Open Education seeks to provide free access to educational resources primarily online, with the aim of eliminating barriers to quality education around the world. The #OpenEdInfluencers project at Mandela Uni have been working to create awareness and promote the use of these resources at the university, either as a supplement or as the primary source of content in various modules. As part of the project, research into student experiences around textbook access and usage was conducted, as well as various workshops and information sessions around its value in current academic environments. The project hopes that the research will provide insight into the value of open education inclusion into current recurriculation efforts, and ultimately an inclusion in curriculum development policy that would provide all students with access to often expensive educational resources. Furthermore, the project encourages researchers at Mandela Uni to contribute to the movement, providing access to valuable, relevant and Africanised content to enrich students’ learning experiences.
The project has already been presented at the UNESCO Open Education Design – A Course for Practitioners in Slovenia, and the team’s presentation and poster proposal for the Open Education Consortium’s OEGlobal 2019 conference in Milan, Italy, this year, has also been accepted.
For more information on the project contact Mr Gino Fransman at Gino.Fransman@mandela.ac.za