Exploring the Barriers and Enablers to the Use of Open Educational Resources by University Academics in Africa (original) (raw)
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University of Cape Town , 2015
A review of the literature confirms that Open Educational Resources (OER) initiatives have created free, openly licenced and high quality educational resources for anyone to use. However, these free, openly licensed and high quality educational resources appear to remain largely unused by Africa University academics in the educationally resource-impoverished Zimbabwe. The objectives of this research study are to explore the challenges and enablers experienced by Africa University educators who may potentially adopt OER, and ascertain barriers preventing them from adopting OER in mainstream teaching. The sample consists of 45 full time educators from Africa University. Data was gathered by means of a survey questionnaire administered by the researcher. A modified version of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model developed by Venkatesh et al. (2003) was used. The UTAUT model was created from a fusion of eight diffusion of innovation models, and this gave it conceptual superiority over other candidate models. Key findings indicate that the extent to which educators believe that using OER will help them to enhance their teaching performance (Performance Expectancy),the extent of perceived easiness associated with finding, customising, and using OER (Effort Expectancy) and the extent to which educators perceive how important the opinion of their peer educators if they adopt OER or not (Social Influence)have a statistically significant positive influence on the educators’ Behavioural Intention to adopt and use OER. The extent to which an individual is satisfied with the institutional framework, policies and technical infrastructure to support the use of the innovation (Facilitating Conditions) did not yield a statistically significant influence on the Behavioural Intention and this was interpreted to mean Africa University educators are satisfied with the current resources and infrastructure in place. However educators felt Institutional Support in the form of institutional OER supportive policies, official OER project enactment, and OER related incentives needed attention. Also, significant differences were found in the barriers which potential users of OER identified as either limiting to potential use of OER, or negatively affecting their intention to use OER. These barriers include open licensing knowledge; institutional support; follow up training sessions; relevance, reliability and adaptability of OER. Addressing these factors could lead to a more widespread adoption of OER, at Africa University and help address the prevalent educational resource challenge.
Higher education in Tanzania like in many other Sub-Saharan countries suffers from unavailability of quality teaching and learning resources due to lack of tradition, competence, and experience to develop such resources. Nevertheless, there are thousands of open educational resources (OER) freely available in the public domain that can potentially improve the quality of existing resources or help to develop new courses. The uptake and reuse of these resources in higher learning institutions (HLIs) in Tanzania has been very low. The study applied the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model to elicit instructors’ intention to adopt and use OER in teaching. The paper also investigated challenges that hinder instructors to adopt and use OER. A sample of 104 instructors selected randomly from five HLIs was collected and tested against the research model using regression analysis. The study found effort expectancy had significant positive effect on instructors’ intention to use OER while performance expectancy, facilitating conditions, and social influence did not have significant effect. Challenges that were found to hinder instructors to adopt and use OER are discussed. The findings of this study will help those who are involved in OER implementation to find strategies that will maximize OER adoption and usage in higher education in Tanzania.
The past few years have seen increasingly rapid development and use of open educational resources (OER) in higher education institutions (HEIs) in developing countries. These resources are believed to be able to widen access, reduce the costs, and improve the quality of education. However, there exist several challenges that hinder the adoption and use of these resources. The majority of challenges mentioned in the literature do not have empirically grounded evidence and they assume Sub-Saharan countries face similar challenges. Nonetheless, despite commonalities that exist amongst these countries, there also exists considerable diversity, and they face different challenges. Accordingly, this study investigated the perceived barriers to the use of OER in 11 HEIs in Tanzania. The empirical data was generated through semi-structured interviews with a random sample of 92 instructors as well as a review of important documents. Findings revealed that lack of access to computers and the Internet, low Internet bandwidth, absence of policies, and lack of skills to create and/or use OER are the main barriers to the use of OER in HEIs in Tanzania. Contrary to findings elsewhere in Africa, the study revealed that lack of trust in others' resources, lack of interest in creating and/or using OER, and lack of time to find suitable materials were not considered to be barriers. These findings provide a new understanding of the barriers to the use of OER in HEIs and should therefore assist those who are involved in OER implementation to find mitigating strategies that will maximize their usage.
This study was conducted to find out how lecturers in developing countries perceive the use of Open Educational Resources (OER). A group of teachers at the Instituto Superior Politécnico José Antonio Echeverría, Facultad de Ingeniería Eléctrica (Havana, Cuba) participated in a course about the use of Learning Management Systems that only used OER. After they had been introduced to the concept they answered a questionnaire with a number of statements about the use and sharing of free material on the internet. The answers show that the lecturers were positive to the use of free course material and expressed their willingness to make their own material available. The results also confirm the hypothesis that peer recognition is an important reward for the time and effort spent on producing freeware. The authors assert that extensive use of OER could increase the quality of education, as well as making education more accessible in developing countries. To stimulate the production and dissemination of OER it is recommended that institutions of education worldwide promote the use of OER and encourage lecturers to take part in the free sharing of material on the internet.
