but who work in the same labor market. We find very heterogeneous educational qualities across states: the poorest Brazilian region presents education quality levels that are approximately equal to one-third of the average of all other regions, a gap three times larger than the one suggested by standardized test scores. We compare our index with standardized test scores, educational outcome variables, and public expenditure per schooling stage at the state level, producing new evidence related to education in a large developing country. We conduct an education quality-adjusted development accounting exercise for Brazilian states and find that human capital accounts for 26%-31% of output per worker differences. Adjusting for quality increases human capital’s explanatory power by 60%.
Date: 2017-02
Authors:
Brotherhood, Luiz Mário
Ferreira, Pedro Cavalcanti
Santos, Cézar Augusto Ramos
On October 31st and November 1st, 2016, the Center for Regulation and Infrastructure from Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV CERI) organized a two-day workshop discussion in collaboration with the World Bank and ABRACE. The event gathered regulators, government representatives, academics, operators, financial institutions and investors. The debate focused on the main challenges faced by the current restructuring process of the Brazilian gas industry. This document presents the main points discussed during the debates.
Date: 2017-01
Authors:
Vazquez, Miguel
Amorim, Lívia
Dutra, Joísa Campanher
The impact of government equity investment on internationalization: the case ...FGV Brazil
We examine the impact of government equity ownership on the degree of internationalization of emerging market firms. Our analysis of 173 Brazilian publicly traded firms from 2002 to 2011 shows that the higher the equity held by the state through the state investment bank and the pension funds of SOEs and privatized SOEs, the higher the firm’s degree of internationalization. Firms in which the government shared control with families, and with both families and foreigners, had a higher degree of internationalization. Our findings underline the importance of the institutional context in explaining the internationalization of Brazilian firms.
Date: 2016
Author:
Sheng, Hsia Hua
Techno-government networks: Actor-Network Theory in electronic government res...FGV Brazil
The Actor-Network Theory (ANT) is a theoretical approach for the study of controversies associated with scientific discoveries and technological innovations through the networks of actors involved in such actions. This approach has generated studies in Information Systems (IS) since 1990, however few studies have examined the use of this approach in the e-government area. Thus, this paper aims to broaden the theoretical approaches on e-government, by presenting ANT as a theoretical framework for e-government studies via published empirical work. For this reason, the historical background of ANT is described, duly listing its theoretical and methodological premises. In addition to this, one presented ANT-based e-government works, in order to illustrate how ANT can be applied in empirical studies in this knowledge area.
Date: 2016
Authors:
Fornazin, Marcelo
Joia, Luiz Antonio
Condemning corruption while condoning inefficiency: an experimental investiga...FGV Brazil
This article reports results from an economic experiment that investigates to what extent voters punish corruption and waste in elections. While both are responsible for a loss of welfare for voters, they are not necessarily perceived as equally immoral. The empirical literature in political agency has not yet dealt with these two dimensions that determine voters’ choices. Our results suggest that morality and norms are indeed crucial for a superior voting equilibrium in systems with heterogeneous politicians: while corruption is always punished, self-interest alone – in the absence of norms – leads to the acceptance and perpetuation of waste and social losses.
Date: 2016
Authors:
Arvate, Paulo Roberto
Souza, Sergio Mittlaender Leme de
June 3, 2024 Anti-Semitism Letter Sent to MIT President Kornbluth and MIT Cor...Levi Shapiro
Letter from the Congress of the United States regarding Anti-Semitism sent June 3rd to MIT President Sally Kornbluth, MIT Corp Chair, Mark Gorenberg
Dear Dr. Kornbluth and Mr. Gorenberg,
The US House of Representatives is deeply concerned by ongoing and pervasive acts of antisemitic
harassment and intimidation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Failing to act decisively to ensure a safe learning environment for all students would be a grave dereliction of your responsibilities as President of MIT and Chair of the MIT Corporation.
This Congress will not stand idly by and allow an environment hostile to Jewish students to persist. The House believes that your institution is in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and the inability or
unwillingness to rectify this violation through action requires accountability.
Postsecondary education is a unique opportunity for students to learn and have their ideas and beliefs challenged. However, universities receiving hundreds of millions of federal funds annually have denied
students that opportunity and have been hijacked to become venues for the promotion of terrorism, antisemitic harassment and intimidation, unlawful encampments, and in some cases, assaults and riots.
The House of Representatives will not countenance the use of federal funds to indoctrinate students into hateful, antisemitic, anti-American supporters of terrorism. Investigations into campus antisemitism by the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on Ways and Means have been expanded into a Congress-wide probe across all relevant jurisdictions to address this national crisis. The undersigned Committees will conduct oversight into the use of federal funds at MIT and its learning environment under authorities granted to each Committee.
• The Committee on Education and the Workforce has been investigating your institution since December 7, 2023. The Committee has broad jurisdiction over postsecondary education, including its compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, campus safety concerns over disruptions to the learning environment, and the awarding of federal student aid under the Higher Education Act.
• The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is investigating the sources of funding and other support flowing to groups espousing pro-Hamas propaganda and engaged in antisemitic harassment and intimidation of students. The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is the principal oversight committee of the US House of Representatives and has broad authority to investigate “any matter” at “any time” under House Rule X.
• The Committee on Ways and Means has been investigating several universities since November 15, 2023, when the Committee held a hearing entitled From Ivory Towers to Dark Corners: Investigating the Nexus Between Antisemitism, Tax-Exempt Universities, and Terror Financing. The Committee followed the hearing with letters to those institutions on January 10, 202
A workshop hosted by the South African Journal of Science aimed at postgraduate students and early career researchers with little or no experience in writing and publishing journal articles.
Normal Labour/ Stages of Labour/ Mechanism of LabourWasim Ak
Normal labor is also termed spontaneous labor, defined as the natural physiological process through which the fetus, placenta, and membranes are expelled from the uterus through the birth canal at term (37 to 42 weeks
Synthetic Fiber Construction in lab .pptxPavel ( NSTU)
Synthetic fiber production is a fascinating and complex field that blends chemistry, engineering, and environmental science. By understanding these aspects, students can gain a comprehensive view of synthetic fiber production, its impact on society and the environment, and the potential for future innovations. Synthetic fibers play a crucial role in modern society, impacting various aspects of daily life, industry, and the environment. ynthetic fibers are integral to modern life, offering a range of benefits from cost-effectiveness and versatility to innovative applications and performance characteristics. While they pose environmental challenges, ongoing research and development aim to create more sustainable and eco-friendly alternatives. Understanding the importance of synthetic fibers helps in appreciating their role in the economy, industry, and daily life, while also emphasizing the need for sustainable practices and innovation.
This slide is special for master students (MIBS & MIFB) in UUM. Also useful for readers who are interested in the topic of contemporary Islamic banking.
Biological screening of herbal drugs: Introduction and Need for
Phyto-Pharmacological Screening, New Strategies for evaluating
Natural Products, In vitro evaluation techniques for Antioxidants, Antimicrobial and Anticancer drugs. In vivo evaluation techniques
for Anti-inflammatory, Antiulcer, Anticancer, Wound healing, Antidiabetic, Hepatoprotective, Cardio protective, Diuretics and
Antifertility, Toxicity studies as per OECD guidelines
A Strategic Approach: GenAI in EducationPeter Windle
Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies such as Generative AI, Image Generators and Large Language Models have had a dramatic impact on teaching, learning and assessment over the past 18 months. The most immediate threat AI posed was to Academic Integrity with Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) focusing their efforts on combating the use of GenAI in assessment. Guidelines were developed for staff and students, policies put in place too. Innovative educators have forged paths in the use of Generative AI for teaching, learning and assessments leading to pockets of transformation springing up across HEIs, often with little or no top-down guidance, support or direction.
This Gasta posits a strategic approach to integrating AI into HEIs to prepare staff, students and the curriculum for an evolving world and workplace. We will highlight the advantages of working with these technologies beyond the realm of teaching, learning and assessment by considering prompt engineering skills, industry impact, curriculum changes, and the need for staff upskilling. In contrast, not engaging strategically with Generative AI poses risks, including falling behind peers, missed opportunities and failing to ensure our graduates remain employable. The rapid evolution of AI technologies necessitates a proactive and strategic approach if we are to remain relevant.
How to Make a Field invisible in Odoo 17Celine George
It is possible to hide or invisible some fields in odoo. Commonly using “invisible” attribute in the field definition to invisible the fields. This slide will show how to make a field invisible in odoo 17.
Safalta Digital marketing institute in Noida, provide complete applications that encompass a huge range of virtual advertising and marketing additives, which includes search engine optimization, virtual communication advertising, pay-per-click on marketing, content material advertising, internet analytics, and greater. These university courses are designed for students who possess a comprehensive understanding of virtual marketing strategies and attributes.Safalta Digital Marketing Institute in Noida is a first choice for young individuals or students who are looking to start their careers in the field of digital advertising. The institute gives specialized courses designed and certification.
for beginners, providing thorough training in areas such as SEO, digital communication marketing, and PPC training in Noida. After finishing the program, students receive the certifications recognised by top different universitie, setting a strong foundation for a successful career in digital marketing.
Acetabularia Information For Class 9 .docxvaibhavrinwa19
Acetabularia acetabulum is a single-celled green alga that in its vegetative state is morphologically differentiated into a basal rhizoid and an axially elongated stalk, which bears whorls of branching hairs. The single diploid nucleus resides in the rhizoid.
2024.06.01 Introducing a competency framework for languag learning materials ...Sandy Millin
http://sandymillin.wordpress.com/iateflwebinar2024
Published classroom materials form the basis of syllabuses, drive teacher professional development, and have a potentially huge influence on learners, teachers and education systems. All teachers also create their own materials, whether a few sentences on a blackboard, a highly-structured fully-realised online course, or anything in between. Despite this, the knowledge and skills needed to create effective language learning materials are rarely part of teacher training, and are mostly learnt by trial and error.
Knowledge and skills frameworks, generally called competency frameworks, for ELT teachers, trainers and managers have existed for a few years now. However, until I created one for my MA dissertation, there wasn’t one drawing together what we need to know and do to be able to effectively produce language learning materials.
This webinar will introduce you to my framework, highlighting the key competencies I identified from my research. It will also show how anybody involved in language teaching (any language, not just English!), teacher training, managing schools or developing language learning materials can benefit from using the framework.
Natural birth techniques - Mrs.Akanksha Trivedi Rama University
January 2011 - Open Distance Education
1. ISSN 2179-8729
Year 1 Number 1 / January 2011
OPEN DISTANCE EDUCATION
The dissemination of knowledge in a world without borders
http://www.fgv.br/fgvonline/revista
2. SUMMARY
04 - Treading new paths. Stavros P. Xanthopoylos
08 - Beyond Sustainability: The Emerging Institutional Imperative of OER-OCW. Gary
Matkin
24 - New Directions for OpenCourseWare: Implications for Brazil. Larry Cooperman
38 Open Schools and Learning. Fredric M. Litto
50 Teaching Practices for the perspective of an open education. Renata Biscaia
60 Pedagogical practice in distance education: reflections on the open university and
FGV Online. Edite Flora Sabbi Porciúncula, Eloíza Gomes de Oliveira and Francisca de Oliveira
Cruz
76 - Book review: The 2020 Workplace How Innovative companies attract, develop, and
keep tomorrow`s employees today. Cristina Massari
3. FROM THE EDITORS
With its debut issue, the Revista FGV Online examines one of the most thought-provoking and
democratic aspects of EaD. Open Education (the Open Course Ware Consortium, OCWC) is a
movement in which educators, students and others involved come together in an endeavor that
crosses borders in the belief that it can unite and make education more accessible and effective on
a global scale.
