Lecturers’ use of open educational resources for teacher education delivery effectiveness at South African universities

Abstract

The introduction of Open Educational Resources (OERs) has come to the fore as a solution for enriching teaching and learning practices at universities. OERs have forced many universities to adopt new ways of teaching and learning by integrating them in their teaching practices. Accordingly, this study sought to explore the use of OER by lecturers at teacher education faculties in South African Universities. However, the continued dependence by universities on printed materials like course hand-outs, despite the availability of volumes of OERs on the net, is still a cause for concern. The study concentrated on lecturers from the three public universities in South Africa, namely, the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), University of Mpumalanga (UMP) and the University of South Africa (UNISA). The study combined the two theories namely Siemens (2004) Connectivism learning theory and Roger’s (2003) diffusion of innovation theory (DOI) to the research findings to evaluate their relevancy. The study used an exploratory mixed-method, informed by a pragmatic paradigm, to explore the use of OERs by lecturers at selected South African Universities. The exploratory mixed-method investigation consisted of semi-structured interviews conducted with twenty-three lecturers from the three participating universities and a closed structured questionnaire drawing response from one hundred and twenty one (n=121) lecturers from the three participating South African universities. The findings from this exploratory mixed-method indicate that though the lecturers are aware of OERs and their benefits, their understanding and knowledge of OER and its use was inadequate. There is also evidence of lecturers’ self-initiated use of OER principles in their daily teaching and learning practices. Most of the lecturers who participated were eager to attain training workshops that will enable them to use OER in their daily teaching and learning activities. The study revealed that lecturers’ reluctance to use OER in teaching and learning was a result of three main challenges, namely, little or no understanding of OERs, inadequate access to the internet and technological tools and lack of awareness on OER licenses and copyrights. The crafted OER distribution framework proposes that the 5R principles of OER can be central in lecturers’ use of OERs in teaching and learning. The little or no effectiveness of the 5R principles of OER in daily teaching and learning practices indicates the need for the review of current teaching and learning policies. The study provides recommendations for universities over and above the suggestions for future research.

Kitsiso ya OERs tlisiwa jaaka tharabololo go humisa tlhaelo ya kitso le thutelatirong/ katiso mo yunibesithi. OERs e tlhagisitswe le go itsisiwe kwa diyunibesithing ka bontsi go ikamanya le mekgwathuto e meswa ya ikatiso. Patlisiso e e kobisitswe mo batlhatlheleding ba thuto mo magorong a diyunibesithi tsa Aforikaborwa. Ka fa letlhakoreng le lengwe tlwaelo ya didiriswakgatiso di tshwana le ditokomane tsa diyunibesithi, e sa ntse e le tlhoraboroko le fa OERs di le teng mo mafaratlhatlheng a tlhaeletsano. Patlisiso e e itlameletse mo batlhatlheleding ba diyunibesithi di le tharo, e leng tsa; Thekenoloji ya Tshwane, Mpumalanga le ya Aforikaborwa. Patlisiso e e bapisa mekgwa e tshwana le ya ga Siemens (2004) Connectivism learning theory le Rogers (2003) ya phatlhalatso ya itshimololelo (DOI) go batlisisa diphitlhelelo tsa go batlisisa bomaleba ba yona. Patlisiso e ke mokgwa o o tsenyeleditseng (a pragmatic paradigm) go dirisiwa ke batlhatlheledi ba diyunibesithi tse di tlhophilweng mo Aforikaborwa. Mokgwa o wa patlisiso o rulagantswe ka go dirisa dipotsotherisano mo batlhatlheleding ba le 23 ba diyunibesithi di le tharo tse di tsayang karolo le go rulaganya tsibogelo ya dipotsotherisano ka batlhtlheledi ba le 121 go tswa mo diyunibesithing tse di tsayang karolo mo Aforikaborwa. Diphitlhelelo di tlhagisa gore le fa batlhtlheledi ba itse ka ga OER le mesola ya yona, kitso le go tlhaloganya mokgwa o ga di a lekana. Go bopaki jwa gore batlhtlheledi ba na le mekgwathuto e ba e itlhametseng yona ka ga OER ba e dirisa letsatsi le letsatsi le go rulaganya ditirwana. Patlisiso e ribolola gore go ngodiega ga batlhtlheledi go tsenya OER tirisong go ruta go bakwa ke dikgwetlho -dikgolo di le tharo e leng; kitsopotlana kgotsa go tlhokakitso ka OER, tlhaelo ya inthanete le didiriswa tsa yona le botlhokakitso ka tetla/laesense ya OER. Thulaganyo ya phatlhalatso e atlenegisa melawana e le tlhano (5Rs principles) e ka nna botlhokwa mo thuto le thutego. Tlhokego kgotsa kitsopotlana ya melawana ( 5Rs principles) mo thutong ya letsatsi le letsatsi ke sesupo sa tlhokego ya tshekatsheko ya mekgwathuto ya jaanong. Patlisiso e e atlenegisa gore mo godimo ga mekgwathuto e e tlaa batlisisiwang mo isagong go akarediwe mekgwathuto Ono wa OER mo diyunibesithing.