This Open Ed Course illuminated several dimensions of the OER movement and baseline information of open education that I had not considered. Since I enter this field from a totally different arena of international development and international education, I was not familiar with the history of the field and issues that hamper the expansion of the field as well as many considerations on where the field has potential to grow.
Because of this course, I am more particularly intrigued by the issues of copyright, sustainability, and localization. While the readings of this course have helped me to answer several questions, they have also left me thirsty for more discovery and with a long list of readings and resources that I would like to still visit, digest, and relate to the projects I am involved with in rural developing countries.
What I recommend for improving the course is incorporate a day for to highlight more case-studies and resources related to the SUCCESSES of localization and sustainability in the developing world. I know that the majority of those who are interested in this movement are focused on higher-ed in developed countries. However, I feel that one day of the course could emphasize developing countries.
I am interested and willing to help find these kinds of examples and to write them up or “scrub” them for integration into the course. A few ideas I would suggest integrating are:
1) Mahabir Poon’s experience with technical capacity building by creating wireless mesh networks for use in remote Himalayan villages through volunteer support and donated resources like used dish satellites and hand-made towers attached to trees for line-of sight connectivity.
2) Karma Tscherings UNESCO-sponsored Community Learning Center initiative in Nepal utilizing local radio networks and internet to receive requests for information, research information to answer critical questions, and live broadcasts to disseminate useful information to rural villagers. All of these broadcasts have been archived and could be reused, remodified, redistributed.
3) ProLiteracy Worldwide’s experience allowing localization of manuals and learning tools for their global network of partners (over 100 in Latin America, Africa and Asia) – and showcasing tips on training trainers to be able to localize and customize content to the specific needs of their participatory literacy classes.
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