Professor Stavros P. Xanthopoylos, who throughout his career as an educator and education
manager has been a fervent advocate of this manner of delivering educational content. The
-
access courses.
Gary Matkin, Dean of Continuing Education and EaD and the University of California, emphasizes
in his article that in spite of the major accomplishments to date both in forming consortia, such as
the OpenCourseWareConsortium (OCWC), and in delivering Open Educational Resources (OER),
there is still much to be done. The aim now is to grow by including new approaches to evaluation,
accreditation and collaborative learning.
Larry Cooperman, Director of OpenCourseWare (University of California), then describes the
OCWC's history in the United States and the world and points up the wealth of opportunities for
expanding this kind of course. He highlights particularly how institutions around the world has
welcomed the proposal of offering open-access courses on subscription to the OCWConsortium
it was the first Brazilian institution to develop an
OCW website and signals some directions for this field in Brazil.
Professor Renata Biscaia of the FGV Online examines the role of professor-tutors in their activities
as mediators of the education process in on-line environments. She does this by drawing attention
to the need for such educators to develop certain competences for on-line courses in general and,
more specifically, for tutoring in distance learning of Open Education disciplines.
Edite Flora Sabbi Porciúncula, Eloíza Gomes de Oliveira and Francisca de Oliveira Cruz, who
are also professor-tutors with the FGV Online, take an innovative approach to language supports
as an essential component of the on-line education environment. Language is adapting to the
Internet era and that adaptation must be contemplated by the Open University, which the authors
consider a vector in the democratization of education globally.
In this issue you will also find a review of the book How Innovative
, by Jeanne Meister and Karie
Willyerd, due out in Brazil in March 2011. The book examines the not-too-distant future prospects
for the digital environment and corporate labor relations under the direct influence of the new
information technologies.
As you explore these complementary themes, we invite you to participate in this new academic
knowledge channel, not just as a reader, but as an author too. Revista FGV Online is open to your
contributions and your suggestions. We are already preparing the next of our six-monthly
thematic issues, which will deal with Corporate Education (see here how to submit your article).
Pleasant reading!
4. Institutional
Fundação Getulio Vargas General Management
President: Carlos Ivan Simonsen Leal
Vice-Presidents
Francisco Oswaldo Neves Dornelles
Marcos Cintra Cavalcanti de Albuquerque
Sergio Franklin Quintella
Instituto de Desenvolvimento Educacional – IDE (Institute for Educational Development)
Executive Director: Clovis Lyra D. Faro
Academic Director: Carlos Osmar Bertero
FGV Online Director: Stavros Panagiotis Xanthopoylos
FGV Management Director: Ricardo Spinelli de Carvalho
FGV In Company Director: Antônio Carlos Porto Gonçalves
FGV Online
Executive Director: Stavros Panagiotis Xanthopoylos
Academic Production Manager: Mary Kimiko G. Murashima
Marketing and Commercial Manager: Felipe Spinelli de Carvalho
Operations Manager: Antônio Carlos de Sá Leite
Product Manager: Adriana Schneider
Pedagogic Coordinator: Elisabeth Santos da Silveira
Graduation Coordinator: Maurício de Brito Gomes
Postgraduation Coordinator – Open Courses: Cláudia de Cássia Capello
Postgraduation Coordinator – Corporate Courses: Maria Alice P. Mendes
Postgraduation Coordinator – Satellite Communications Courses: Marcos de A. Reis Villela
Assistant Postgraduation Coordinator – Satellite Communications Courses: Lygia Maria F. dos Santos
Leite
Postgraduation Coordinator – Webcast Courses: Maria Isabel Leal Giusti
Corporate TV Coordinator: Erenice de Almeida Alencar
Corporate University Coordinator: Josilene Marinho
CTAE Coordinator: Tatiana Sansone Soster
Customized Courses Coordinator: Letícia Borba Balceiro
Tutor Coordinator: Maristela Rivera Tavares
Production Coordinator: Renata dos Reis Vasques
Resources Coordinator: Sandro Eymard F. Bonadia
IT-RJ Coordinator: João Carlos da S. Freitas
IT-SP Coordinator: Alexander Dubrowsky
Academic Office Coordinator: Leslie de M. Moysés
Technical Support Coordinator: Anderson R. Pimentel
Logistics Coordinator: Vítor Araújo de Oliveira
Financial Coordinator: Gustavo Silva Villela
Commercial Coordinator: Sandro Alan R. Rabelo
Marketing Coordinator: Alexssandra das Neves M. Conti
Projects Coordinator: Lorena Breda de Carvalho
5. About FGV Online Magazine
1. Presentation
FGV Online Magazine is a biannual electronic publication, created under the responsibility
of FGV Online, the distance education program of the Institute for Educational
Development - IDE, which is responsible for the distribution of courses developed in
partnership with the Schools of Fundação Getulio Vargas.
It's a publication focused on issues related to education in general and more specifically to
Distance Education.
With the mission to disseminate the knowledge that has been generated under the Distance
Education global environment, the FGV Online Magazine opens space to authors and
experts in the area for publication of academic and scientific papers.
2. Editorial Body
Editorial Council
Clovis Lyra D. Faro
IDE/FGV Director
Gary Matkin
Dean of Continuing Education at University of California, Irvine (EUA)
Lindolpho de Carvalho Dias
FGV Vice-President
Stavros P. Xanthopoylos
FGV Online Executive Director
Marieta de Moraes Ferreira
Editora FGV Director
Flávio Carvalho de Vasconcelos
EBAPE/FGV Director
Yoshiaki Nakano
EESP/FGV Director
Celso Castro
CPDOC/FGV Director
Sérgio Guerra
Vice-Director of PostGraduation at FGV Law-School-RJ
Editorial Comission
Fredric Michael Litto
Abed/USP – Sao Paulo
Mary Kimiko G. Murashima
FGV Online Academic Production Manager
Elisabeth Santos da Silveira
FGV Online Pedagogic Coordinator
Reviewers
6. Elisa Maria R. Sharland
IDE/FGV Assistant Academic Director
Jacyara Carrijo R. Nasciutti
Prof. of FGV Quality Central
Cláudia Capello
FGV Online Postgraduation Coordinator
Maristela Rivera Tavares
FGV Online Tutor Coordinator
Raquel Villardi
Instituto de Educação da UERJ Assistant Professor
Chief Editor
Severo Hryniewicz
Assistant Editor
Maria Cristina Massari
Editorial Production
Production Coordinator
Sandro Eymard Fontenele Bonadia
Copy-desk
Andrea Patricia Tostes Rabello Teixeira
Milena Clemente de Moraes
Translation
Christiane Cerboni – Portuguese/English
Maria Helena Rangel Geordane – English/Portuguese
Yuri Kitsutani – Portuguese/Spanish
Peter Lenny – Portuguese/English
Graphic Design / Desktop Publishing
Design & Criação Clube
Digital Plataform Implementation
Digital Pages
7. 3. Information to authors
About the next issue
FGV Online Magazine issue #2 will focus on Corporate Education.
Articles must follow the submission guidelines, and be sent to severo@fgv.br.
The final submission deadline is April 31st
, 2011.
Besides the articles, book reviews may be accepted for titles related to the
subject in focus. In this case, refer to book reviews presentation guidelines.
8. Treading new paths
Stavros Panagiotis Xanthopoylos
In its 15 years of existence, FGV Online has written a successful story in making flexible,
quality education available in Brazil. In pursuing that goal it is totally aligned with the
principles that make the Fundação Getulio Vargas a reference institution in professional
development for executives who will contribute to building a scenario in which Brazil's
economy is increasingly solid and trusted worldwide.
The information and communication technologies (ITCs) and educational foundations used by
the FGV Online, developed by acknowledged authors at the Fundação Getulio Vargas, are
designed not just to reach those in the big cities whose more comfortable social and
economic contexts enable them to attend the FGV's schools in person. The FGV's distance
learning program permits high-quality content to be accessed at quite reasonable cost
from the most remote localities in Brazil. Much more than that, in a country where demand
for specialist skills is growing steadily, but which still requires its citizens to reconcile study
time constantly with time at work, the FGV Online offers the possibility of professional
development and capacity-building on a flexible model that makes allowance for the present-
day lack of time.
The FGV Online's reach is not limited to Brazilian territory. Given that all of its content is
offered in Portuguese, other Portuguese-speaking countries can access its courses. Meanwhile,
although Portuguese-speaking users are our main target public, language has not been an
impediment, because FGV Online is constantly working to tailor its strategies to the present,
strongly globalized world context. In that regard, a series of partnerships are being forged
with prestigious international institutions, such as the University of California at Irvine
(UCI) and the Manchester Business School (MBS), the largest school of Business
Administration in the United Kingdom.
In 2005, the Fundação Getulio Vargas reached an agreement with the University of California,
at Irvine (UCI) with a view to offering a quality, internationally recognized MBA to Brazilian
executives and liberal professionals. The content of the International Executive MBA in Project
Management was produced by FGV and UCI professors. The MBA is offered totally in
Portuguese, making it possible for knowledge constructed in international contexts to come
into the hands of Brazilian students in their native tongue.
Understanding that in a globalized world – an environment that calls for constant
information exchange and for difference to work together – the notions of space and time are
being reconfigured and the notion of unity, reconstructed, the FGV also signed an agreement
with the Manchester Business School (MBS). That agreement is designed to make the Global
MBA available to Brazilian executives, with all content completely in English. This course was
maintained in its original language, because today English holds a key position in
international negotiations. The Global MBA meets demand from executives seeking
international projection in their careers.
9. It can thus be seen that FGV Online is concerned to construct products to match the new
demands of the market, suiting them to the wide diversity of conditions represented there.
The FGV Online is evidently striving to make quality content as widely available as possible.
Accordingly, it is only natural that the program should make a variety of content available
free of charge. In 2001 the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) founded
OpenCourseWare (OCW), which provides free access to learning assets from the university
curriculum. Following in its footsteps, in 2008, FGV Online joined forces with the University
of California at Irvine (UCI) to offer access free of charge to high quality content, especially
for the Brazilian and other Portuguese-speaking publics. By joining the
OpenCourseWareConsortium (OCWC), FGV Online has managed to popularize substantial
knowledge on a vast scale, far exceeding all expectations of success.
In the first 10 days after the free courses were made available on line, they received more than
20,000 visits. To date, the FGV Online courses accessible through the OCWC have received
nearly five million hits, which have brought 1,1 million people to complete one or other of the
courses on offer and visit the FGV Online website to post declarations about their
participation in the courses.
