Investigating perceived barriers to the use of open educational resources in higher education in Tanzania
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21810/.v1i1.42Keywords:
OER, Tanzania, eLearning, Higher Education, Sub-Saharan AfricaAbstract
The past few years have seen increasingly rapid development and use of open educational resources (OER) in higher education institutions (HEIs) in developing countries. These resources are believed to be able to widen access, reduce the costs, and improve the quality of education. However, there exist several challenges that hinder the adoption and use of these resources. The majority of challenges mentioned in the literature do not have empirically grounded evidence and they assume Sub-Saharan countries face similar challenges. Nonetheless, despite commonalities that exist amongst these countries, there also exists considerable diversity, and they face different challenges. Accordingly, this study investigated the perceived barriers to the use of OER in 11 HEIs in Tanzania. The empirical data was generated through semi-structured interviews with a random sample of 92 instructors as well as a review of important documents. Findings revealed that lack of access to computers and the Internet, low Internet bandwidth, absence of policies, and lack of skills to create and/or use OER are the main barriers to the use of OER in HEIs in Tanzania. Contrary to findings elsewhere in Africa, the study revealed that lack of trust in others’ resources, lack of interest in creating and/or using OER, and lack of time to find suitable materials were not considered to be barriers. These findings provide a new understanding of the barriers to the use of OER in HEIs and should therefore assist those who are involved in OER implementation to find mitigating strategies that will maximize their usage.
References
Allen, N. (2010). A cover to cover solution: How open textbooks are the path to textbook affordability. The Student Public Interest Research Group. Retrieved from http://www.studentpirgs.org/sites/student/files/reports/A-Cover-To-Cover-Solution_4.pdf
Bailey, T., Jenkins, D., & Leinbach, T. (2005). What we know about community college low-income and minority student outcomes: Descriptive statistics from National Surveys. Community College Research Center.
Baker, J., Thierstein, J., Fletcher, K., Kaur, M., & Emmons, J. (2009). Open textbook proof-of-concept via Connexions. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 10(5).
Baumol, W. J. (1996). Children of performing arts, the economic dilemma: The climbing costs of health care and education. Journal of Cultural Economics, 20(3), 183-206.
Berry, T., Cook, L., Hill, N., & Stevens, K. (2010). An exploratory analysis of textbook usage and study habits: Misperceptions and barriers to success. College Teaching, 59(1), 31-39.
Bissell, A. (2009). Permission granted: Open licensing for educational resources. Open Learning, The Journal of Open and Distance Learning, 24, 97-106.
Buczynski, J. A. (2007). Faculty begin to replace textbooks with freely accessible online resources. Internet Reference Services Quarterly, 11(4), 169-179.
Carbaugh, R., & Koushik G. (2005). Are college textbooks priced fairly? Challenge, 48(5) 95-112.
Caswell, T. (2012). The Open Course Library of the Washington State Colleges. In D. G. Oblinger (Ed.), Game changers: Education and information technologies (pp. 259-262). Retrieved from http://www.educause.edu/Resources/GameChangersEducationandInform/CaseStudy2TheOpenCourseLibrary/250347.
D’Antoni, S. (2009). Open educational resources: Reviewing initiatives and issues. Open Learning, The Journal of Open and Distance Learning, 24, 3-10.
Downes, S. (2007). Models for sustainable open educational resources. Interdisciplinary Journal of Knowledge and Learning Objects, 3, 29-44.
Fleming, C., & Massey, M. (2007). Jorum open educational resources report. Retrieved from www.jorum.ac.uk/docs/pdf/0707_JorumOERreportFinal.pdf
Goodwin, M. A. L. (2011). The Open Course Library: Using open educational resources to improve community college access (Doctoral dissertation). Washington State University.
Hewlett (2013). Open educational resources. Retrieved from http://www.hewlett.org/programs/education-program/open-educational-resources
Hilton, J., Gaudet, D., Clark, P., Robinson, T. J., & Wiley, D. (2013). The adoption of open educational resources by one community college math department. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 14(4). Retrieved from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1523.
Hilton, J., & Laman, C. (2012). One college’s use of an open psychology textbook. Open Learning, 27(3), 265-272.
Hilton, J., & Wiley, D. (2011). Open-access textbooks and financial sustainability: A case study on Flat World Knowledge. The International Review of Research on Open and Distance Learning, 12(5). Retrieved from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/960/1860
Johnstone, S. M. (2006). Open educational resources serve the world. Educause Quarterly, 28(3), 15.
McKerlich R., Ives, C., & McGreal, R. (2013). Measuring use and creation of open educational resources in higher education. The International Review of Research on Open and Distance Learning, 14(4). Retrieved from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1573/2637.
National Center for Education Statistics. (2013). http://nces.ed.gov/.
Privateer, P. M. (1999). Academic technology and the future of higher education: Strategic paths taken and not taken. Journal of Higher Education, 60-79.
Provasnik, S., & Planty, M. (2008). Community colleges: Special supplement to The Condition of Education 2008: Statistical anaylsis report, August 2008.
Ravid, G., Kalman, Y. M., & Rafaeli, S. (2008). Wikibooks in higher education: Empowerment through online distributed collaboration. Computers in Human Behavior, 24(5), 1913-1928.
Rockinson-Szapkiw, A. J., Courduff, J., Carter, K., & Bennett, D. (2012). Electronic versus traditional print textbooks: A comparison study on the influence of university students’ learning. Computers & Education.
Shepperd, J. A., Grace, J. L., & Koch, E. J. (2008). Evaluating the electronic textbook: Is it time to dispense with the paper text? Teaching of Psychology, 35(1), 2-5.
UNESCO. (2002). Forum on the impact of open courseware for higher education in developing countries: Final report. Retrieved from www.unesco.org/iiep/eng/focus/opensrc/PDF/OERForumFinalReport.pdf
U.S. Government Accountability Organization. (2005, July). College textbooks: Enhanced offerings appear to drive recent price increases (Publication No. GAO-05-806). Retrieved from http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d05806.pdf.
Wiley, D., Hilton, J., Ellington, S., & Hall, T. (2012). A preliminary examination of the cost savings and learning impacts of using open textbooks in high school science classes. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning.
Published
Issue
Section
License
This is the journal's copyright notice, drawn from Distribution Settings.
