Willingness to engage in open educational practices among academics in Rwandan public higher education and responsive actions
Published | November 2017 |
Journal | Journal of Learning for Development - JL4D Volume 4, Issue 3, Pages 322-337 |
Publisher | Commonwealth of Learning |
Country | Rwanda, Africa |
ABSTRACT
Academics’ engagement in Open Educational Practices (OEPs) is critical for opening up higher education. It is in this perspective that the willingness to engage in such practices among academics in Rwandan public higher education was investigated with an agenda to trigger responsive actions. Via convenience/availability and volunteer sampling, 170 academics were invited to participate in the study and 85 of them completed and returned an email self-completion questionnaire. The results revealed that the majority of participants were willing to contribute to Open Educational Resources (OER) by publishing their work under an open licence. Participants were also willing to engage in diverse OEPs including 1) finding OER and evaluating their quality, 2) participating in and evaluating open courses, 3) aggregating OER, 4) adapting OER and open courses, and 5) assessing accomplishment from open learning based on OER and open courses for credit. National and institutional policies were found to be the potentially most important enablers of academics’ engagement in those practices. In the light of the findings, the researcher argues that the inclusion of more learners in the higher education system would make academics more impactful than simply the citation of their work, a stance that was reflected in subsequent responsive actions. This study may benefit institutions and policy makers who are interested in opening up higher education, especially the University of Rwanda that is expected to contribute significantly to the transformation of the country into a middle-income, knowledge-based society.Keywords | open courses · open educational practices · Open Educational Resources · Opening up Higher Education · Responsiveness · Transformative Research |
ISSN | 2311-1550 |
Refereed | Yes |
Rights | by-sa/4.0 |
URL | http://jl4d.org/index.php/ejl4d/article/view/223 |
Export options | BibTex · EndNote · Tagged XML · Google Scholar |
AVAILABLE FILES
Viewed by 210 distinct readers
CLOUD COMMUNITY REVIEWS
The evaluations below represent the judgements of our readers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Cloud editors.










Click a star to be the first to rate this document
▶ POST A COMMENT
SIMILAR RECORDS
When two worlds don’t collide: Can social curation address the marginalisation of open educational practices and resources from outside academia?
Perryman, L -A.; Coughlan, Tony
A canyonesque gulf has long existed between open academia and many external subject communities. Since 2011, we have been developing and piloting the public open scholar role (Coughlan and Perryman 2012) - involving ...
Match: open educational practices; open educational resources
OER and OEP in the Global South: Implications and recommendations for social inclusion
Arinto, Patricia; Hodgkinson-Williams, Cheryl; Trotter, Henry; Hodgkinson-Williams, Cheryl; Arinto, Patricia B.
The Research on Open Educational Resources for Development (ROER4D) project was undertaken to provide a better understanding of the uptake of Open Educational Resources (OER) and their impact on education in the Global ...
Match: open educational practices; open educational resources
Factors influencing open educational practices and OER in the Global South: Meta-synthesis of the ROER4D project
Hodgkinson-Williams, Cheryl; Arinto, Patricia; Cartmill, Tess; King, Thomas; et al.
This chapter provides a meta-synthesis of the findings from the Research on Open Educational Resources for Development (ROER4D) empirical studies based on the 13 sub-project chapters in this volume as well as other ...
Match: open educational practices; open educational resources
A cross-modal analysis of learning experience from a learner’s perspective
Nkuyubwatsi, Bernard
Abstract: Learning experience has been one of the most debated aspects of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Various perceptions on learning experience offered by MOOCs have led to many claims about the quality of ...
Match: nkuyubwatsi, bernard
Validation of non-formal MOOC-based learning: An analysis of assessment and recognition practices in Europe (OpenCred)
Witthaus, Gabi; dos Santos, Andreia Inamorato; Childs, Mark; Tannhauser, Anne-Christin; et al.
This report presents the outcomes of research, conducted between May 2014 and November 2015, into emerging practices in assessment, credentialisation and recognition in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Following ...
Match: nkuyubwatsi, bernard
A national strategy to promote Open Educational Practices in higher education in Australia
Bossu, Carina; Ward, Linda; Wills, Sandra; Alexander, Shirley; et al.
Currently in Australia, there are no policies and regulations at national levels to promote and encourage the adoption of Open Educational Practices (OEP) across the higher education sector. As an attempt to bridge this ...
Match: open educational practices; open educational resources
Research on open educational resources for development in the Global South: Project landscape
Arinto, Patricia; Hodgkinson-Williams, Cheryl; King, Thomas; Cartmill, Tess; et al.
The Research on Open Educational Resources for Development (ROER4D) project was proposed to investigate in what ways and under what circumstances the adoption of Open Educational Resources (OER) could address the ...
Match: open educational practices; open educational resources
Digital repository to Open Educational Resource repository: IGNOU’s eGyanKosh
Kanjilal, Uma; Dhanarajan, Gajaraj; Porter, David
Since its establishment in 1985 by an act of parliament, the Indira Gandhi
National Open University (IGNOU) has contributed significantly to the development of higher education in India through the open and distance ...
Match: open courses; open educational resources
Open educational resources: Removing barriers from within
Mishra, Sanjaya
Enthusiasts and evangelists of open educational resources (OER) see these resources as a panacea for all of the problems of education. However, despite its promises, their adoption in educational institutions is slow. ...
Match: open educational practices; open educational resources
Badging and employability at the Open University
Law, Patrina; Perryman, L -A.; Law, Andrew
Awarding badges to recognise achievement is nothing new. Of late, badging has gone digital, offering new ways to recognise learning and motivate learners, providing evidence of skills and achievements both within and ...
Match: open educational practices; open educational resources