To the Brazilian public, which represents both huge demand for training and high education
costs (approximately 35% of national GDP is directed to higher education), the free FGV
Online courses are an appropriate and necessary response to Brazil's education needs in a
certain sphere. The OCWC courses offered by the FGV, more than affording limited
qualification to those who complete them, foster a movement of ongoing education, given
that in the last two years more than 1,000 enrollments in paid courses originated from
students who had concluded free courses.
In this way, the FGV Online is building a solid structure that incorporates factors such as:
• open-access content;
• the mission of developing and managing distance education technologies,
methodologies and solutions, under the academic responsibility of the schools and
institutes of the FGV, one of Brazil's most prestigious educational institutions;
• future outlook – to be an international reference in the distribution of innovative,
high quality distance education products and services.
In that context, the FGV Online has become a provider of high value-added educational
solutions, as confirmed by the leading corporate sector awards granted in recognition of its
achievements:
• the 10 Melhores Fornecedores de RH, awarded to Brazil's top ten human resource
providers;
• Top of Mind, five times running;
• E-Learning Brasil – National Reference in T&D;
• The Prêmio de Destaque Educacional Nacional - prize for outstanding achievement in
Brazilian education.
In the wake of this history of successes as a provider of education solutions and education as
such, the FGV Online is making available yet another means of popularizing high-quality
10. content. The e-zine Revista FGV Online is a space reserved to circulating current thinking
on EAD, business schools, the world panorama and education in general. With
collaboration from leading Brazilian and international names, the Revista FGV Online aims to
foster discussions that contribute not only to analyzing the status quo, but also to outlining
possible future trends.
In that light this first issue focuses on essential points in present-day education:
• All the various facets of Open Educational Resources (OERs);
• The place Brazil occupies in response to this movement towards open-access content;
• How the profile of the distance education professional is being reconfigured by the
new scenario that is forming.
Observing how the Revista FGV Online has gained form and content confirms, once again, our
certainty that we are moving steadily towards providing content of excellence on a major
scale, always in partnership with leading institutions and individuals like the ones that have
contributed to the making of this first issue.
11. Beyond Sustainability: The Emerging Institutional Imperative of
OER/OCW
By Gary W. Matkin, Ph.D., dean of continuing education, distance
learning and summer session, University of California, Irvine
Abstract
The development of the OpenCourseWare (OCW) and Open Educational Resource (OER)
movements of the last three years clearly indicates that all major universities are or will
become producers and publishers of OCW and OER and that these efforts will become a
feature of organizational life for these institutions. This statement and prediction is
supported by both strong current evidence and a projection of major trends in higher
education that will inevitably intersect with the OCW and OER movements. This paper makes
the institutional case for developing some form of OER soon.
Key Words
Open Educational Resources, OpenCourseWare, Higher Education Trends, MIT OCW, UCI OCW,
Institutional Case for OCW
12. The development of the OpenCourseWare (OCW) and Open Educational Resource (OER)
movements of the last three years clearly indicates that all major universities are or will
become producers and publishers of OCW and OER and that these efforts will become a
feature of organizational life for these institutions. This statement and prediction is
supported by both strong current evidence and a projection of major trends in higher
education that will inevitably intersect with the OCW and OER movements. This paper makes
the institutional case for developing some form of OER soon.
1. The Early Institutional Case
Of course, this is not the first article on this subject. In fact, several major international
studies describe the involvement of, and illuminate the case for, university involvement in
OCW/OER. In 2007, the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development issued a
report “Giving Knowledge for Free” (OECD, 2007) which offers a strong context for
institutional engagement in OCW/OER. Also in 2007, Open e-Learning Content Observatory
Services, funded by the European Commission, published “Open Education Practices and
Resources” (OLCOS, 2007), a comprehensive report with recommendations for institutions on
the use of OCW/OER in Europe. Generally, these reports mix high-minded, public policy
motives with very practical reasons for institutional involvement in OCW/OER (quotes from
OECD, 2007, pages 64-65):
1. “…Sharing knowledge is a good thing to do” and “in line with academic
traditions.”
2. “Educational institutions should leverage taxpayer’s money by allowing
free sharing and reuse of sources.”
3. “By sharing and reusing, the costs for content development can be cut,
thereby making better use of available resources.”
4. “It is good for public relations and it can function as a showcase to attract
new students.”
5. “Free content lowers the cost not only for institutions but also for
students.”
6. “Open sharing will speed up the development of new learning resources,
stimulate internal improvement, innovation, and reuse and help the
institution to keep good records of materials and their internal and
13. external use. These records can be used as a form of market research if
one is interested in the commercial potential of individual resources.”
These reasons have some overlap with the factors that prompted the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology (MIT) to initiate a university sponsored OCW in 2001, an initiative that set the
movement on a spectacular and highly successful start. Charles Vest, then president of MIT,
lists five reasons for MIT’s pioneering effort to “give away all its course materials via the
Internet” (Vest, 2004):
1. To advance education and widen access
2. To provide greater opportunity for MIT faculty to see and reuse each
other’s work
3. To create a good record of materials
4. To increase contact with alumni
5. To help MIT students become better prepared
MIT followed its land-grant mission, carved out some very high moral ground and markedly
enhanced its image as a generous university. Indeed, MIT’s success in OCW/OER continues to
this day, evidenced by the shear volume of its published open materials and the number of
users. As of August 9, 2010, more than 90 percent of MIT’s tenured and tenure-track faculty
have shared their materials on the MIT OCW Web site. The site features 2,003 courses with
syllabi and reading lists, notes from more than 17,500 lectures, 9,500 assignments and 1,000
exams. (MIT, 2010).
2. Intersection with Long Term Higher Education Trends
The early (2001-2004) institutional impulses for institutional involvement-in and sponsorship-
of OER/OCW intersected with some compelling long-term trends in higher education—trends
with a strong supporting context for university-sponsored open materials. Perhaps the most
compelling is the world-wide need to reduce the costs of higher education. Sir John Daniel
and his colleagues have identified higher education’s “iron triangle” in which the
overwhelming world-wide demand for higher education (access) is met with the financial
realities (cost) of providing that education effectively (quality). With an estimated one billion
students effectively denied education world-wide, the world is faced with unfathomable
problems associated with frustrated ambitions and ignorance. (Daniel, et. al., 2009). OER/OCW
appears to offer at least part of a strategy to break this triangle. A second trend is the
increasing global institutional competition for students, faculty and resources. This trend
places a premium on positive world-wide institutional visibility and reputation building—
14. clearly something enhanced by providing free online learning material. Another trend is the
demand for increased institutional accountability, to students, parents, governing boards,
governments and the general public. In public perception, accountability and openness go
hand-in-hand. Associated with this accountability is the increased attention being given to
the continuous improvement of the learning process, practiced first on an institutional level
and then at a more granular level by individual faculty members. Open expression of
materials allows larger groups to contribute to the improvement process. Higher education
can’t ignore the emergence of learning communities and serving these communities will be
added to the agenda of universities.
Finally, something that has not been fully recognized or written about is that the market for
instructional content has changed. One indication of this is the continuing issue of the high
costs associated with scholarly publication. Universities and their libraries are encouraging
and producing open journals because publishers charge very high prices for journals,
sometimes over $10,000 per year. Initiatives such as the Public Knowledge Project which
helps scholarly communities develop open peer-reviewed journals are growing in influence
and effectiveness as university budgets shrink and developing nations are disadvantaged by
being effectively cut off from the latest research. (Schmidt, 2010). Thus, university scholars
understand the market realities for their intellectual product, a market with high costs
associated with the marketing, production and distribution of intellectual property, but with
low costs of its content.
The open textbook movement is another case in which educators are attempting to wrest the
control of the market from the hands of for-profit publishers, this time in the instructional
rather than the research realm. At a time when the commercial value of content produced for
the teaching/learning process is in question and even declining, the social value, including the
social value to developing countries, is increasing. With these forces acting simultaneously,
the ground for the expansion of OER/OCW has been cleared.
3. Progress of the Movements
MIT’s example inspired many institutions to follow it into the OER/OCW movements. MIT
took the lead in the formation of the OpenCourseWare Consortium (OCWC) which today has
approximately 200 institutional members that have now posted over 14,000 open courses on
the Internet. But factors independent of MIT’s example have also proliferated. For instance,
the University of California, Berkeley now has over 8,000 courses posted on iTunes U (UC
Berkeley, 2010), joining 600 other colleges and universities (including Yale, Stanford, Oxford
and MIT) in contributing over 350,000 educational materials. (iTunes U, 2010). YouTube
15. EDU, http://www.youtube.com/education, counts over 300 universities and subscribers among
its contributors and offers over 65,000 individual videos and over 350 complete courses. (You
Tube EDU, 2010).
Within the OER movement there are strong and growing sub-movements. Of particular note
is the open textbook movement. Fueled by the high cost and ever-increasing price of
textbooks, there are many initiatives dedicated to placing textbook material online for free. It
is estimated that U.S. K-12 public schools spent about $4.4 billion for textbooks in 2006-07.
In response, the state of Florida created Free-Reading, believed to be the first free, open-
source reading program for K-12 public schools. (Toppo, 2007). The $400 million that
California spends on textbooks in its K-12 system is the target of the California Open Source
Textbook Project (COSTP) (http://www.opensourcetext.org/index.htm).
The majority of higher education textbook costs fall on students rather than institutions, but
these institutions are acting aggressively. The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation is
funding a major open textbook effort focused on the community colleges. Individual
campuses such as North Carolina State University is trying to help students reduce the total
cost of their education by using open texts. (Laster, 2010).
Despite this clear evidence of the health and continued growth of the OER/OCW movements
and the widespread institutional publication of open educational material, there remain
barriers to the formal adoption of OER/OCW by higher education institutions. The primary
barriers appear to be the perceived cost of creating and sustaining open resources and the
failure of higher education leaders to see the potential institutional uses of open content.
4. The Perceived Cost Barrier
In an era of sharply reduced funding for higher education (in the U.S., at least) the notion of
providing free material to the public seems counter to the cost saving measures widely in
place today, particularly when universities are cutting staff and reducing wages. Indeed the
issue of “sustainability” has dominated the attention of those involved in the OER/OCW
movements, and has attracted criticism from outside those movements. Under a front page
headline “Open Courses: Free but Oh, So Costly,” (Parry, 2009) the Chronicle of Higher
Education reported predictions of the sharp decline in the movements based on the inability
of institutions to continue to fund those efforts. In this article, David Wiley, now at Brigham
Young University predicts: “Every OCW initiative at a university that does not offer distance
courses for credit will be dead by the end of calendar 2012.” Since that article was published,
the number of active universities on iTunes U (as of August 2010) has increased from 222 to
600 and education materials available on the site increased from 200,000 to 350,000.
16. While predictions of decline in open educational materials seem quite contrary to hard
evidence, the cost issue remains important and, indeed, underlines a problem that has dogged
the OER/OCW movements from the beginning. Despite the high minded purposes clearly
articulated for the movements, OER/OCW seem to be solutions in search of a problem. In
fact, sustainability for the efforts will not come from identifiable and separate sources of
external funding such as providing students with distance learning courses as Wiley suggests,
but from the normal carrying out of day-to-day institutional activities. The “imperative” in
the title of this paper derives from this circumstance—current functions and obvious
improvements in those functions will be served best by the institutional publication and
maintaining of open content.
