- Dossier “Informalisation of Education”
- Article
- Open access
- Published:
New Pathways to Learning: Leveraging the Use of OERs to Support Non-formal Education
Nuevas líneas de aprendizaje: potenciar el uso de recursos educativos abiertos para reforzar la educación no formal
International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education volume 10, pages 327–344 (2013)
Abstract
The growth of non-formal education is expanding teaching and learning pathways for the delivery of global education. This growth, in concert with the expanded use of Open Educational Resources (OERs), is creating a potential synergy between non-formal education and OERs to strengthen the continuum of education and training for people who live in underserved and economically disadvantaged regions of the world. The author’s central theme is that OERs provide a valuable educational resource for use in non-formal education that needs to be expanded, researched and refined. OERs are not formal or non-formal resources. Rather, it is how OERs are used in formal and non-formal education settings that define their context and application for teaching and learning. A basic conceptual framework is provided to offer the reader an initial approach for conceptualising the use of OERs in non-formal education. The author suggests that the process for evaluating non-formal educational activities is similar to the basic design principles used in formal education. These include identifying goals, objectives and competency-based outcomes; developing instructional design parameters; analysing the context and culture of instruction; and evaluating and measuring non-formal teaching and learning. Moreover, the author advocates that further research on OER use in non-formal education, in concert with visionary university leadership, will be critical to maximising the potential of using OERs in non-formal education. The final summary highlights the key issues and points of the article.
Resumen
El desarrollo de la educación no formal está expandiendo las líneas de enseñanza y aprendizaje de la prestación global de servicios educativos. Esta expansión, junto con un mayor uso de recursos educativos abiertos (REA) está generando una potential sinergia entre la educación no formal y los REA para reforzar la formación y el aprendizaje en todas las etapas educativas de las personas que viven en regiones marginadas y económicamente desfavorecidas. El principal argumento del autor es que los REA constituyen un valioso recurso educativo para la educación no formal que debería expandirse, investigarse y perfeccionarse. Los REA no son recursos formales o no formales por sí mismos, ya que lo que define su contexto y su aplicación a la docencia y al aprendizaje es la forma en que se usan en entornos educativos formales y no formales. Este artículo facilita el marco conceptual básico para conceptualizar el uso de RAE en la educación no formal. El autor sugiere que el proceso para evaluar actividades educativas no formales es similar a los principios básicos de diseño utilizados en la educación formal, entre los cuales están la identificación de objetivos, finalidades y resultados basados en competencias; el desarrollo de parámetros de diseño pedagógico; el análisis del contexto y la cultura pedagógica; y la evaluación y medición de la docencia y el aprendizaje no formal. Además, defiende que investigar el uso de REA en la educación no formal, junto con un liderazgo universitario visionario, será esencial para maximizar su potential en la educación no formal. En el resumen final se destacan los principales puntos y temas tratados en el artículo.
References
ATKINS, D.E.; BROWN, J.S.; HAMMOND, A.L. (2007). A Review of the Open Educational Resources (OER) Movement: Achievements, Challenges, and New Opportunities. Accessed 27 May 2012. <www.hewlett.org/uploads/files/ReviewoftheOERMovement.pdf>
BUTCHER, N. (author); KANWAR, A. (ed.); UVALIĆ-TRUMBIĆ, S. (ed.). (2011). A Basic Guide to Open Educational Resources (OER). Vancouver, Canada: Commonwealth of Learning / Paris, France: UNESCO. <www.col.org/oerBasicGuide>
COMMONWEALTH OF LEARNING (2012). Accessed 28 June 2012. <www.col.org>
CONNEXIONS (2012). Accessed 28 June 2012. <www.cnx.org>
CREATIVE COMMONS (2012). Accessed 28 June 2012. <www.creativecommons.org>
DE LANGEN, F.H.T.; BITTER-RIJKEMA, M.E. (2012). “Positioning the OER Business Model for Open Education”. European Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning. No 1, pages 1–13. <http://www.eurodl.org/?p=archives&year=2012&halfyear=1&article=483>
GREEN, C. (2012). “Thanks to Creative Commons, OER university will provide free learning with formal academic credit”. Accessed 28 June 2012. <http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/31947>
HALLAK, J. (1990). Investing in the Future: Setting Educational Priorities in the Developing World. Paris, France / Oxford, United Kingdom: UNESCO, International Institute for Educational Planning.
