Diverse responses to open education - University World News

"Educators in Asia’s diverse higher education sector are increasingly calling for educational resources that are more affordable for students, have undergone stringent quality assurance processes, and are of greater relevance to their local contexts. One of the pedagogical innovations proposed to address some of these demands is open educational resources (OER) – digital materials that can be legally shared without copyright restrictions or cost to the user.

Since the resources are free to the user, they are more affordable than traditional textbooks. Because they are shared openly, they can be scrutinised by peers, potentially improving the quality of materials produced. And, as they can be created by anyone (including those in niche fields or marginalised communities), they have the potential to create greater opportunities for locally meaningful resources to be shared and enjoyed. So goes the argument. But do OER deliver on this potential?

To understand whether, how and under what conditions OER adoption occurs in the Global South, the Research on Open Educational Resources for Development (ROER4D) project embarked on a four-year research programme with over 100 researchers in 18 sub-projects across 21 countries in South America, Sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia...."