5. The Failure of Imagination Barrier
Despite its immense contribution to the OCW movement, MIT’s OCW model has so dominated
the press and overall conception of OCW that it has served as a barrier to the imagination—
even as MIT itself pushes at the edges of that model. That model is defined for all on the
MIT OCW Web site (http://ocw.mit.edu/about): MIT OCW “is a free publication of course
materials that reflects almost all the undergraduate and graduate subjects taught at MIT.”
“OCW is not an MIT education”
“OCW does not grant degrees or certificates”
“OCW does not provide access to MIT faculty”
“Materials may not reflect entire content of courses”
These explanations are quite reasonable and necessary from MIT’s perspective but they are
not limits that must be adopted by all universities—even the most prestigious. Other
institutions may choose not to limit their OER/OCW offerings only to degrees they provide
their own students, choosing, for instance, to share with and target their expertise to
deserving non-student audiences. They may add instructional services, including learning
assessments and certifications to their open offerings, so that the open material does
constitute an institutional educational offering. Some open material may be intended to
foster external involvement with faculty members. And finally, institutions may decide to
define what a “course” is to distinguish it from materials that are less complete in order better
to serve their users. So, the institutional case for OER/OCW should use the MIT OCW as a
sound but also limited model for what can be accomplished.
17. 6. The New and Improved Institutional Case
The experience of the last four years has added substance to the case that can be made for
institutional involvement in the OER/OCW movements. This experience has supported and
reaffirmed all of the early objectives for higher educational institutions to become actively
involved in sponsoring and publishing OER/OCW and, in addition, presented new examples of
the benefits that institutions can derive from such involvement. As these new uses emerge, so
does the justification for the financial support of them, support that results in revenue
generation, cost savings, and service improvements that are so compelling as to demand
funding and support from institutional leaders.
The case for institutional support of OER/OCW falls under several categories which are listed
and described below.
There is no more compelling a case to be made for OER/OCW than its ability to serve the core
instructional mission of the institution. As indicated earlier in this paper, Charles Vest
describes why MIT chose to give its materials away for free and lists two of his five reasons
under this category—to provide MIT faculty the opportunity to view each other’s work and to
help MIT students be better prepared. In fact, these two reasons are clearly manifested in the
MIT experience and in the experience of other universities, some of which have taken an even
more active role than MIT. For instance, UC Berkeley has created an infrastructure whereby
course lectures are automatically recorded and then posted to iTunes U, available for viewing
by students in the course soon after the lecture is complete. Individual students and study
groups can review lectures as they prepare for exams. This same service can also serve
students who miss a class and, in one case at a major university facing a classroom shortage,
an alternative delivery system to the classroom. New York University (NYU) recently
announced plans to video capture lectures in ten courses, add learning assets to them and
place them online in an open format for its fall 2010 term. The professors teaching the
courses will use the time gained by not having to deliver the lecture for one-on-one
interactions. (Parry, 2010). Of course, these examples could be provided by the institution
without offering the material in an open format. The advantage of the NYU and UC Berkeley
models is that they utilize a free, publically available distribution site (YouTube EDU or iTunes
U). These sites are easily accessible by students from anywhere and can remain in place along
with later versions of the same course beyond the current term, serving as a continuing
reference for subsequent students. And the institution gains the benefits of wide-spread
exposure to its instructional product.
Serving Current Students and Faculty (Supports Teaching and Learning)
18. The earlier mentioned open textbook movement comes into play here also as the distinction
between textbooks and Web-based and digitized materials of all types begin to blur.
Universities are seeking to provide students with the material needed for their courses in cost
effective ways. Last year, University of California’s (UC) chair and vice chair of the academic
senate wrote an “open letter” to the UC faculty saying “now it’s our turn to cut the cost of
textbooks for our students.” One way they suggest for cutting such costs is to “try to identify
open resources textbooks (OER) or other published material that is freely available in digital
form.” (Croughan, Powell, 2009).
This notion of a designated open Web site for a commonly taught course is being exploited in
even more innovative ways. At the University of California, Irvine (UCI), the faculty of a
department responsible for a major introductory course with a high volume of students each
year and faced with budget reductions have worked together to design a course that can be
taught by faculty on a rotating basis without the high personal cost in development time.
Faculty are free to make modifications to the course when they teach it and may (and do) add
their modifications it. They are now considering making it a “canonical” course, open to all.
Once placed in OCW, modifications to the course may be posted in a manner referenced at
the appropriate point in the course so that subsequent students benefit from multiple
approaches to the same topic. Sometimes these additional materials take the form of a video
lecture by the professor that term. A possible extension of this process when presented in an
open format (not contemplated in this example) is that viewers from outside the university,
including other academics, might comment on the material and perhaps even contribute
material to the course. Thus the faculty course authoring process has changed as a result of
faculty being “able to view the work of others.”
Another, this time institution-wide, example of aiding course authoring can be seen at the
Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education in Monterrey, Mexico, with its
project know as the “knowledge hub,”
http://www.temoa.info/cache/normal/khub.itesm.mx/_.html.gz. Individual and teams of
faculty members have created their own course materials, reviewed open material from other
universities, and categorized the material by university course number in a repository ready for
the use of both students and faculty. This institutionally sponsored project promises to drive
down the time, effort and cost of developing institutional courses by harvesting vetted
material from other institutions while making their own material available to others. They
have kept this “hub” open for others to use as well.
Another service to students performed by OER/OCW turned up as an unexpected result early
in MIT’s experience. With a significant amount of material about a particular course
19. available, students were able to “shop” for the classes they wanted, prior to the enrollment
period, to reduce the flurry of activity during the traditional “drop and add week.” This
advantage to students was also a boon to MIT in cutting down its transaction costs
associated with student schedule changes. Obviously being able to examine the details for a
particular course beyond the description in the catalog is a benefit both to students and their
counselors, enabling them to design their academic careers with more information.
While an argument might be made that an institutional open resource Web site seems to
duplicate what most colleges and universities already provide—technological and Internet-
based support for instruction, usually through organizational units called teaching and
learning centers—the open dimension adds significantly to the utility of the effort. As
indicated above, open course materials are generally more permanent and enduring than
materials created only for the teaching of one instance of the course. Free public utilities
such as iTunes U and YouTube EDU can be used and students from outside the institution
can both benefit from and even contribute to the material. This opening is gained primarily
at the cost of relinquishing most of the rights to control the material, but, given the
commercial issues mentioned above: this cost is usually lower than the value of the benefits
gained.
Recent studies by MIT indicate that 79 percent of entering freshman report that they visited
the MIT OCW site before deciding to attend MIT. Frequently their parents also visited the
site. Seeing “how MIT does it” makes sense as part of the decision-making process. Clear
statistics on this benefit are difficult to gain since it is difficult to track enrollments back to
particular visits to a Web site, but some data is available. The Open University of the
Netherlands estimates that 10 percent of the people who visit their free online courses go on
to pay for online courses. (Aujla and Terris, 2009). The University of California, Irvine (UCI)
placed a series of public health seminars on its OCW Web site, and professor of public health
Oladele Ogunseitan reports that “applications at the undergraduate level and the graduate
level have all increased over the past year.”
Attract Students
http://learn.uci.edu/ucionline/. Also at UCI, the
continuing education unit of the University reports that traffic from its OCW site
(http://ocw.uci..edu) is the largest source of referral traffic to its catalog site. It uses its OCW
Web site to capture leads for its online courses and programs and as a demonstration site for
those who want to understand what kind of experience they will have in an UCI online course.
Stimulates and Facilitates Accountability and Continuous Improvement
20. In the U.S., the regional accrediting bodies are requiring that desired student outcomes (DSOs)
be articulated for each degree program as a whole and for each course, and that metrics,
preferably external metrics, be adopted for the measurement of those outcomes, and that the
results of those metrics be translated into action that improves the educational product of the
university. Similar regulations are beginning to be promulgated in Europe partly as a result of
the Bologna Process. But the calls for accountability go beyond educational organizations. A
recent law passed in the state of Texas, HB2504, requires institutions to post a public Web
site for every undergraduate course taught for credit by public institutions (except medical
and dental schools). Included in the posting must be the course syllabus, departmental
budget (if available) and the curriculum vitae of each regular instructor. The information
must be easily accessible to the public no later than seven days after the academic term
begins, must be updated as appropriate, and must be maintained for two years. While this is
an extreme example, the trend is toward more openness in the instructional function.
Data from student performance can more easily be used to improve courses that are open. But
even in its most passive form, OCW improves instruction. Faculty will pay more attention to
the quality of their efforts when faced with the knowledge that their courses will be exposed
to full public scrutiny.
An OER/OCW Web site immediately pays dividends in terms of recognition at the institutional,
school, department, center and individual faculty levels. The impressive statistics of the use of
MIT OCW clearly enhanced MIT’s already strong image and recognition. But there are more
such examples, including the astounding response to FGV’s launch of its OCW site in 2008.
The launch was accompanied by significant coverage in the popular press providing highly
positive messages about FGV’s contribution to education in Brazil. Since that launch, FGV
has recorded over 3.6 million visits, registered over 1.4 million interested people and issued
almost 800,000 declarations of completion for its open courses. Significant in its own way is
the experience of UCI, which was the first campus in the UC system and the first west coast
university to join the OpenCourseWare Consortium (OCWC). UCI’s OCW site features over 50
full open courses and is consistently ranked alongside MIT, Johns Hopkins, and other major
institutions within the top ten U.S. OCW Web sites. The existence of an OCW Web site
enables the institution to regularly and with little cost provide contributions to the public
welfare, attracting positive stories in the news media.
Advances Institutional Recognition and Reputation
The reputation aspects of OCW do not stop at the institutional level. Components of the
university—colleges, schools, research centers—also gain in visibility. For instance, Johns
21. Hopkins University has concentrated its OCW in the area of public health, benefiting its
Bloomberg School of Public Health. Individual faculty members can also gain very high
recognition for their efforts. UC Berkeley’s Professor Marion Diamond’s human brain video
lectures have gained her an international following. Michael Wesch, assistant professor of
cultural anthropology at Kansas State University drew more than 400,000 views to his video
describing Web 2.0. (Young, 2008).
OER and OCW supports the ability of the university to serve the public. While this purpose
was an underlying impulse of MIT’s pioneering project, the expression of its OCW did not
directly address specific public service efforts. But the large mass of material ultimately
produced by MIT naturally put pressure on it to adapt the material for deserving audiences.
The most ambitious effort is MIT’s Highlights for High School project, an effort to provide a
“lens” on the mass of MIT material in science and mathematics that might be useful to high
school teachers and students.
Supports Public Service Role
http://ocw.mit.edu/high-school/. A related example is UCI’s
OER material designed specifically to help California’s K-12 teachers prepare for the state’s
examinations in order to teach science and mathematics. Funded by the William and Flora
Hewlett Foundation and The Boeing Company, UCI’s effort continues to serve thousands of
teachers and receives more visits than any other collection of courses on the UCI OCW site.