HARVARD/MIT EDX (2012). The Future of Online Education for anyone, anywhere, anytime. Accessed 28 June 2012. <www.edx.org>
KANWAR, A.; KODHANDARAMAN, B.; UMAR, A. (2010). “Towards Sustainable Open Education Resources: A Perspective From the Global South”. The American Journal of Distance Education. Vol. 24, No 2, pages 65–80. <http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/hajd20/24/2> <http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08923641003696588>
KNOWLEDGEADVISORS (2010). “Informal Learning Measurement” White Paper. Accessed 28 June 2012. <www.knowledgeadvisors.com>
KNOWLEDGECLOUD (2012). Maintained by Athabasca University, UNESCO Chair in Open Educational Resources. Accessed 28 June 2012. <www.oerknowledgecloud.com>
LATCHEM, C. (2012). Quality Assurance Toolkit for Open and Distance Non-formal Education. Vancouver, Canada: Commonwealth of Learning.
MCGREAL, R. (2012). “The need for Open Educational Resources for ubiquitous learning” Paper presented at the Pervasive Computing (PerCom) Conference 2012, Lugano, Switzerland. <http://auspace.athabascau.ca/bitstream/2149/3169/1/PEREL%20JanFINAL.pdf>
OER AFRICA (2012). Accessed 28 June 2012. <www.oerafrica.org>
OER ASIA (2012). Accessed 28 June 2012. <www.oerasia.org>
OLCOTT, D. (2012). OER perspectives: emerging issues for universities. Distance Education. Vol. 33, No 2, pages 283–290. <http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01587919.2012.700561> <http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01587919.2012.700561>
OPEN COURSEWARE CONSORTIUM. Accessed 28 June 2012. <www.ocwconsortium.org>
OPENLEARN (2012). Accessed 28 June 2012. <www.open.edu/openlearn>
ROGERS, A. (1996). “NFE, development and learning”. Unit 2 of Course 7, Non-formal and adult basic education at a distance, in University of London/IEC External Diploma/MA in Distance Education. University of London/IEC, Cambridge.
ROGERS, A. (2004). “Looking again at non-formal and informal education — towards a new paradigm”. the encyclopaedia of informal education. <www.infed.org/biblio/non_formal_paradigm.htm>
TEACHER EDUCATION IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA (TESSA) (2012). Accessed 28 June 2012. <www.tessafrica.net>
UNESCO (2006). “Non-formal education”. Guidebook for planning education in emergencies and reconstruction. Paris, France: International Institute for Educational Planning, UNESCO. <http://www.iiep.unesco.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Research_Highlights_Emergencies/Chapter12.pdf>
UNESCO (2011). Revision of the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED). 36C/19, 5 September 2011. General Conference, 36th Session. Paris, France: UNESCO.
UNESCO (2012). Accessed 28 June 2012. <www.unesco.org>
UNESCO/COMMONWEALTH OF LEARNING (2011). Guidelines for open educational resources (OERs) in higher education. Paris, France: UNESCO/Vancouver, Canada: Commonwealth of Learning.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits use, duplication, adaptation, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
About this article
Cite this article
Olcott, D. New Pathways to Learning: Leveraging the Use of OERs to Support Non-formal Education. Int J Educ Technol High Educ 10, 327–344 (2013). https://doi.org/10.7238/rusc.v10i1.1562
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7238/rusc.v10i1.1562