Over the last few years, Unisa has committed to making sense of the new opportunities and challenges presented by OER. Having lived through many changes to the shape of education, Unisa is no stranger to new forms of thought and we have not simply followed the OER momentum. Rather, as a community we have shown our intent to help sculpt the conversation around OER and to be a vibrant African voice in this process. We have engaged in research to explore some of the questions around OER and made efforts to create tangible opportunities for educators and scholars to benefit from OER.
The OER movement’s aspiration to open access strongly resonates with our open distance learning model where spatial, geographical, economic and demographic boundaries must be reduced to facilitate and increase access to higher education. We are in no doubt about the powerful potential of OER to change the nature of our social relations. By radically reconceptualising normative educational practices in our schools and in our universities, OER will change the way we think about education on our continent, but it will do so only when we have carefully considered its distinct advantages and usages for Africa.
(Personal communication between Prof Makanya and Mr Nzimande, 7 December 2011)
Last modified: Sun Jul 30 15:45:52 SAST 2023