PhD research presentation GO-GN seminar in Cape Town. Igor Lesko

1. Impact of International Organizations on
Governmental OER Policies
PhD Research Presentation, GO-GN
Seminar, December 2013, Cape Town, South Africa
igorlesko@ocwconsortium.org
Twitter: @igor_lesko
Unless otherwise noted, Impact of International Organizations on Governmental OER Policies by
Igor Lesko is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Open Sharing, Global Benefits
The OpenCourseWare Consortium
www.ocwconsortium.org

3. Context: Personal
• Working in the OER field (Openness in
Education) for 6 years

4. OpenCourseWare Consortium
http://www.ocwconsortium.org/

5. OCWC Members present in 49 different countries
Nearly 300 institutions and
organizations worldwide advancing
development, use and sharing of
OER and open educational practices
in higher education

7. The purpose of Open Education Week, organized by OCWC, is to raise awareness of the open education
movement and opportunities it creates in teaching and learning worldwide: http://www.openeducationweek.org/

8. Context: Personal
•
Working in the OER field (Openness in Education) for 6 years
•
Participated in numerous research projects (impact of
OER/OCW, benefits as well as challenges)

9. Context: Demand for Education
Demand versus Supply
Tens of thousands of
universities would have to
be built (with 40 000
students each) in order
accommodate growing
demand for HE from South
American, Asian and
African regions
International Council for Open and Distance
Learning (2009): Global Trends in Higher
Education, Adult and Distance Learning
(http://xr.com/zxc9). Accessed 14 May 2013
By michaelmessina(CCBY-NC-ND)

10. Context: Rising cost of education and decreasing public
funding
By marsmet471 (CCBY-NC-SA)
By mrchrisadams (CCBY-NC)

11. Context: Developments in ICTs: Access to
resources anytime, anywhere
By thelampnyc (CCBY-NC-ND)
By Matt from London (CCBY)
By Ed Yourdon (CCBY-SA)
By OER Africa (CCBY)

12. Role of OER
OER can make education:
• More Accessible
•Affordable
•Efficient
•Contribute to improved quality
•Sustainable
While, at the same time, contributing to:
•widening access
•expansion of lifelong learning opportunities
Since 2002, thousands of resources released as OER

13. Next big step in the OER/OE movement
OER policies in order to advance mainstreaming and uptake of
OER practices (openness in education)

14. PhD Research
Impact of International Organizations on Governmental
OER Policies

15. Why Governmental OER policies?
• In the context of widespread budget cuts, growing
demand for education, and rising cost of education,
governments are searching for new and innovative
ways to address the growing demand for postsecondary education while making education more
affordable, accessible and of better quality.
• In this context, governments around the world have
been proposing strategies or approving policies related
to OER (India, Netherlands, Indonesia, USA, Brazil,
South Africa, etc).

16. Why focus on International Organizations (IOs) ?
• IOs increasingly seen as policy actors as opposed to
just policy advisors or mediators (Henry et al., 2001)
• National policymaking is still largely mediated by
national politics and traditions
However
• It is increasingly linked to globalized policy discourses,
pressures from Inter-governmental Organizations
(IGOs) and/or global policy networks (INGOs, etc.)
(Rizvi and Lingard, 2010)

17. Why focus on International Organizations (IOs) ?
• While there appears to be consensus about the
influence of IOs on national policy making little is known
about whether and how these IO’s influences translate
into concrete national policies

18. Research Questions
• What are the key IO OER policy instruments?
• What impact have these key IO OER policy instruments
had on Governmental OER policies?
• What recommendations, if implemented, would lead to
IO OER policies more effectively supporting
governmental OER policies?

19. Which IOs?
IGOs
INGOs
IOs
Associati
ons

20. Which IGOs?
EC
OIF
OECD
IGOs
UNESCO
COL

21. IGOs: Instruments to Influence educational
policy processes
• Producing policy reports
• Providing financial support through loans and funding
initiatives
• Data collection and analysis
• Offering policy advice
• Sponsoring or organizing international/regional
conferences and networks
• Providing analytical assistance
• Issuing non-binding and biding guidelines or
declarations
• Carrying out country and thematic reviews (Balzer and
Martenas 2004; Shuller and Vincent-Lancrin, 2009)

22. IGOs: Some notable OER Policy
Instruments
• UNESCO: Paris OER Declaration
• OECD: Policy Recommendations
• UNESCO/COL: OER handbooks and policy template
• EC: Opening up education

