Africa faces three main challenges in education: lack of infrastructure, limited digital fluency, and insufficient learner support. Open educational resources (OER) and mobile technologies can help address these challenges by improving access to education across Africa. Initiatives like OER Africa and MOOCs aim to create and share open educational content. A pilot English writing MOOC accessed via cell phones will analyze learner practices and gather research data in a context-specific way. Guiding principles for open education in Africa emphasize creating policies to support OER development and use, improving technology infrastructure, and expanding access through collaborative learning centers.

1. Africa’s journey to Open
Education
Prof Mpine Makoe
Institute for
Open Distance Learning
ACDE – Victoria Falls,
Zimbabwe
7 June 2014

3. Triple challenges of education in
developing countries

4. Challenges
• Lack of infrastructure - limited access to
electricity and telephone networks; poor roads
and postal services;
• Digital fluency - fewer people who have
expertise of using computers
• Learner support
• Expanding access to higher education

5. Access to technology
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
cellphone landline computer internet radio TV

6. Potential for using cell phones
More than 80 % of households have access to cell phones
South Africa is ranked 5th
in the world for mobile data usage
(1st
Russia and 7th
is USA)
50% urban and 27% rural dwellers browse the internet
from their cell phones
Cell phones are more accessible to most rural communities in
terms of cost, geographic coverage and ease to use
Encourage people to learn together “while retaining individual
control over their time, space, presence, activity, identity and
relationship” (Anderson, 2005).

7. OER and
MOOCS INITIATIVES
• ACDE
• OER AFRICA
• OERu
• Consumers not producers

8. Collaboration initiative
– MOOCs - English Writing Course - Pilot
– Open access MOOC
– Support intervention
– Accessed through the internet in their cell phones
AIM
– Analyse learner practices
– Gather research data

9. • Context specific
• Open Educational Resources
• Address our concerns – student support;
access to technology
• Accessible anywhere, anytime and anyplace
• Sustainability
• Quality
Guiding Principles

10. • Create policies and strategies
• Collaborative development of high quality learning
resources – OER
• Improved access to and use of appropriate
technology
• Supporting a wider range of post schooling study
options
• Technological infrastructure
• Shared learning and support centres

12. UNISA STRATEGY TO
OPEN EDUCATION
REASOURCES

13. GUIDING PRINCIPLES
UNISA OER STRATEGY…
• Commitment to the concept of openness –
(access)
• Africanisation (philosophy, interests and
epistemology)
• Enhance graduateness (21st
century skills)
• Social justice

14. Way forward
• Development of an effective management
systems
• Establish an open learning framework
• Systematic integration of OER