CAS Digital Learning in Emergencies: Difference between revisions

The educational technology and digital learning wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
No edit summary
 
(26 intermediate revisions by 3 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
<div style="background-color:lightyellow;float:right;border:solid 1px grey;width:40%;margin-left:5px;">Sub-pages for Module 4 of CAS Digital Learning in Emergencies: {{#subpages:format=ul|sort=asc}}</div>
== General information ==
== General information ==
This page is part of: * CAS Digital Learning and Emergencies [https://www.unige.ch/formcont/cours/digital-learning-emergencies webpage]
== Scenario for Module 4 ==
'''Overall objectives''' (these objectives are valid for the scenario given as an example below). You may pick only one of them, you may also create a new one, like writing an OE policy for example.
Open Education in Emergencies Contexts: Comparative and International Perspective
# Be aware of Open Education and Open Science recommendations and related concepts
# Become familiar with Open Educational Resources
# Develop Open Educational Practices
# Scenarise an Open project for your context and implement part of it
== Organisational information ==
* Module dates: '''25 April - 25 May 2022''' 
* 2 ECTS = 50 learner working hours in total
* Synchronous meetings: Monday 25.04.2022, 13:30-15:30 (Geneva time); As of Week of May 2nd, Monday and Thursday, 4-6 pm. Participants can join either day, according to their questions and advancement in the module
* Evaluation: Participants who complete all the activities with an acceptable commitment will be awarded the 2 ECTS
== Main ressources ==                   
* https://edutechwiki.unige.ch/en/Open_Education : Open Education page on EduTechWiki
* https://edutechwiki.unige.ch/en/Open_educational_resources : Open Educational Resources page on EduTechWiki
* Moodle: slides and recording of synchronous sessions
* Discussion and interactions: Mattermost CAS DLE channel
== Participants' user page & productions ==
=== Participants' productions ===
Within this module, participants had the responsibility to choose their learning path - of course they have been accompagnied and one example scenario with relevant activities has been shared upfront (point 6 below).
As a result, we have very interesting and diverse learning experiences:
* From South Asia, Shoaib has taken the initiative to complete some modules on Open Education provided by the Open University UK. Within this learning experience, he has, among other things, set up a blog, https://shoaibopeneducation.blogspot.com/ to share his insights. He also provides the teaching team with useful feedback on how to improve the module. See his work at [[CAS Digital Learning in Emergencies/module4-Shoaib]]
* Also from South Asia, Zubair, after gaining an overiview of Open Education, wanted to find some OER for secondary levels in maths and science, identified some and evaluated them. His work is accessible from [[CAS Digital Learning in Emergencies/module4-Zubair]]
* From the Middle East, Enas and Manal, have chosen to work on a project to design a training to support teachers in crisis contexts, looking for specific OER and awarding a badge in the end. Their work is accessible from [[CAS Digital Learning in Emergencies/module4-Enas&Manal]]
* Also from the Middle East, Kinan, has worked on OER available for the Syrian context. His work is accessible from [[CAS Digital Learning in Emergencies/module4-Kinan]]
* From Africa, Faiza and Jehad, have investigated how to support teachers' professional development in emergencies contexts with OER. Their work is available from [[CAS Digital Learning in Emergencies/module4-Faiza&Jehad]]
* Ndamyo has also worked on professional development of teachers, addressing decision makers. His work is accessible from [[CAS Digital Learning in Emergencies/module4-Ndamyo]]
* Margaret and Lucy have worked on identifying OER which are specifically aimed at life skills training in emergency contexts. Their work is available from [[CAS Digital Learning in Emergencies/module4-Margaret]]
* Mesfin has worked on a topic similar to that of Margaret and Lucy, building teachers' capacity with regard to psychological first aid in emergencies contexts. His work is not accessible on-line.
* Veronicah has worked on the development of accessible OER to be used by children with disabilities. Her work is accessible from [[CAS Digital Learning in Emergencies/module4-Veronica]]
* Sarah has worked on identifying relevant OER for teachers in her context and developing guidelines on how to create an OER. Her work is accessible from [[CAS Digital Learning in Emergencies/module4-Sarah]]
* Davies' aim was to get a first understanding of Open Science, Open Educational Resources and Open Educational Practices. His work is accessible from here [[CAS Digital Learning in Emergencies/module4-Davis]]
* Moiti started to work on a cultural project with regard to "Khaima" and how to provide open knowledge on this specific culture. Her work is accessible from [[CAS Digital Learning in Emergencies/module4-Moiti]]
* Augustin's aim was to get an overview of Open Education, advantages and disadvantages of OER and assess the situation in his context. His work is not accessible on-line. 
* Lucy. His work is accessible from [[CAS Digital Learning in Emergencies/module4-Lucy]]
=== Participants' user page ===
You may also access through the user page:
* [[User:Enasalsaid]] Enas
* [[User:Jehad_Alrefaie]]Jehad
* [[User:Faiza Altamimi|User: Faiza]] , Module 4 available from the discussion tab
* Mikias - did not attend
* [[User:Mohammad_Shoaib_Haider]]Shoaib
* Mesfin, Mod 4 not yet shared elsewhere than on mattermost
* [[User_talk:Zubair]]Zubair
* [[User:Manalkheder]]Manal
* [[User:Augustin_Mbonyumwitsa]]Augustin
* [[User:Moiti_Mohamed]]Moiti
* [[User:Ndamyo]]Ndamyo
* [[User:Margaret]]Margaret
* [[User_talk:Sarah]]Sarah
* [[User:Lucy_Tengeye]]Lucy
* [[User:Kinan_Turkawi]]Kinan
* [[User:Wamonidavis]]Davis
* [[User:Veronicah]]Veronicah
Sections 1 to 4 below outline an example of scenario if you find that designing your own scenario is too challenging - part of these activities might inspire your module design.
== Example of scenario ==
=== Section 1: Open Education and Open Science ===
=== Synchronous part ===
* 4-5pm: Introducing Module 4 and Section 1
* 5-6pm: Conference by xx on the use of UNESCO’s OER framework in MENA region
* 4-6pm: Proactive regulation with regard to activities related to Section 1
=== Asynchronous part ===
=== Activity 1 ===
'''Learning outcomes''':
* Identify key ideas of leading recommendations towards Open by UNESCO
* Comment UNESCO’s Open Educational Resources (OER) recommendation
'''Detailed description''':
* Read the blog post by Paul Stacey available from the resources and identify how the different Opens are entangled
* Download both recommendations on Open Science and on OER from the resources and read them carefully
* Identify why OER are present in both recommendations
* Choose one passage of either recommendation and annotate it, i.e. commenting on what is relevant and/or challenging for your own context
* Contribute to the collaborative annotation with your own comment of the chosen passage
'''Time necessary''': 6 hours
'''Resources''':
* Stacey, P. (2018). Starting Anew in the Landscape of Open. https://edtechfrontier.com/2018/02/08/starting-anew-in-the-landscape-of-open/
* UNESCO. (2019). Recommendation on Open Educational Resources. http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=49556&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
* UNESCO. (2021). Recommendation on Open Science. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000379949.locale=en
* UNESCO (2012). Paris declaration on OER. http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CI/CI/pdf/Events/English_Paris_OER_Declaration.pdf 
* UNESCO (no date). Global education monitoring report. https://en.unesco.org/gem-report/sdg-goal-4
* Strategies for annotation: https://learningcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/annotating-texts/ ; https://microcredentials.digitalpromise.org/explore/annotation-strategies-for-deeper-learning
'''Expected result''':
   
