Bardhyl Jashari and Tamara Resavska Metamorphosis Foundation

1. Open Educational
Resources in
Macedonia
OE Global Conference 2016, 13 April 2016

3. Republic of Macedonia
• Independence: 8 September 1991
• Parliamentary republic
• Area: 25,713 km2
• Population: 2,069,162 (2014, estimate)
• Capital and largest city: Skopje

4. The Macedonian education system:
• pre-school education
• primary
• secondary
• higher

5. Public universities in Macedonia
• Goce Delčev University of Štip
• Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of
Skopje
• St. Clement of Ohrid University of
Bitola
• State University of Tetovo
• University for Information Science and
Technology "St. Paul The Apostle" in
Ohrid

6. Private universities in Macedonia
• More than 20!

7. Elementary and secondary education
• Number of elementary schools: 986
(2014/2015)
• Number of secondary schools: 116
(2014/2015)
• The Ministry of Education and
Sciences reports that 461 schools
(primary and secondary) are now
connected to the internet.

8. OER in Macedonia
• Digitalization of schools and other
educational institutions
• Number of problems such as
insufficient coordination between the
state, civil society and international
organizations and foundations
• Further development of coherent
system of technology, software,
politics, project and generating content
related to OER is needed.

9. OER in Macedonia
• Macedonia is a country in development
• Requires higher rate of utilization of open
resources and free educational tools and
contents
• OER gain in importance
• The Macedonian legislation on education is in
compliance with UNESCO declarations and its
“Education for All” Program adopted on the
World Education Forum in 2000, which
includes the following goal: “free and
compulsory education with good quality for all
by 2015”.

10. OER related projects
• Government project “Free
textbooks”
• started in the school year 2009/2010
• includes all students in primary and
secondary schools
• giving to 312,072 students textbooks in
Macedonian, Albanian, Turkish and
Serbian.
• The full opening of this content remains
on the sidelines of the plans of the
institutions.

11. OER practices
• In April 2010, the Ministry of Information
Society promoted the project on free e-
textbooks and the relevant website е-
ucebnici.mk
• Over 60 textbooks in Macedonian, Albanian,
Roma, Serbian and Turkish languages
• The MES stated: “e-textbooks will not
replace printed textbooks. The goal is to
present textbooks also in electronic form, but
the meaning of printed textbooks is much
bigger... this only provides an additional
possibility for quality learning”.

12. OER practices
• The web-site "skoool.mk" created by
the MIS and the Bureau for Development
of Education
• tools and content in the field of
mathematics, physics, chemistry and
biology
• interactive audio and video materials that
can be applied in the instruction process
• the website offers concise notes for users
in the field of mathematics and natural
sciences

13. OER practices
• Mini-projects of this type implemented as
individual or group efforts:
• e-uciliste - on-line collection of education
courses in several subjects: IT, physics, chemistry,
electrical engineering, digital systems, HTML, etc.
• based on the Moodle concepts
• around 800 registered users.
• e-pedagog - platform for exchange of
experiences and e-materials in the field of
pedagogy.
• The projects are licensed under Creative
Commons, under the Attribute-Share Alike license.

14. OER practices
• “Computer for Every Child” project
• According to the MIS, e-contents should be
uploaded to a central location or server and
can thus be downloaded from any location,
either at or outside school premises.
• Digital educational repositories - digital
catalogization and database, networking, but
do not address access to contents.
• Terrain preparation for the actual introduction
of OER and OA
• Necessary developmental efforts

15. Open Educational Resources
Initiative Project
• Implemented by Metamorphosis Foundation
for Internet and Society
• Development of critical thinking and
democratization in Macedonia through the
constructive use of new technologies as tools
to increase the quantity and quality of
educational, scientific and academic e-content.
• To raise the awareness and build the capacity
of the academia for creating and using open
educational resources.
• Implementation period: December 2011 -
Ongoing

16. About Metamorphosis Foundation
• Foundation for Internet and Society
• Independent, nonpartisan and nonprofit
foundation
• Based in Skopje, Macedonia
• Its mission is to contribute to the development of
democracy and increase the quality of life
through innovative use and sharing of
knowledge
• Our guiding values are openness, equality and
freedom
• Main programs: Human rights, good
governance, social innovations and environment

17. In 2012…
• Several workshops with academic
staff were held
• Guide for OER was developed
• a brochure
• poster
• educational videos
• Website containing all the important
information about OER (www.oer.mk)
• resource center where users can
share and download open educational resources

18. “Open Education for an open society
– let’s share the knowledge!” Conference
• In November 2012, the 8th
International Conference e-Society.Mk
• exchange of experiences, ideas and
recommendations for the future
development of education, supported
by the use of new technologies and the
concept of free sharing.
• 250 participants

19. Coordinative Group and OER
Alliance
• Establishment of the Coordinative
Group for OER
• 10 representatives from the academic
community, teachers, professors and
NGO representatives
• In 2013, the coordinative group was
expanded to an Alliance for OER in
Macedonia

20. OER Alliance in Macedonia
• Group composed of
individuals,
organizations,
institutions operating as
an informal network
with a common goal –
awareness raising and
capacity building of the
academic and scientific
community for the
creation and use of
open educational
resources in the
Republic of Macedonia.

21. OER Alliance
• Declaration on Open Educational Resources in
Macedonia
• to mobilize wide support for the improvement of
open education
• based on UNESCO’s 2012 Paris OER Declaration
• web application for digital signing of the Declaration
• Android application
• By the end of March 2016, more than 580
individuals and 20 institutions/organizations have
signed the OER Declaration, and became members
of the OER Alliance of Macedonia.
• Over 400 resources shared in the resource center of
the www.oer.mk website (March 30, 2016).

22. Best OER Teacher
competitionThe 2014 Best OER Teacher competition
•16 teachers took part
•2 best OER Teachers were announced selected by the
members of the OER Alliance and selected by an expert jury
•The prize for the winners of the competition was participation
in the 2015 Educonference for teachers and IT experts
The 2015 Best OER Teacher competition
•9 teachers took part
•589 voters giving their voice
•2 best OER Teachers were announced
•The prize for the winners of the competition was participation
in the 2016 Second Educonference for teachers and IT
experts

23. Analysis of the legal framework for
education and opportunities for
implementation of open educational
resources
• Published in October 2015
• motivated by years of work in the field of open
educational resources and recommendations
received from the Working Group on Open
Educational Resources composed of members
of the OER Alliance.
• Covers the Law on Primary Education, the Law
on Secondary Education, Law on Textbooks for
Primary and Secondary Education, Law on
Copyright and Related Rights, and also
provides a perspective for the situation,
conclusions and recommendations for
regulation of open educational resources in

24. Analysis of the legal framework for
education and opportunities for
implementation of open educational
resources
• Key conclusions
• Key recommendations
• Next steps

25. You can find out more about
Metamorphosis Foundation and Open
educational resources initiative at our
websites:
www.metamorphosis.org.mk www.oer.mk

26. Thank you!
Questions?