Every large university has many initiatives that call for dissemination of parts of the
knowledge base created and maintained by it. Sometimes the need for dissemination is
internal, such as the sharing of learning materials among colleagues even when they are in
the same department or located close by. But most universities continually produce material
useful to the public. For instance, universities often produce learning objects useful to the K-
12 educational segment. Even when they can find funding to produce or publish the
material, delivery methods remain cumbersome and expensive. The main issue is not so much
OER production as its disposition. An institutionally sponsored OER/OCW Web site is a
convenient “default” repository, but one that also automatically serves as a low cost
publication and dissemination mechanism. With the establishment of an open Web site there
is immediately a place for much of the production of the university.
Default Repository with a Purpose
For research universities, an open site can become a powerful competitive advantage in
gaining research funding. All federal agencies and many foundations now emphasize and
Research Dissemination Mechanism
22. reward sound plans for getting the results of research funding into practical use as quickly as
possible. Sometimes, the creation of high-quality learning materials for use by institutions
and individuals is the best mechanism for dissemination, with the greatest impact.
At the beginning of this paper one trend cited was the emergence of learning communities as
a force to be recognized by universities. Part of the emergence of these communities is being
stimulated by OER/OCW. The existence of high-quality learning materials available for free,
anyplace, anytime has naturally led people to seek some form of valid learning assessment
and certification. But there are several more serious efforts at encouraging this kind of
learning. For instance Peer 2 Peer University (P2PU) is organized to help learners connect
with subject experts in a temporary learning community, but the effort is searching for ways
to legitimize the learning accomplished. The University of the People hopes to gain
accreditation for the learning experiences it organizes around courses purchased by other
universities. (Abramson, 2010). OpenLearn, an initiative of the Open University (OU) of the
UK “is working toward creating a truly interactive and collaborative learning experience.” OU
students can meet up in chat rooms to discuss their lessons and the university is working on
what will be the educational equivalent of Facebook to allow users to create profiles, find,
and communicate with others studying similar material. (Aujla and Terris, 2009). Some
instructors are opening their online courses to the world, joining the open teaching movement
and spawning the term “Massive Open Online Course” (MOOC). (Parry, 29 August 2010).
Serving Learning Communities
While none of these major efforts can yet be termed a success, there is enough impetus to
indicate that something will happen soon that will be important to higher education. And,
there are enough potential learning communities within or associated with the university to
warrant attention, including matriculated students, alumni and friends, scholarly communities
and professional societies. These communities are logically served by OER/OCW.
Through participation in the OER/OCW movements, institutions become automatic members
of a powerful but informal international club. To remain on the sidelines of OER/OCW risks
exclusion from the club or may necessitate a scramble to get in when opportunity knocks.
Many national governments, including the U.S., with now a somewhat diminished initiative to
foster open education for the community colleges, are adopting OER/OCW as part of a
Membership in the International Club
23. national education strategy. Brazil and Vietnam are certainly poised for such an effort as are
several governments of Southeast Asia and Africa. Indeed, the African Virtual University is
focused on institutional sharing of resources through an open exchange. With such powerful
patrons, universities should prepare themselves for what is inevitable—calls for sharing their
instructional materials with the world. The “iron triangle” will be addressed and institutions
around the world will be pressured to be become either suppliers or users of OER/OCW (or
both). The interaction among international partners has already stimulated innovation and
excitement. Those features will accelerate the movements further in the very near future.
7. Conclusion
There is no way that higher education institutions around the world will be able to avoid
becoming a part of the OER/OCW movement. The form of that involvement may not be clear
today and no one can predict or describe the future clearly, but the pathway toward openness
in instructional material and the learning/teaching process is already well paved. The
combination of current activity, long term trends and institutional necessity make
involvement in OER/OCW an imperative. Such activity will be sustained out of a montage of
funding sources—the most important of which will be institutional resources that fund
instructional support and innovation on campuses today. This category of funding will be
joined by new funding sources and income streams stimulated by the powerful idea of
openness combined with targeted, cost-effective services. The future shape of OER/OCW is
not clear but its essence has already entered the bloodstream of international higher
education.
Abramson, L. “Global University Eliminates Barriers to Education,” National Public Radio, 10
March 2010. http://www.npr.org/templates.story/story.php?storyId=124008749
Aujla, S., and Terris, B. “Around the World, Varied Approaches to Open Online Learning,”
The Chronicle of Higher Education, 16 October 2009, p. A20.
Croughan M., and Powell, H. “An Open Letter to Members of the Faculty,” University of
California Academic Senate, 11 August 2009.
Daniel, J., Kanawar, A., Uvalic-Trumbic, S. “Breaking Higher Education’s Iron Triangle:
Access, Cost and Quality,” Change, 2009, April/May, pp30-35.
Hubbard, B. “A Year to Remember for webcast.berkeley,” January 2010.
http://ets.berkeley.edu/blog/year-remember-webcastberkeley-itunes-u-and-youtube
24. Laster, J. “North Carolina State U. Gives Students Free Access to Physics Textbook Online,”
The Chronicle of Higher Education, 12 February 2010.
Open Learning Content Observatory Services (OLCOS), Open Educational Practices and
Resources: OLCOS Roadmap 2012
Toppo, G. “Free Online Materials Could Save Schools Billions,” USA Today, 6 November 2007.
, 2007.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2007-11-06-freereading_N.htm
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Economic Development, Giving Knowledge for
Free
Parry, M. “Open Courses: Free, but Oh, So Costly,” Chronicle of Higher Education, 16
October 2009, p. A 1.
, 2007.
Parry, M. “Mass Video Courses May Free Up Professors for More Personalized Teaching,” The
Chronicle of Higher Education, 8 August 2010.
Parry, M. “Online, Bigger Classes May Be Better Classes: Experimenters Say Diversity Means
Richness,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, 29 August 2010.
Schmidt, P. “New Journals, Free Online, Let Scholars Speak Out,” The Chronicle of Higher
Education, 14 February 2010.
Vest, C. “Why MIT Decided to Give Away all Its Course Materials via the Internet”, The
Chronicle of Higher Education, 30 January 2004, p.20
Young, J. “YouTube Professors: Scholars and Online Video Stars,” The Chronicle of Higher
Education, 25 January 2008, p. A9.
25. New Directions for OpenCourseWare: Implications for Brazil
By Larry Cooperman, director, University of California, Irvine
OpenCourseWare
Abstract
OpenCourseWare has gone in 10 short years from the preserve of a single university, the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to a global movement of hundreds of universities and
over 14,000 courses written in every major language of the globe. More recently, governments
have begun to understand the importance of free and open access to the teaching and
learning materials that make up university coursework. This paper proposes that we are
entering into a new phase in the lifecycle of OpenCourseWare and its potential implications
for Brazil.
Key Words
OpenCourseWare , Open Educational Resources, Economic Development, African
Virtual University, Learning Object Repositories, Creative Commons
26. 1. Introduction
OpenCourseWare (OCW) is the branch of open education that concerns itself with the
production and reuse of university-level course content. OCW is a social movement to open
the firewalls of higher education — if not the physical doors themselves — to all who seek to
better themselves or others. With this growing library of syllabi, course outlines, readings,
presentation slides, exams, data sets, simulations and textbooks, OCW providers target
independent learners, current secondary, undergraduate and graduate students, as well as
professors looking for materials to enrich their teaching. Today, there are over 14,000 sets of
teaching materials available for the 200+ university and affiliate members of the
OpenCourseWare Consortium (OCWC). In fact, if all available outside material was included in
this organizational context, the number would be even greater.
OCW’s original expression was very much a publishing project, initiated by the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT). At the time, the mere idea of OCW sent tremors throughout
higher education, some believing that the open sourcing of university content would destroy a
thousand business models that kept universities afloat. But OCW can better be seen as a
reaction to the commercial failure of a series of prominent dot-com era Web-based higher
education projects and the growth of open source software.
On the institutional side, MIT founded a consortium, originally composed of a number of
international partners who had translated portions of the MIT OCW Web site into a number of
languages, including Spanish, Japanese and Mandarin. In addition to these translation sites,
the notion of publishing course materials with an open license permitting free reuse was
beginning to spread. In May 2005, the Japan OpenCourseWare Alliance was started by six
universities. Today, in addition to 212 English-language courses translated to Japanese, there
are 1,285 courses published by Japanese universities in the Japanese language. Universia, a
consortium of universities supported by Banco Santander, began its affiliation with the OCW
movement (and later the Consortium) by translating MIT courses. Today, it publishes course
content from the Iberian peninsula and Latin America in Spanish, Portuguese, and in
translated versions for some 16 languages.
From this internationalization of OCW came a new organization, the OCW Consortium
(OCWC), founded by MIT in February 2005. The Consortium’s growth has been rapid in terms
of its own institutional members, who are required to have at least 10 courses available within
the first two years of membership and pay the modest dues required. As of July 2010, the
OCWC Web site lists 178 institutional members, nine associate consortia and 46 affiliate
27. members. While, in its early years, the majority of published OCW came from MIT, current
production of OCW is now spread throughout the world.
2. Creative Commons Licenses Good, Not Great
At the heart of open education is the issue of overcoming the strict regime of “all rights
reserved,” imposed by U.S. copyright law and enshrined in World Trade Organization treaties
on intellectual property. By default, a scribble that a professor draws on a blackboard — a
fixed expression — is not shareable unless he or she expressly licenses it as such. Someone
who wanders in from the hallway, sees the scribble, copies it and then publishes it is guilty of
copyright infringement. He has not sought prior permission, so, regardless of the professor’s
intentions, his scribble has become legally trapped.
Of course, millions of people copy things from the Web and share them freely. However, in
institutions such as universities, embedding such practices outside of limited frameworks such
as “fair use,” leaves the institution vulnerable. The second problem in using “all rights
reserved” as the default arrangement is that it impedes innovation, despite the fact that the
justification for intellectual property laws in the first place is to incentivize innovation. As
Larry Lessig, a founder of the Creative Commons non-profit organization, stated at Brazil’s
2004 Free Software Conference, “creativity has always been about building upon other
people's creative work.”
Creative Commons licensing (CC) allows the reservation of specific rights, particularly the
requirement that licensed works be properly attributed (BY), that the license terms may not be
changed when incorporated in other works (SA), that no commercial use be made of the work
(NC) and that the work remain as a whole and not be subdivided and reused (ND).
In practice, the combination of Creative Commons licenses can be complicated. First, there is
the issue of national borders. While the licenses themselves have been successfully ported to
many countries, including Brazil, a remixed work produced in one country may not travel
well. Second, there are national complications even when copyrighted works are considered,
such as the varying definitions of when a work has entered the public domain or whether a
work produced in a country that is not a signatory to the World Trade Organization is
protected. Even the definition of what is in the public domain is bound to legal
interpretations in each jurisdiction.
