Democratising Higher Education through OER - What are the Possibilities?

Abstract

International Conference on Science and Technology for Economic Diversification, Trinidad & Tobago, 7 June 2013, Democratising Higher Education through OER: What are the Possibilities? by Professor Asha Kanwar, Commonwealth of Learning // Distinguished Colleagues, It is a pleasure and an honour to be here and I am very grateful to the President Maureen Manchouk and NIHERST for the opportunity. My topic today is ‘Democratising Higher Education through Open Education Resources: what are the possibilities? // I will first look at the context of higher education and some of the initiatives that have been taken to democratise education. I will then bring you some examples of how OER are being harnessed to increase access, improve quality and cut the costs of education. I will then reflect on the recent phenomenon of Massive Open Online Courses or MOOCs and consider whether these might democratise higher education. I will finally look at how the imaginative use of OER could help us address the challenges of higher education today and advance us towards democratising education.