International Journal of Information Technology
One of the most important factors for the success of future education policies is the willingness of faculty members to engage in Open Educational Resources (OER) programs. An online survey distributed on 25 Saudi universities and 1969 received responses were investigated by SPSS 27. According to the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), an adapted model was used to analyze the social standing of OER adoption in Saudi universities. The main findings are: Performance expectancy and Expected effort had a positive impact on the intentions to use OER, but Social influence doesn't influence the intention to use OER positively, and Facilitating conditions have no impact on increasing the chance of using OER. Furthermore, there is a global faculty member agreement that OER are extremely beneficial for teaching and research tasks. The study shows that faculties had to financially encourage faculty members to use and adopt OER, and had to spread the cooperative culture within departments in order to ensure the sustainability of OER adoption. Additionally, faculty members state that there are a few challenges such as understanding creative commons licenses and being familiar with the rights of OER users. The findings of this study could be a valuable resource for decision-makers coming up with solutions to improve the better sustainability of OER adoption.
Open Praxis, 2019
This paper is the second in a series of three with a common goal to present a fair OER picture for Sub-Saharan Africa, represented by large-scale studies in three countries: Kenya, Ghana, and South Africa. This paper examines a deliberate selection of four Ghanaian universities with randomly sampled students and lecturers. Distinct questionnaires for students and the lecturers have been used, which generated a response from in total 818 students and 38 lecturers. The major outcomes based on the empirical data are: (i) there is a significant digital differentiation among lecturers and students at technical versus comprehensive universities in terms of their proficiency and internet accessibility; and (ii) the awareness and appreciation of the OER concept and open licensing is low but from the actual variety and types of processing by respondents of educational resources (not necessarily open) there is a preparedness for openness for the future.
Asian Journal of Information Science and Technology
The paper explored faculty perceptions of the use of Open Educational Resources (OER) in state universities in Bayelsa and Rivers States, Nigeria. The research was guided by two (2) questions. The researchers used a descriptive survey approach. The population of the study comprised 1787 faculty members from the four-state Universities in Bayelsa and Rivers State. Convenience sampling techniques were done as the study employed all of the respondents to the questionnaire from the entire population. Data was collected using an online questionnaire. Educational technology specialists evaluated the questionnaire. The Cronbach alpha value of 0.96 was discovered after analyzing the study’s data to look for internal consistency and reliability. The questionnaire was deemed credible based on the coefficient discovered. The frequency count, basic percentages, and mean were used to examine the data. The results showed that faculty opinions on the use of OER were favorable. It was also discover...
Open Praxis, 2023
This study explored university lecturers 'feelings, awareness, and attitudes toward Open Education Resources (OERs). The study focused on two higher learning institutions based in Tanzania. It was conducted through a quantitative approach. Data were collected using a questionnaire from 52 lecturers who were purposively selected. The collected data were subjected to Statistical Product and Service Solutions version 20 computer program for calculation of descriptive Statistics. A descriptive analysis was used to analyze the obtained data, which were then presented in frequencies and percentages in tables. Findings indicate that the sampled lecturers from the higher learning institutions are moderately aware of the OERs. Regarding the feelings of lecturers over the use of OER, the collected data have revealed that a majority of the lecturers believed in OERs, are happy for those who adopt their OERs, and that they feel that OERs enhance the reputation of their institutions. In terms of lecturers' attitudes toward OERs, a majority of the lecturers strongly agreed that OERs are more beneficial to the academic and research communities. The study concludes that a majority of the study participants are moderately aware of the OERs and believe in them and that they are pleased when people adopt their OERs. The study suggests that there should be training and supporting lecturers who have unfavorable sentiments towards OERs so that they can change and use the program for their academic and research activities and advancement.
Open Praxis, 2022
This study explored university lecturers 'feelings, awareness, and attitudes toward Open Education Resources (OERs). The study focused on two higher learning institutions based in Tanzania. It was conducted through a quantitative approach. Data were collected using a questionnaire from 52 lecturers who were purposively selected. The collected data were subjected to Statistical Product and Service Solutions version 20 computer program for calculation of descriptive Statistics. A descriptive analysis was used to analyze the obtained data, which were then presented in frequencies and percentages in tables. Findings indicate that the sampled lecturers from the higher learning institutions are moderately aware of the OERs. Regarding the feelings of lecturers over the use of OER, the collected data have revealed that a majority of the lecturers believed in OERs, are happy for those who adopt their OERs, and that they feel that OERs enhance the reputation of their institutions. In terms of lecturers' attitudes toward OERs, a majority of the lecturers strongly agreed that OERs are more beneficial to the academic and research communities. The study concludes that a majority of the study participants are moderately aware of the OERs and believe in them and that they are pleased when people adopt their OERs. The study suggests that there should be training and supporting lecturers who have unfavorable sentiments towards OERs so that they can change and use the program for their academic and research activities and advancement.