Introducing our UBUNTU and other student advocacy and professional development modules for OER Fellows at North West University, South Africa

1. #OpenEdInfluencers
Ubuntu, Student Advocacy and
Professional Development:
Becoming an
Open Education Influencer
[BOEI]
CC BY SA
Gino Fransman
Molya Vundamina
North West University
OER Fellows
18 August 2021

3. OpenEdInfluencers, or OEIs (say it out loud: Oh-wees), are ambassadors for Open
who increase awareness of Open Educational Resources and Open Education
Practices. OEIs facilitate the adoption, creation and licensing of OER.
#OpenEdInfluencers energetically advocate for the use of Open Textbooks across
purpose, faculties and schools.
Fransman’s application for a space in the Open Education for a Better World 2019
programme proposed the collaborative creation of an online training course.
From there, online participants would be able to engage a guided, informative
and practical journey to Becoming an Open Education Influencer (BOEI). This in
order to support the online empowerment of more competent advocates and
champions, each able to take direct action for Open, for education, and the SDGs.
A funding application turned successful, and a grant for 3 years of the OEIs
initiative came via Siyaphumelela and the Kresge Foundation.
The collaboration flourished during lockdown 2020 and 2021, including members
from University of Massachusets – Amherst, ProductionHauss (media creation
company), and numerous other contributors. 2 other Open projects have since
been added under the OEI banner, with more planned for 2022.

4. The BOEI project aims to contribute towards The Sustainable Development Goals,
in whatever capacity or space, by enabling advocacy through an online
empowerment course.
The #OpenEdInfluencers’ aim is to empower people
(you are people) to activate their goals,
by doing something about achieving it. BOEI is that vehicle.
Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere
Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning
Goal 8: Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all
Goal 16: Promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies

5. Former President Nelson Mandela shares about Ubuntu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dmCcaYa92g&t=6s

6. The 2018 OEI team
From left to right: Sumaya Daffala;
Kirsty Meyer; Kelly Liberty; and Gino
Fransman (Project Leader)

7. The
2020/2021
OEI team has
three
additional
members
Mlungisi Mhlongo Ntemesha Maseka Molya Vundamina

8. Molya on Student Voices and Advocacy
• LLM student (public law: research)
• Writing respondent with the ALWP and I recently became an
OEI eginning 2021
• Dissertation dealing with unfair discrimination against
female asylum-seekers.
• Completed BOEI and Commonwealth of Learning Open
course as part of training induction
▪ Open
▪ Advocacy
▪ Ubuntu
▪Facilitation
▪Influencing
▪SDGs

9. BOEI resonated with me on many levels…
• Open
o Open text books, videos and other educational informative materials
o license work and share with others
• Advocacy
o Different types of advocacy, how and who to advocate to impactfully
o Recent Zambian election
• Ubuntu
o Promotion of ubuntu through social cohesion programmes
• Facilitation
o Sensitivity, cultural awareness and objectivity
• Influencing
o platforms to promote causes, drive change and advocate for shared values
with their audiences
• SDGs
o Sustainability

10. Benefits of BOEI for students
• Challenge their way of thinking about themselves, their
community, and the world at large.
• Promote thinking “outside” the box and bursting the bubbles we
often live in.
• Challenge them to do better for themselves, their families and
their communities.
• Change how they learn to go beyond the classroom and
curriculum
• Advocate for change using the modern technology they have
available to them. E.g. Through social media channels like
twitter.
• Networking opportunities with other participants - will result in
the sharing of knowledge, ideas and collaborations.

11. • Enable academics and lecturers to understand how their
students learn and think.
• Help to enable staff and students move towards meaningful
solutions and innovative approaches to challenges in
education.
• Create opportunities to engage with diverse realities across the
student body.
o Different contexts - home environment, school
backgrounds, learning challenges, access to resources,
languages etc.
• Similarly, advantages of BOEI for students may be similar for
academics and lecturers.
Advantages of student engagement with
BOEI, and for academics:

12. Road to being an
OEI: Training and
Doing
Reading and
application
Commonwealth of
Learning course –
2020 prior to
lockdown
This image is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license (CC BY)

13. More about BOEI, and empowerment of students and staff-
Course purpose:
Becoming an Open Education Influencer is an online
empowerment course that supports pathways for individuals and
groups wishing to influence decision-makers, and who want to
affect decision-making and challenge practices through direct
advocacy and actions.
Course outcomes:
• To activate and increase student- and staff-driven engagements
and experiences with Open
• To enable opportunities to explore and engage with Open
Education Resources & Open Practices
• To learn about, find, create and share Open Education
Resources (OER)
• To advocate, facilitate and influence for the use of Open, OER
and Open Textbooks across purpose, faculties and schools

14. It’s not just text, it’s a multi-media experience with quizzes and reflections asking
you to consider how you will influence change in education

15. Design matters
Only Open content for use in the course,
material being created are always Openly licenced, allowing for
reuse as design principle
Course duration
30 - 40 hours
6 0f 6 modules with 5 – 6 hours content engagement per
module
notionally adding 6 – 10 hours to engage with,
implement and reflect on practical tasks set as an
optional, module scaffolded Capstone Project.
https://openedinfluencers.mandela.ac.za
The course is being hosted using Open
Moodle at University Massachussets Amherst
as well as on the Engage.Mandela site,, with
Modules and all course preparation materials
and processes available on Google Drive.