3. The Challenge for OCW
Even in a perfect world where no gray areas existed around licensing, OCW would still need to
undergo a sort of punctuated equilibrium, an evolution from being an ill-defined set of
28. course materials, to a useful narrative about a subject matter that is more easily transportable
between countries, institutions and intended audiences. Within the OCW community, much
attention has been devoted to the problem of discoverability. Some projects have focused on
providing quality indicators, such as adoption by professors1
Discoverability remains an important problem for the consumption by learners of OCW. Part
of the problem is that a course is found principally through search engines and that, in turn,
relies on the learner to make good use of keywords. As a result, most proposals to enhance
discoverability of OCW or open educational resources (OER) have centered on better use of
metadata. In practice, it is very difficult to enforce consistency and quality in metadata
production on a large, global community of producers.
, peer review (Merlot), “lenses” or
sets of recommended modules (Connexions).
In the end, the challenge of discoverability is related to the absence of context for most
courses – the extraction of an OER or an OCW from broader curricula designed to produce
engineers, teachers or health professionals. Perhaps the solution is to build a global university
catalog, in which courses are found within schools and departments, and their relationship to
other courses and paths of study are transparent.
This idea that the course-level organization of assets may be too finely grained for maximum
utility may, at first, appear strange. However, it is much clearer when seen from the vantage
point of using open education to leverage cost efficiencies, introduce new curricula or train
an existing workforce in new areas. There are increasing glimpses of the transformative power
of open education. In the next section, two examples are provided where OER/OCW are being
used to drive economic development and workforce training. They achieve this through
moving from open courses to open curricula.
4. OCW for Economic Development
In the beginning, OCWs were produced for incorporation into university courses, translated
versions of courses, or for use by professors and students. There has already been a
substantial social benefit from this. However, the most recent OCWC global conference held
May 2010, in Hanoi, Vietnam, turned its attention to government as an OCW consumer and
producer. Brazil was represented by Anna Cristina Nascimento of the Ministry of Education.
1
The Open Educational Resources Portal of the Tecnológico de Monterey surveys OCW Web sites and
stores their description and URL in a database. They compensated professors to evaluate useful
assets they found and created a ranking based on the review, and an indication whether a specific
OER within the open course had been adopted for use by one of their professors.
29. What typically limits the reuse of OCW is a mismatch between the intended educational
audience and the new target audience. The transfer of materials involves not only translation,
but a transition between cultures, prior levels of educational attainment, university policies
and a handoff to a different instructional staff. If educational opportunity is expanded, it
inherently creates a shortage of qualified instructors. The pent-up demand for education
cannot immediately be met due to the imbalance between the new learners who will now
have access and the existing background, training and professional development of the
instructional staff.
This paper argues that when the granularity of resources is too small, the labor involved in
piecing together the relevant OERs can be overwhelming. That is why so many professors and
universities simply start from scratch in building new courses, while commercially published
textbooks that match the scope of typical courses are adopted so easily.
5. African Virtual University
The African Virtual University (AVU) is a unique distance education institution, similar to the
Associação Brasileira de Educação a Distância (ABED) that incorporates open education into
the core of its mission. It is a pan continental project, incorporating 53 universities from 27
countries. It operates in conflict and post-conflict zones as well as in stable countries. Its
most recent project was the completion of 70 modules in math and science secondary teacher
education. Each of the modules was produced and peer-reviewed by African professors. Where
facilities don’t exist, including basic connections to the Internet, the AVU develops them.
Included in its services is the development of what they term “open and distance education”
learning centers, or ODELs. Among its accomplishments, it lists the graduation of 4,000
Somali students, of which 30% are women.
The AVU produces full curricula — tracks or degrees of study — rather than individual courses.
It starts from the standpoint of the degree or certificate to be offered and then works
backwards to produce the necessary modules in an open format. The fragmentation of most
OCW collections is avoided through the scope of the project itself, for example, preparing
prospective teachers with content knowledge in math and science2
2 The participants in this project are comprised of 12 universities in ten countries. The 70
modules are available in three languages – Portuguese, French and English. At the February 2, 2010
meeting of the new consortium, the university vice chancellors became the signatories. They were
joined in the meeting by deans, professors, project team members, and even union leaders.
at 12 universities in 10
countries in three languages. The openness of the assets becomes more important when the
assets have to live in so many different environments throughout Africa.
30. 6. TU Delft Transfers Its Water Management Courses to Indonesia
TU Delft represents one of the most impressive examples of the transfer of OCWs
(http://ocw.tudelf.nl) from their master’s degree in water management to a different
educational and cultural context.
The project, recently funded, is described below:
The faculty of Civil Engineering obtained a grant from the EVD to develop an
educational programme on Water Supply and Sanitation in Indonesia making
use of OpenCourseWare. The project is carried out in collaboration with
Stichting Wateropleidingen and ITB Bandung, Indonesia and aims at
accelerating the achievement of the Millennium Development Water Goals by
capacity building in the field of education and research on drinking water
production/distribution and waste water collection/treatment through open,
practice oriented education and applied research on appropriate water
technologies. The project builds on experiences of Delft University of
Technology and Stichting Wateropleidingen with educational and research
concepts (training the trainer in both technical knowledge and didactical skills,
OpenCourseWare practice orientedness of trainings, active learning, modelling
and cooperative applied research) and aims to make these experiences
available in education and research in the Indonesian setting.
In both cases, it is the scope of the project that provides the educational benefit and the cost
efficiencies. Both the AVU teacher project and the TU Delft/ Stichting Wateropleidingen
collaboration build capacity. AVU builds distance learning centers and trains professors and
staff in the use of technology. And the TU Delft/ Stichting Wateropleidingen collaboration
trains instructional staff to deliver the curriculum and graduate water management
professionals and technicians.
7. National Opportunities in OCW
From the cases previously described, we can begin to outline how OCW/OER initiatives can
embed themselves successfully in national education systems. These successful transnational
projects have in common certain key elements:
1. They solve the problem of granularity. Much of the cost of OER/OCW reuse is incurred
during assembly. That is, there is a cost of incorporation of an externally developed
learning object into another environment. However, the cost of integration or creation
is lessened when dealing with an entire program, not just a module or a course.
31. 2. They address the problem of instruction. OER/OCWs remove barriers to access.
Imagine the best possible world in which all of the resources themselves are of the
highest quality and match the target audience in their depth and scope. While this
provides an opportunity for learning, such learning would be amplified many times
over by capable instruction. Yet, by its very nature, overcoming barriers to university
coursework creates an instructor shortage.
3. They demonstrate a clear fit — not with university education in the abstract — but
with clear locally determined needs. The topics chosen, though locally determined,
tend to have global importance: water resource management, for example, or math
and science teacher education.
4. Capacity building is a core value. This goes beyond the previously mentioned issue of
development of a cadre of instructors/professors to meet the demands of the larger
student base created by open access. Capacity building refers to the development of
the institutional infrastructure for successful open education with the requisite
governmental support.
8. Can Brazil Successfully Develop Open Education?
From the examples above, it should come as no surprise that this article argues that the
primary opportunity for Brazil is to adopt open education as a national strategy and tie it to
rapid workforce development. Brazil's educational and economic strides in the past decade
have been accompanied, to some extent, by a rapid increase in the participation rate, the rate
at which students of university age are enrolled in tertiary institutions. However, because
Brazil started at a low rate, there is an inevitable lag as the formal educational system strives
to keep pace with the economic opportunities available.
OCW is inherently a good fit for this situation. The development of teaching materials and
open textbooks is a relatively inexpensive investment compared to the ongoing infrastructural
investments that the government has to make, such as the high-speed rail planned to connect
Rio de Janeiro to Sao Paulo. The response to FGV Online's OCW is without parallel in the
world. MIT and Open University (OU) have the same scale of response, but both with
significantly larger libraries of courses. How can we understand this phenomenon? It has to be
that the demand for educational opportunity is quite high. Unlike the global reach of MIT or
OU, FGV Online reaches only a Portuguese-speaking audience, most of which is Brazilian.
The original impulse for the adoption of OCW generally starts with foundations and
universities. There is a point of hand-off, however, in which the initial work “goes
mainstream” and formalizes the commitment through the activities of the Ministry of
32. Education, as in the case of Vietnam, or through a pan continental approach, as in the case of
the African Virtual University. In the U.S., the Obama administration has committed to provide
$500 million for the development of the most commonly taught community college courses
and to provide these as free, open resources. While it is still too early to see how and if this
initiative will play out, it is symbolic of a growing recognition that open education provides:
1. cost efficiency through development for audiences that already have
standardized educational goals;
2. an improved path from secondary to tertiary education through public visibility
of course content, and;
3. greater flexibility in usage through open licensing.
Brazil's landscape, despite its various challenges, has some interesting characteristics that can
make open education a powerful contributor to national educational and developmental
goals. First, it is by far the most economically important in the Portuguese-speaking world.
This makes its efforts in open education – whether by university or government initiative –
much more likely to become global centers of open education in the Portuguese language.
This is especially true about repository creation, in which the flow of educational objects will
be toward Brazil from the rest of the lusophone world. The AVU typically produces materials
in English and then translates to French and Portuguese. The problem is not the burden of
translation of the original materials. What confounds the translation effort is the use of links
in the original to English-language Web sites and other sources. Translators in Mozambique,
for example, need to substitute those links with equivalent Portuguese-language materials,
and the likeliest source of those will be from Brazilian repositories3
Second, it is an uncluttered landscape. That is, in contrast to the U.S. where there are many
and often conflicting initiatives around OCW, Brazil has the opportunity to set up the rules of
engagement for the players in this space — to the effect that interested non-governmental
organizations, public and private universities and companies serve a broader national and
educational purpose. To that extent, the clarification of the legal foundation for open
education is critical as is the ability of the government through the Ministry of Education to
assist with development and distribution of OCW.
.
3
See two learning object repositories in particular – a university effort known by the acronym
Proativa - Grupo de Pesquisa e Produção de Ambientes Interativos e Objetos de Aprendizagem
(http://www.proativa.virtual.ufc.br/oa.php?id=0) and the Ministry of Education’s Banco
Internacional de Objectos Educacionais (http://objetoseducacionais2.mec.gov.br).
33. Third, the costs associated with higher education in Brazil as a percentage of gross domestic
product (GDP) are relatively high. In a World Bank research paper comparing select Latin
American countries to high income countries, these countries share a high cost of education
relative to per capita GDP, approximately 35% for the higher education sector, despite notable
successes in improving enrollment rates in primary, secondary and tertiary education. With a
low 12% participation rate and a relatively high total cost of education (tuition, living costs,
textbooks, fees, etc.), Brazil can benefit more than most countries from a strategy that lowers
educational costs. The same study notes that while Brazil has free tuition for public
universities, there has been growth in private higher educational institutions with average
tuition levels.
Therefore, the potential benefits of OCW are relatively high and can lead to a virtuous cycle of
capacity building, quality improvement, and lowering associated costs of curriculum
development, instructor development, materials and textbooks.
