Sanju Saha, Santoshi Halder - The Routledge Handbook of Education Technology (2023, Routledge) - libgen.li_compressed

Introduction to Educational Frameworks

• Every country in the world is working to enhance its educational structure.

• A robust educational system contributes to financial, social, and environmental advancements.

• The overarching aim of the 21st-century educational system goes beyond just creating knowledgeable individuals; it focuses on improving education quality and developing learners' skills to meet societal future challenges.

• A key goal of modern education is to foster creativity, innovation, and various other 21st-century skills in students.

• The traditional educational system often falls short in teaching these essential skills, highlighting the need for alternative knowledge acquisition approaches.

• This chapter discusses alternative educational resources that promote free reuse and repurposing by others for educational purposes, referred to as Open Educational Resources (OER).

Conceptualization of Open Educational Resources

• The Berlin Declaration characterizes Open Access as an extensive source of human knowledge affirmatively endorsed by established researchers and encourages organizations to promote the Internet for global scientific knowledge and reflection.

• The Budapest Open Access Initiative defines Open Access as free availability on the public web that allows anyone to use, distribute, and interact with research articles without encountering financial or technical barriers, apart from those inherent to Internet access.

• It emphasizes the importance of authors retaining the attribution and integrity of their work, ensuring proper citation rights.

Characteristics of Open Educational Resources

Open Access

• OER allows diverse instructional and research materials to be primarily free of cost and either in the public domain or under open licensing, emphasizing global access.

Open Licensing

• OER's open licensing hinges on acknowledging intellectual property rights through international conventions.

Community-based Development

• OER promotes a community-based approach to content development, offering opportunities for contributions from anyone, irrespective of background.

Usability

• OER can be used by all, promoting inclusiveness across gender, culture, disability, etc.

Reusability and Flexibility

• Materials are designed to be republished, modified, and commercially utilized with limited restrictions, enhancing OER sustainability and adaptability in educational contexts.

Historical Background of OER

• The development of OER was not a sudden phenomenon but resulted from a rich historical journey of innovation and activities over the years.

• Milestone Years:

  • 1994: Wayne Hodgins introduces the term "learning objects" for reusable digital materials.

  • 1998: David Wiley coins the term "open content", expanding on the concept of free educational resources.

  • 1999: Public lectures from the University of Tubingen mark the introduction of the first OER.

  • 2003: China's initiative provides access to MIT's OpenCourseWare.

  • 2006: Khan Academy starts offering free K-12 materials online.

  • 2010: Stanford University offers free courses, enrolling over 350,000 students globally.

Copyright and Open Licensing

Definitions

• Copyright: Legal rights relating to the creative work which includes rights of reproduction, reuse, distribution, and public performance, along with moral rights like attribution.

Open Licensing System

• Balances between restrictive copyright and open public domain, with proper attribution guidelines for use.

• Encourages widespread resource sharing and modification while ensuring creator rights.

Advantages and Disadvantages of OER

Advantages

• Increased Scope of Access: Global access to educational material anytime, anywhere.

• Enhanced Quality of Education: The collaborative nature of OER tends to improve resource quality.

• Personalization: Provides a learner-centered approach that supports informal learning.

• Faster Distribution: OER materials can be shared and modified promptly compared to traditional texts.

• Low Cost: Generally more affordable than traditional educational materials.

Disadvantages

• Quality Control: Open nature can lead to the presence of irrelevant or inaccurate materials.

• Technological Barriers: Dependence on open internet access might hinder accessibility in developing regions.

• Copyright Concerns: Risks of intellectual property infringement with ease of sharing.

• Sustainability Issues: Developers of OER may lack financial incentives for updates and maintenance of resources.

Creative Commons Licensing

• Overview:

  • A prominent open licensing system that emerged from the free software movement.

• Types of Licensing:

  • Attribution (CC BY): Allows others to distribute, remix, and adapt the work commercially or non-commercially as long as credit is given.

  • Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC): Lets others remix and adapt the work non-commercially.

OER Initiatives in India

• India has made significant strides in open educational movements since 2007, involving various governmental and private organizations to improve access:

  • Digital Library of India: Collaborative effort to provide access to non-copyrighted books.

  • Shodhganga: Digital repository for Indian doctoral research works.

  • National Digital Library of India: Initiative to create a comprehensive repository supporting all educational sectors.

  • Vidyanidhi: Provides free access to scholarly publications and ensures archival of academic works.

Conclusion

• The ongoing evolution of OER and its licensing systems greatly enhances the access, quality, and personalization of education, while also addressing notable challenges through collective international efforts.