16. Extensive use of video assist with the experience

17. 6 modules

18. A focus on
Ubuntu:
Module 2 of
the Becoming
an Open
Education
Influencer
course

19. Any part of this document may be reproduced without permission, but always
with attribution to the Open Education Influencers project and the listed
authors.
CC-BY-SA (share alike with attribution)
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Suggested citation:
Fransman, G., Hutton, S., Olsen, A. & Terblanche, K. (2021). Ubuntu Module
Manual, Becoming an Open Education Influencer Course v. 1.0.

20. 1.Introduction to the Ubuntu module
Welcome to the 2nd module of the Becoming an Open Education
Influencer (BOEI) course. The purpose of this Ubuntu module is to
situate you into an intention bigger than yourself, and to consider the
collective of humanity. I am because we are.
Who are you? Then?
This is what this module explores, and questions:
what will you do?
The Ubuntu module aims to introduce engagers, that’s what we call
BOEI course participants, to explore and seek to understand why
people do! It’s a start, but you are the answer.

21. A wonderful way to explore the conflation between Ubuntu and Open is to see the
potential of Open Textbooks.
Watch our Made During Lockdown video where we profile our working towards Open
Textbook advocacy at MandelaUni
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfcDp_gV7i9K1aUqRgsO6wL_R4aLnJ6sx

22. We profile 3 amazing projects embodying Ubuntu
in the collection of BOEI modules, hoping to
inspire you to add more, along with tools to do so:
Little Brinks Foster Care NPO
Earl Mentor & Peacejam NPO: Flip the Script
Banks Gwaxula: A holistic approach to education

23. Katherine Brink- 2016 Inyathelo Award for
Philanthropy in Community Development
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TBe-
JRf02c&list=PLWYlpbscysmdzmcvTQSARPcFqyIaTBq12&index=27&t=9s

24. Earl Albert Mentor is the South African
Affiliate Coordinator for PeaceJam Foundation
and has been actively involved in the social and
personal development industry for the past 18+
years. He lives in Ocean View, Western Cape
South Africa, an area where people were
forcibly relocated under the apartheid
government. The inhabitants in this area face a
multitude of social, economic and other
challenges to wellbeing.
Facilitating racial equity workshops and
seminars, breaking down of cultural barriers,
and giving young adults residing within
marginalized communities in South Africa the
tools they need to create positive change in
themselves and their communities have been
his lifelong mission.
This project highlights the need to disrupt the
narrative of so-called coloured people residing
within marginalized communities in South
Africa.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tm
Vu1DTsxSE

25. Watch this testimonial styled TedX video from Mr Banks
Gwaxula, who lives in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, where
Ubuntu is an action in doing with his work. Ubuntu - our
holistic approach to education: Banks Gwaxula at
TEDxSoweto 2013

26. The Ubuntu module intends to help us see how an ancient cultural
philosophy and practice of action, for the benefit of society, of ‘us’,
has become a movement, even if called something else at times.
You are here to help take that movement forward. The module is
based on an adaptive learning model, where several outcomes are
supported by at least one assessment opportunity. The
opportunity to build a portfolio of reflections linking what you
learnt to your own project is provided, but not assessed. Finally:
Each current assessment will need to be completed successfully to
move onto the next learning outcome, or page.
Remember-
OpenEdInfluencers don’t just say; OpenEdInfluencers do.

27. The content of the modules is very insightful. I had a simple one layered
definition of what Ubuntu is, and that was solely based on the explanation I'd
received from my parents and the interactions I've had growing up. the
information in the modules opens up a whole new idea of what Ubuntu is and
still maintains the core beliefs of what I learnt as an African child. On Open
Education Resources; I had no idea what this meant and after watching the
videos and reading the notes I know what it is; But am very surprised that the
education system in South Africa is not exploiting this cost effective and
efficient way of delivering high quality education. Yes there are issues of
intellectual property but I believe the ideal of Ubuntu can possibly solve this
issue. I've only done 2 modules so far , and besides the issue with my work and
activities not reflecting and me having done the same work at least four times,
I'm enjoying the process.
What students have said about BOEI’s Ubuntu 2021

28. Here are the steps for enrolling into BOEI.
Step 1: Go to http://engage.mandela.ac.za.
Step 2: Sign in with Gmail or register using a google account. If you have an account then
Opt in.
Step 3: Confirm registration of your account by clicking on the confirmation link.
Step 4: Send your name, surname and Gmail account to Gino.Fransman@mandela.ac.za
Step 5: Once registration is complete, you will be notified once enrolled.
Step 6: Welcome to BOEI. Enjoy!