In recognition of these potential advantages, Brazil’s principal distance education association,
the ABED, has incorporated into its mission the notion of open and distance learning. ABED
has a potentially important role to play in the dissemination of open education since its
membership regroups professors from not only the elite public universities, such as the
University of Sao Paulo, but also a broad representation from the federal system. Fred Litto,
president and founder of ABED, in his introductory remarks at the 2009 ABED conference in
Fortaleza, noted that open education is “free and democratic” in its essence, there is a match
between often-stated public policy goals and the universal accessibility of open education.
9. Challenges to Brazil's Capacity to Adopt OCW/OER as an Educational Strategy
Carolina Rossini, in a brief “green paper” updated in January 2010, presents the case that
Brazil requires a national policy around OER. Her list of recommendations, while specific to
Brazil could be generally applied to most countries of the world:
1. Strengthen requirements for open access to materials already funded by public
institutions and governments.
2. The infrastructure for open education is based on content and repositories, which
should have standardized methods of access and data collection, the latter to inform
public policy, among other objectives.
3. The educational system should be directed at all levels to develop and incorporate
open materials, including instructor training, student access and provisioning of
instructional technology — all through a systemic and transformative plan.
34. 4. Transformation of copyright law to eliminate ambivalence in its application to author
rights, exceptions for educational use, and legal obligations of service providers.
In the list above, it is the area of copyright law itself in which Brazil's history diverges from
the general trend. Beyond World Trade Organization-imposed limitations, Brazil has never
clarified key issues in copyright law. Mitzukami, Lemos, Magrani and Pereira de Souza tie the
Brazilian copyright regime directly to the cost of university textbooks, “books in Brazil may be
cheaper than in many other countries in absolute terms, but when purchasing power is taken
into account, they are much more expensive.” Most interesting is the way in which Brazilian
law has differed from cultural norms around sharing. If the laws are so vague that even the
owners of copy shops cannot be sure of what they can legally copy, then inevitably those who
seek to access knowledge and culture will find ways to avoid the law's limitations.” A simple
Google search with a few keywords – such as “emule,” “torrents,” “brasil,” “br,” “p2p” and
“comunidade”– will point the way to the many Web sites, forums and blogs that form the
infrastructure used by Brazilians for file sharing, gateways to vast global repositories of
content spread throughout millions of computers. The authors conclude with a harsh
indictment of Brazilian copyright law:
Exceptions and limitations in Brazilian copyright law are inadequate on many
accounts. They are excessively restrictive and anachronistic – in some cases
incoherent – and offer no opportunity for balance through interpretation. To
make things worse, they are often misinterpreted by the content industry to
pose even greater limitations on users. As a framework for public rights of use
and access to culture and information, the current lists of exceptions and
limitations are unacceptably limited.
Brazil’s opportunity stems from this dismal state of affairs. Consider the predicament of
textbook authors. High textbook prices have shut out a large group of users. To maintain the
same level of profitability faced with a declining market, they raise textbook prices, yielding
fewer users4
4 Eric Frank, a former junior executive at a major textbook company, frequently cites this spiral as the
reason for the creation of Flat World Knowledge, a publisher that offers open textbooks and makes
its money principally on the demand for printed versions. Authors receive 20% of a typical U.S. $30
price, one-third to one-sixth of the pricing for similar texts by the principal textbook companies.
.
Brazil stands out as the only country in which one of the largest global
publishing companies, Pearson, has created a CopyLeft Web site, in which anyone can freely
upload or download. Whether publishing companies can maintain themselves by tying
auxiliary “open” content to their textbooks is, as yet, an untested model.
35. From this unmet user demand for educational materials comes perhaps the greatest success of
an OCW Web site — FGV’s granting of free certificates of completion.
10. The Case of FGV Online
FGV Online was the second Brazilian university to join the OCWC in 2008, but the first to
develop an OCW Web site. FGV Online has experienced explosive demand from over three
million visitors to its open courses. Beginning with a translation of two University of
California, Irvine courses and then posting its own material, it is one of only two OCW Web
sites in the world that generates significant tuition fees for its for-credit courses from visitors
attracted to the free courses. FGV Online innovated by allowing those who finished a course
to print out a certificate of completion. This provided FGV with the ability to survey those
learners requesting the certificate of completion, ultimately to understand its OCW users in a
way that few other universities have been able to do. Among their findings was that single
women were the largest group of users of its OCW.
It also points to a conclusion about Brazil. The demand for education is so great that
hundreds of thousands of Brazilians have taken at least one full course in order to get a paper
certificate of completion.
Another example of Brazilian demand for OCW is Peer2Peer University (P2PU)—a project that
seeks to tie together learners around open content and open courses. Already, the largest
courses are being organized by Brazilians in Portuguese and attendance is out of scale with
the classes offered in English.
11. Conclusion
OCW is the organization of open materials as courses. It is most effective when delivered as
part of a curriculum, both in its portability across national borders and in its reusability from
institution to institution. Following the creation of some 14,000 courses by member
institutions of the OCWC, attention is being turned by both individual members and the
organization to a next phase, in which its current scope—course materials—gives way to
curated collections and learning paths, such as degree majors and specializations. The value
for the end user of this development is that individual courses appear in a learning pathway
that better guides the learner to a useful outcome.
This development, already begun in places like Africa, Indonesia and Vietnam, could be
accelerated by careful government attention, of which there are at least incipient signs. The
relatively harsh copyright law that is an obstacle to matriculated students and independent
learners alike may, in the end, accelerate the development of open educational opportunities.
36. Brazil's steady rise in educational attainment and participation now needs to likewise
accelerate to keep pace with the more rapid economic rise and shortage of various skilled and
professional occupations. If Brazil adopts as a governmental imperative the capacity-building
values of the TU Delft project in Indonesia or the AVU’s secondary math and science teacher
education project, it will provide an example that the rest of the world will do well to
emulate.
African Virtual University Web site, http://www.avu.org/Press-Releases/press-release-avu-
facilitates-virtual-training-for-teachers-in-10-african-countries.html
CC Learn, “Otherwise Open: Managing Incompatible Content within Open Educational
Resources”. September 1, 2009. http://learn.creativecommons.org/wp-
content/uploads/2009/09/Otherwise_Open_report.pdf
Cooperman, L. and Matkin, G. W., “The OCWC’s Next Frontier – Learning Ecosystems,”
presented at OCWC Global conference. Monterrey, Mexico. April 23, 2009. Presentation
Available
Japan OCW Consortium Web site, http://www.jocw.jp/AboutJOCW.htm
Mizukami, P. Lemos, R. Magrani, B. and Pereira de Souza, C., Exceptions and Limitations to
Copyright Law,” Access to knowledge: New Research in Intellectual Property, Innovation and
Development, (Edited by Shaver, Lea). Bloomsbury Academic (New York), pp. 71, CC (2010)
Murakami, Y. and Blom, A., “Accessibility and Affordability of Tertiary Education in Brazil,
Colombia, Mexico and Peru with a Global Context” p. 15, February 2008,
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EDUCATION/Resources/278200-1099079877269/547664-
1099079956815/wps4517.pdf
OpenCourseWare Consortium Web site, OpenCourseWare Consortium Timeline,
http://wiki.ocwconsortium.org/index.php?title=Timeline
OpenCourseWare Consortim Web site, “OCWC Meeting Starts in Hà Nội”, May 6, 2010,
http://news.gov.vn/Home/OCWC-meeting-starts-in-Ha-Noi/20105/7272.vgp
OpenCourseWare Consortium Web site,
http://opencourseware.weblog.tudelft.nl/2010/01/18/evd-grant-for-development-educational-
pr
37. Rossini, C., “The State and Challenges of OER in Brazil: From Readers to Writers,” published
by the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, February 2010
Unsworth, John M., “The Next Wave: Liberation Technology”, The Chronicle of Higher
Education, January 30, 2004. http://chronicle.com/article/The-Next-Wave-Liberation/9698
38. OPEN SCHOOLS AND LEARNING
Fredric M. Litto
Abstract
Although there is considerable scholarly literature on the subject of “open” learning in higher
education, it is not common for it to be studied in relation to basic and compulsory education
– which is paradoxical in view of the disparity in student numbers. After defining
characteristics of “open” education, this article identifies some important studies conducted in
Brazil and abroad to inquire into “openness” in basic education. As examples, Mexico’s
“Telesecundaria” and Brazil’s “Telecurso” are examined as successful models of open
schooling in the past forty years.
Keywords
Distance learning, Open learning, Compulsory education, Educational technology, Educational
television, Telesecundaria, Telecurso
When one considers the student numbers in basic education in Brazil and elsewhere it
is hard to understand why research and reports on “open” learning have focused
predominantly on higher education. This may be because younger students are not motivated,
disciplined or proactive enough to see a lengthy program of studies through successfully in an
“open”, distance learning context. As a result, they offer researchers less potential for arriving
at interesting, significant conclusions. It may be because, in Brazil at least, the most current
technologies for study in educationally “open” environments have only recently begun to
produce their “disruptive” effect on basic education; the studies will follow when the time is
right.
In any case, basic education is a strategic activity for all countries, because it begins
to shape the minds of future citizens and prepare the “cognitive foundation” for subsequent
learning. It is thus an area that deserves all possible attention from State and civil society,
especially given the need to keep permanently up to date.
In order to discuss “openness” in educational matters, first the salient features of the
phenomenon have to be defined. Andréia Namorato dos Santos (2009) collected a wide range
39. of definitions circulating mainly in English and identified the aspects of the phenomenon
where consensus exists among various authorities in education:
• It has to do with practices that remove the traditional social and cultural
barriers that form part of the “closed” education systems of the past;
• It eliminates the barriers to accessing knowledge that result from financial
difficulties, geographical distances or reasons of age, sex, ethnicity or social
position;
• It represents a supply of courses, mainly for students to take at home;
• It enables students to learn at the time, place and pace best suited to their
needs and circumstances, in addition to ensuring that they choose what and
how they want to study;
• It opens up the possibility of pursuing studies at all levels of education: formal
education (basic, middle and higher); non-formal (continuing or professional
development); or informal (independent, self-directed study);
• It offers students programs of study with no minimum qualification
requirement for admission; and
• It normally provides students with materials specially prepared or adapted for
this kind of learning.
The concept or paradigm of “open” learning forms part of a worldwide progressive,
democratic movement of recent years calling for radical change in access to knowledge and to
the tools that facilitate the use of information and knowledge. Digital technologies make it
easy to duplicate and transmit information and knowledge with no loss of copy quality and
no transmission lag. That makes it possible to break out of the “society of scarcity” (where
only the privileged have access to the most prized benefits) and enter the “society of
abundance” (where all citizens have maximum access to the same benefits).
That is an altruistic goal with a view to accelerating emerging country development by
boosting the potential for individual knowledge. In 2009, for instance, UNESCO’s
Communication and Information Sector held a workshop to formulate a new project called
the “UNESCO Open Suite Strategy”, involving Open Access (OA), Free and Open Source
Software (FOSS) and Open Educational Resources (OER). In addition to these proposed areas
of work, others are being developed by governments, non-governmental organizations and
academic institutions, such as open files, open innovations, open patents, open journals, open
training and open technology.
