Access to education with online
learning and open educational
resources: can they close the GAP?
- Dr. Christine Geith, Karen Vignare
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Dr. Christine Geith, Karen Vignare |
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Abstract
One of the key concepts in the right to education is access: access to the means to fully develop as human
beings as well as access to the means to gain skills, knowledge and credentials. This is an important
perspective through which to examine the solutions to access enabled by Open Educational Resources
(OER) and online learning. The authors compare and contrast OER and online learning and their potential
for addressing human rights “to” and “in” education. The authors examine OER and online learning
growth and financial sustainability and explore potential scenarios to address the global education gap.
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Keywords
online learning, Open Educational Resources, OER, OpenCourseWare, sustainable business models, innovation
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Open Educational Resources: Enabling universal education - Tom Caswell, Shelley Henson, Marion Jensen, David Wiley
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Tom Caswell, Shelley Henson, Marion Jensen, David Wiley |
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Abstract
The role of distance education is shifting. Traditionally distance education was limited in the number of people served because of production, reproduction, and distribution costs. Today, while it still costs the university time and money to produce a course, technology has made it such that reproduction costs are almost non-existent. This shift has significant implications, and allows distance educators to play an important role in the fulfillment of the promise of the right to universal education. At little or no cost, universities can make their content available to millions. This content has the potential to substantially improve the quality of life of learners around the world. New distance education technologies, such as OpenCourseWares, act as enablers to achieving the universal right to education. These technologies, and the associated changes in the cost of providing access to education, change distance education's role from one of classroom alternative to one of social transformer.
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Keywords
OpenCourseWare, distance education, access, new technologies
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OpenCourseWare, Global Access and the Right to Education: Real access or marketing ploy? - Henk Huijser, Tas Bedford, David Bull
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Henk Huijser, Tas Bedford, David Bull |
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Abstract
This paper explores the potential opportunities that OpenCourseWare (OCW) offers in providing wider access to tertiary education, based on the ideal of ‘the right to education’. It first discusses the wider implications of OCW, and its underlying philosophy, before using a case study of a tertiary preparation program (TPP) at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) to draw out the issues involved in offering a program that is created in a particular national and social context on a global scale. This paper draws specific attention to the digital divide, its effects in national and global contexts, and the particular obstacles this presents with regards to OCW. This paper argues that OCW provides many opportunities, both in terms of access to education and in terms of student recruitment and marketing for universities. To take full advantage of those opportunities, however, requires a concerted effort on the part of tertiary education institutions, and it requires a vision that is fundamentally informed by, and committed to, the principle of ‘the right to education’.
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Keywords
OpenCourseWare, right to education, digital divide, tertiary preparation programs
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