30. Plans
2021/2
The Open Project @MandelaUni and BOEI Course
Deployment &
Evaluation
Creation
Sharing
New cohort of OpenEdInfluencers: students, academic staff and mentors
to be onboarded in SA +
University of Massachusetts –Amherst
How2Buddies in the First Year Success Programme
Candidate attorneys (MandelaUni Law Clinic).
#Siyaphumelela Conference
#Open Education Global Conference
Opening Up in Education: #OpenEdColloquium21
NWU OER Fellows
Open Education for a Better World #OE4BW
Peacebuilding in High-Risk Communities in SA (OE4BW course)
Open Textbook Creators: An Open Fellowship Pilot

31. Staff Development into focus: #OpeningUpTeaching21
2 x R20,000 support grants as pilot in 2021/ R200,000 cache in 2022 for 10 fellowships
Primary Aim in 2021
Awareness raising and empowerment for academic staff to adopt and create OER
into praxis of LT @MandelaUni, within a pilot initiative
Activity aims
1. Recruit 2 x academic staff willing to explore and integrate Open content into
curriculum 2022. [August 2021]
1. Empower staff with BOEI (2 weeks, paid)
a. additional support via OEIs project and
b. facilitating and guiding toward suitable OER
1. Generate LT materials in specific disciplines for definite pedagogical use within 2022
curriculum [Sept to November 2021]
If you want to collaborate and joint create: reach out.

32. Influencing with Open Education
#OpenEdColloquium21 @MandelaUni
In the pursuit to improve educational access and effectiveness
of available teaching and learning resources, the Influencing
with Open Education Webinar will provide an opportunity to
gain an in-depth understanding of Open Education practices.
The sharing is made possible by engaging with a community of
Open practitioners. This webinar aims to help attendees
understand how to find Open Textbooks and other Open
Educational Resources (OERs), both for general and specific
disciplines. In 2021, we explore the themes
#disrupt, #decolonise, #develop

33. Purpose
The aim of this event is to create awareness of
Open Education and to promote the use, adoption
and creation of Open Educational Resources
(OER). Local and international guests share the
platform and present sessions on projects and
initiatives in Open education. The purpose is to
share and inform attendees about what Open
Education is, to engage why Open is a meaningful
way forward toward innovations and developments
in education, and to profile some of the
opportunities emerging with Open.

34. What to Expect in this Series
• An introduction to the OpenEdInfluencers project, BOEI, and other project
collaborations in 2021 @MandelaUni
• NWU OER Fellows – Prof. Jako Olivier
• Open Policy and Acknowledging Open Efforts
• Professor Mitja Jermol: Open Education for a Better World/ UNESCO Chair in
Open and Artificial Intelligence (Slovenia)
• Digital Open Textbooks for Development (DOT4D) – Dr Glenda Cox and the Open
Textbook Project at UCT
• Open at UNISA – Prof Paul Prinsloo
(Others to be confirmed)
When and Where?
The Influencing with Open Education webinar take place on (insert date).
Due to lockdown restrictions which are a result of efforts to combat the covid-19
pandemic and efforts to social distance, this webinar will be hosted on Zoom, the
online platform.

35. Visit http://openedinfluencers.mandela.ac.za
Start making your move in Open, or advocacy, with BOEI.
Use our support
Use the content
Spread Open
Make change real
The Becoming an Open Education Influencer course
Is available on the sites shared earlier.
See our Made During Lockdown series of videos about Open, OER, and
collaboration, available
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfcDp_gV7i9K1aUqRgsO6wL_R4aLnJ6sx for
more.
How can BOEI help you share your work?

36. Becoming an Open Education Influencer
[BOEI]
Project Leader/Author:
Mr Gino Fransman (Nelson Mandela University)
Project Mentor:
Dr Robert Farrow (Open University, UK)
Hub Coordinator:
Mr Igor Lesko (Open Education Global)
Project Collaborators:
Anne-Mart Olsen (@MandelaUni Curriculum Development), Matilda Smith.
OpenEdInfluencers @MandelaUni – Kelly Liberty, Nomawethu Matyobeni, Sumaya Daffala,
Ntemesha Maseka, Kirsty Meyer, Mlungisi Mhlongo
University of Massachusetts Amherst: Sarah Hutton, Theresa Dooley, Carol Will, Annette Vadnais
ProductionHauss: the BOEI media partner in Port Elizabeth
Phil Haussler, Sandra Haussler, Malcolm Kroon
Mr Dave Jenkings, Dr Noluthando Toni, Dr Charles Sheppard,
and Deputy Vice Chancellor at Nelson Mandela University,
Professor Cheryl Foxcroft.
Thandolwethu Gwiba for web support.
Thankful acknowledgement to the Siyaphumelela Programme funding grant,
via The Kresge Foundation.

38. Find us on Social Media:
Instagram: Twitter: YouTube:
@openedinfluencers @openinfluencers @openedinfluencers

39. CC BY SA
http://openedinfluencers.mandela.ac.za
Gino.Fransman@mandela.ac.za