   
Description:
* Some draft work (e.g. screen capture, photo if you worked on paper) to demonstrate how you went about with the annotation task. Please deposit these traces on Moodle
Basically, the goal of the project is to Equip Teachers with the necessary Open Education Resources (OER) for digital learning and teaching skills to teach in an emergency context in Malawi.   Rapid assessment was conducted during Covid 19 pandemic school closures which revealed that Teachers lack OER and digital learning and teaching skills. Most of the teachers are Malawian Teachers from Different Tribes like Chewa, Sena, Ngoni and Tumbuka. Age differs amongst them ranging from 20 years old to 60 years old or more. Some are Special needs teachers. They have basic training on primary teachers’ professional development. They have limited capacity in digital learning and OER. Hence few are exposed to technology and incorporating it into the teaching process.
* A draft of your individual comment of the part that you have chosen on a notepad saved on your computer
I will therefore study multiple articles available on Open Education resources, Open Education and Open Education Practice. However, I will be building on the work I did in Module 3. Therefore, I will produce a project report kind of advocating for buy in and support of Open Education, financing OER bearing in mind that my Country is one of the poorest countries in the World and adoption of Open Education Practice (OEP). It is a call that I will push forward beyond this course as I sit at different National Platforms where decisions are made.
* A collaborative EduTechWiki page with all the comments
'''Evaluation''':
 