40. In the limited space of this article it is not possible to describe in any detail all the
kinds of strategy for “openness” in learning, but it is possible to accompany progress in these
endeavors (in Portuguese) by consulting the Universidade do Minho project, Repositório
Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (http://projecto.rcaap.pt), the Brazilian government's
websites for teachers and students in basic and higher education
(http://portaldoprofessor.mec.gov.br and http://www.dominiopublico.gov.br), and the site of
Brazil's only institutional participant in the international OpenCourseWare Consortium, the
FGV Online (http://www5.fgv.br/fgvonline/cursosgratuitos.aspx), which offers a series of
courses for the general public.
Some important recent publications on open learning – which unfortunately do not include
basic education within their scope, but deserve to be read – include Iiyoshi & Kumar (2008),
D'Antoni & Savage (2009), and Rossini (2009). The latter concentrates on Brazilian production
of OERs and has the virtue of bringing a useful legal perspective to the discussion, but omits
some significant examples of ground-breaking work in this field. Fundamental reading,
meanwhile, is the seminal work, Basic Education at a Distance: World Review of Distance
Education and Open Learning (Yates & Bradley, 2000), which concentrates exclusively on
basic education, as does The Open Classroom: Distance Learning In and Out of Schools
(Bradley, 2003), and the International Handbook of Information Technology in Primary and
Secondary Education (Voogt & Knezek, 2008). Also outstanding is the “Capetown Open
Education Declaration”, a brief, thought-provoking document produced in 2008 by teachers,
students, “web gurus” and representatives of several philanthropic foundations, calling for
education to be transformed by expanding the supply of free, online educational materials
relevant to local needs. The Associação Brasileira da Educação a Distância (ABED,
http://www2.abed.org.br) is one of the signatories to the Declaration, which can be read
online at http://www.capetowndeclaration.org/read-the-declaration.
Perhaps one effective way of understanding the potential of open learning for
developing countries or for developed countries with large numbers of “excluded” individuals
is to look at two successful experiences: Mexico's Telesecundaria and Brazil's Telecurso.
Telesecundaria
This government program started up experimentally in 1967 with only 83 students
divided into four groups, all in Mexico City. Today it serves over a million students across
Mexico, in addition to 30,000 young people in other Spanish-speaking countries in the
Americas. Durán (2001) writes that the program was originally planned for learners in rural
villages in Mexico with populations of less than 2,500 where it was financially difficult to
maintain a conventional public high school. It always used television broadcasts (more
41. recently supported by satellite), printed materials and in-person tutoring at student service
centers spread across the country. Those responsible are proud of the fact that its students
generally achieve better learning results than students in conventional education and at little
extra cost per student. Another virtue of the system that Durán mentions is the important role
it plays in non-formal education in the communities where the program operates. In 1968,
the project served 6,569 students with the support of 304 teachers; by 1989, it had 453,030
students and 21,203 teachers; and in 2003 it reached 1,146,600 students through 54,872
teachers in 16,000 rural communities. Broadcasts go out Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 2
p.m., and are then repeated from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. and on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The local communities provide the classrooms for each grade, while the federal
government furnishes the other system components: the satellite dish, television set, set-top
box (signal decoder), the reading materials and the teacher. While in conventional schools the
student-teacher ratio is 35 or 40:1, in the Telesecundaria it is 23:1. The teachers are specially
trained for the specific type of teaching and learning involved. While 60% are sufficiently
qualified to teach at urban public schools, 40% have not trained as teachers, but are
graduates from higher education, who are recruited right after graduating, provided they are
willing to live in isolated rural areas.
Durán notes that the educational model comprises three components: broadcast 15-
minute video classes (the central repository contains 4,600 videos produced and updated
periodically) reflecting the official curriculum of three years of high school; textbooks
(returned to the school on conclusion of the course and with a useful life of three generations
of students); and the teacher, who in addition to answering students' doubts, organizes
community citizen learning activities.
Assessment is in three stages: an initial evaluation to identify each student's existing
knowledge; their degree of “engagement” in the program; and the likelihood of their applying
what they learn in their later life. Formative assessment is performed by way of student
participation in various projects, especially those connected with community problem solving.
There is also summative assessment by way of examinations (regulated by the Ministry
of Education), which address actual learning outcomes. In general, the program is especially
effective for students living in rural areas, because it encourages them to stay in school, with
the result that students perform as well as, or better than, their urban peers. Even though the
rural students may be behind at the outset, they soon catch up with their urban colleagues.
Durán offers the following keen insight:
...[rural] isolation makes it easier for school teams to exert a high level of control over
students, reducing absenteeism and maintaining discipline... Despite the low economic
status of the students and their relatives, the teachers' presence in the community
42. means that the program is successful, personalized and effective. (DURÁN, 2001, p.
174)
In 2001, Durán identified some of the problems suffered regularly in systematically operating
the Telesecundaria: theft or malfunction of classroom equipment; text books not reaching the
communities in good time; difficulty in keeping teachers in rural areas for long periods
(because they miss their families); the need to develop the practice of reflection and critical
thinking more among the students; and the rigid broadcast schedules for the televised classes.
Telecurso
Brazil's Telecurso has gone through several generations since the 1970s. From 1978 to
1995, the Telecurso 2º Grau high school course was introduced to help address the national
problem that three quarters of Brazil's population between the ages of 70 and 90 never
finished high school. From the outset, the project availed itself of the commercial television
network of Grupo Globo, to which the Fundação Roberto Marinho (FRM) belongs. From 1978
to 1984, the FRM partnered with the Fundação Padre Anchieta of São Paulo (maintainer of
TV Cultura, at the time the only educational TV station with a signal achieving wide
coverage); and from 1985 to 1993, the partnership was with the Fundação Bradesco. The
Telecurso model featured three key factors:
• TV programs shown simultaneously over a wide network of television stations
(39 commercial, 9 non-commercial);
• primers published in weekly installments and sold at moderate prices at
newsstands in 3,000 municipalities across Brazil;
• broadcast schedule options and content of the televised classes are widely
announced, as are the dates of the examinations, which are held by state
education departments all over the country.
In the first phase of the project, 432 15-minute programs were produced and
broadcast in three 24-week blocks. One factor considered important for the project's success
was that the televised classes featured actors from the Rede Globo's popular soap operas, who
are well-known to the general public. By 1979, when the first phase of the Telecurso was
concluded, five million copies of the primers had been sold, in addition to tests, exercises and
other complementary materials. From 1978 a 1981, the Fundação Carlos Chagas of São Paulo
conducted a survey to evaluate the Telecurso, concluding that its students performed better in
the final exams than those in conventional schools.
43. From 1981 to 1995, the FRM operated the Telecurso 1º Grau primary course, covering
the 5th
to 8
th
grades. That project had technical and financial support from the Ministry of
Education. By 1983, 851 television signal reception centers had been set up in 23 states, at
which 91,400 students were receiving the televised classes. In the nine states where the
Telecurso had partnered with local governments, Telecurso students graduated in droves with
results ranging from 83% to 94% pass rates. By 1985, the Telecurso 2o
Grau had benefited
3.5 million adults wanting to complete their secondary education (among them Marina da
Silva, who later became a Senator and Minister of State, and Vicente Paulo “Vicentinho” da
Silva, who also completed the Telecurso 1o
Grau and was later elected to Congress). The
Telecurso involved 60 television stations and 20 radio stations, serving a regular audience of
1.3 million viewers in 1,400 viewing rooms with television monitors. By 1989, the Telecurso 2o
Grau had reached a public of 15 million viewers, enabling 4 million of them to gain a
diploma.
Using only open-circuit television with signals captured by the tele-classrooms, the
FRM developed a specific methodology with students and the “builder” of their knowledge
drawing on their life experiences and points of view to structure the actual learning.
Remember that student activities had to be quite practical, while involving critical thinking
and the application of experiences from everyday life. That methodology set in motion a
process that permitted scalability to cater to millions of students. This was an alternative
pedagogy for regular, formal education, too.
The “dynamics” of the tele-classroom are as follows: the concepts to be learned are
problematized; the televised class is shown; the images are “read”; textbooks are read; then
there are activities relating to the texts, followed by any other appropriate activities; the
activities are “socialized”; and students and teacher evaluate the process.
Since its introduction in 1978 the Telecurso has revealed students generally
considered to have been “excluded”: individuals more or less three years behind in their
schooling (who have been failed two or three times), including people between the ages of 40
and 50. Telecurso students' family income and their parents' level of education are normally
lower than those of students attending regular schools. Thirty percent, on average, already
have children. At the regular schools in the municipalities where they live, student registers are
irregular and there are many cases of “phantom” teachers. In that light, it is significant that
Telecurso students offer very encouraging testimony about their success in their studies.
There have been a number of successful projects in recent years. For example, in
2001, students of Acre State placed twenty-seventh in a Brazil-wide ranking of states by
national examination results; by 2008 they had risen to ninth place.
44. From 1995 to 2006, the Telesaber project, in partnership with the corporation
Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, brought 1
st
to 4
th
grade teaching to the television classroom,
confirming that fundamental schooling could be given to adults in just one year by distance
education combined with in-person components, while middle schooling could be completed
in just a year and a half in the same conditions. Using the same methodology (“learning
counselors”, textbooks, televised classes and activities relevant to the students' lives), the
Telecurso started to become more attractive to state and municipal governments, and
partnerships with the FRM started to become public policy. There were 27,714 tele-classrooms
in operation: 5.5 million students had completed their courses, 30,000 teachers had been
trained, 1,500 firms and other institutions (churches, trade unions, prisons, and many others)
had taken part, and 24 million books and 1.8 million televised classes had gone out.
Nationwide, Telecurso student pass rates averaged 92.6% in fundamental education and
94.4% in middle education.
By 2006, 80% of Brazilian homes had a television, and 7 million people per week were
watching the televised classes. As a result, it became necessary to rethink the program as a
whole, leading to the development of a new model for the Telecurso, with new content and
new focus. The outcome was the Novo Telecurso (www.novotelecurso.org.br), which began its
activities in 2008. Unlike the practice of previous decades, the Novo Telecurso does not cover
the whole country, but benefits only selected states and municipalities where the local
partners represent the opportunity for the project to accomplish new educational
achievements.
Updated curricula, such as Tecendo o Saber (“weaving knowledge”), offer daring,
diversified content, challenging a new generation of students. The tele-classroom is no longer
a physical place, but rather a concept, as the virtual dimension has begun to penetrate the
learning environment. In the states of Amazonas, Acre, Pernambuco and others in partnership
with the FRM, students are encouraged to watch films, read classics of Brazilian literature,
consult books and access websites. DVDs of 14 to 15 minutes permit students to review
content as often as they wish (teachers' DVDs contain collections with 50 classes on each). All
the DVDs are subtitled and include sign language for the deaf. All the installations where
student services are concentrated offer graduation ceremonies for students who complete
their courses of study.
In addition, a process of “structural actions” was set in motion: the project
coordination is shared with the local partners; the focus is on preparing local teachers and
supervisors; and there are periods of pedagogical integration and monitoring, always followed
by internal and external evaluation, and preparation of a final “memorial”. It is important to
have local co-management and a regionalized pedagogical plan. The project is beginning to
make use of virtual learning environments, at first with the teachers, and complementary