23. Which IOs?
IGOs
INGOs
IOs
Associati
ons

24. Which INGOs?
Selection criteria: Currently influencing global/national educational policy
landscape or potential to do so in the future
OCWC
CC
OPN
INGOs
OER
Africa
OER Asia

25. Which Associations?
Selection criteria: Currently influencing global/national educational policy
landscape or potential to do so in the future
ICDE
EADTU
AIESAD
Associati
ons
AAOU
ACDE

26. INGOs and Associations: Policy Instruments
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Producing policy reports
Providing policy advice
Data collection and analysis
Carrying out country and thematic reviews
Advocacy (national and global levels)
Organizing international conferences and networks
Actively promoting and encouraging OER practices at
HEIs
• INGOs and soft law – potential to influence
development of international norms through IGOs for
example (Christensen, 2006)

27. Example: IGO Policy Initiative
Urging governments to openly license publicly funded educational materials:
http://goo.gl/OVHiF

28. Example: IGO Policy Initiative
Policy implications in relation to expanding OER initiatives: http://goo.gl/44G4T

29. Foundations
Included because:
• Early catalytic players in the field (providing seed
funding for OER projects)
• Small amount of funding = national initiatives in
some cases
• While government funding and policy is more
important, it is necessary to document such
processes/impact of foundations (part of policy
process)

30. Which Foundations?
Hewlett
IDRC
Saylor
Gates
Foundations
Shuttlew
orth
OSF
Qatar F.

31. Foundations: Policy Instruments
• Providing seed funding for new initiatives
• Organizing and sponsoring meetings with various
stakeholders
• Providing funding for research initiatives in order to
increase impact evidence base (part of policy process)

32. Which Governments to include in the study?
Level of analysis (jurisdictions): provincial/state, national
Netherlands
Wales
India
Mongolia
South Africa
Kenya
Colombia
Oman
Indonesia
France
Poland
Slovenia
USA
Brazil
Scotland
Lithuania
Senegal

33. Example of National Policy Initiatives I
Improve ability to deliver education and career training programs: http://goo.gl/2LBFD

34. Example of National Policy Initiatives II
www.dhet.gov.za/
Address demand through increasing distance teaching offerings and creation of OER

35. Example of National Policy Initiatives III

36. Research Methodology Step I
Case studies approach
• In relation to IOs and Foundations:
• Identification of main policy instruments for
influencing policy developments or changes
• Identification of key OER policy instruments at
IOs (to be validated through interviews) and
instruments at Foundations to be also
validated through interview

37. Research Methodology Step I
• Interviews with IO representatives (validation
of key OER instruments, exploring
intended/observed impact of such
instruments)
• Interviews with representatives from
Foundations (validation of key OER)
instruments, exploring intended/observed
impact of such instruments

38. Research Methodology Step II
In relation to Governments
• Documenting/researching OER policy
developments that have taken place in the
country x (retrospectively plus 4 years)
• Protocolled interviews with Government
representatives

39. Research Methodology Step III
•
•
•
•
Based on lessons learnt from Steps 1 & 2 developing
recommendations/guidelines in the context of how IOs
OER policies/policy instruments could more effectively
support governmental OER policies
Policy analysis framework developed by Rizviand Lingard
(2010): Policy as process as opposed to policy as text
document only: Contextual issues; Policy and Textual
Issues, Implementation and Outcomes Issues – to be
appropriated for interviews with governmental
representatives
Evaluation – IOs OER policy instruments
Delphi Method

40. References
• Balzer, C., and Martens, K. (2004). International higher education and the
Bologna process: What part does the European Commission play. epsNet
2004 Plenary conference on political science after the EU enlargement,
Prague, June. http://www.epsnet.org/2004/pps/Balzer.pdf.
• Christensen, K. R. (2006). International Nongovernmental Organization:
Globalization, Policy Learning and Nation-State. Intl Journal of Public
Administration (29): 281-303.
• Henry, M., Lingard, B., Rizvi, F. and Taylor, S. (2001.) The OECD,
Globalization and Education Policy, Oxford: Pergamon Press.
• Rizvi, F. and Bob, L. (2010). Globalizing Education Policy, New York:
Routlege
• Schuller, T. and Vincent-Lancrin, S. (2009). OECD Work in the
Internationalization of Higher Education: An Insider Perspective. In
Bassett, R.M. and Maldonado, A. (Eds.), International Organizations and
higher education policy: Thinking globally, acting locally? (pp. 65-81).
New York: Routlege.

41. www.ocwconsortium.org
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igorlesko@ocwconsortium.org