This activity will be evaluated in a formative way and tutors will provide you with formative feedback on the process and the content.  
 
=== Activity 2 ===
'''Learning outcomes''':
* Demonstrate mastery of key concepts of the Open movement
* Draft a policy towards Open Education and/or Open Science appropriate for your context
'''Detailed description''':
* From the resources, access some policies and read them critically, identifying what could be reused for your own context
* In your context, identify if a policy for e-learning exists and at which level (national? institutional?)
* With the help of the Lumen tool, explain how you can weave in the existing e-learning policy, some Open elements or design a new policy
'''Time necessary''': 6 hours
 
'''Resources''':


=Building Teachers digital learning and teaching skills Competencies in Malawi Secondary Schools.=
Example of policies:
* Policy recommendations by OpenMed participants: https://openmedproject.eu/recommendations/
* Open Science: https://sparceurope.org/what-we-do/sparc-europe-key-resources/sparc-europe-documents/
* University of Edinburgh: https://open.ed.ac.uk/open-policy/
* National policies : https://oerpolicy.eu/  ; https://oerpolicy.eu/countries/
Tools to help you draft your own policy:
* Policy for OER: https://policy.lumenlearning.com/
* OpenMed project Open Education roadmap: https://openmedproject.eu/results/roadmaps/
* Guide to Developing Enabling Policies for Digital and Open Teaching and Learning: https://hub.teachingandlearning.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Policy-Guide-Final.pdf
'''Expected result''':
   
   
Conceptual Understanding Open Education Resources in Covid Era.
* An initial draft of a policy for the Open that makes sense in your context either using one template or a combination of templates, existing policies, etc.
* A short report (300 words) to explain the choices you made for the policy and what would be the next steps to refine this policy
* Please deposit one document containing your report and the policy on Moodle
'''Evaluation''':
This activity will be evaluated in a formative way and tutors will provide you with formative feedback on the process and the content.
 
=== Section 2 : Open Educational Resources ===
 
=== Synchronous part ===
 
* 4-5pm: Introducing Section 2
* 5-6pm: Conference by a lawyer + Open + MENA / Africa
 
* Proactive regulation with regard to activities related to Section 2 and particularly finding and evaluating OER
 
=== Asynchronous part ===
 
=== Activity 3 ===
'''Learning outcome''':
* Present the 5R characteristics of OER in your own words
* Describe the different Creative Commons (CC) licences and their specificities
* Discuss the relationships between the 5R and CC licences with the backdrop of given resources
'''Detailed description''':
* Explore the different resources with regard to CC and the 5R and take the quiz
* Consult the backdrop resources
* Write a report on the possibilities of using CC licences (which of the CC licenses is best suited to your context) or other Open licences for educational purposes in your context
'''Time necessary''': 6 hours
 
'''Resources''':
* 5R: https://nsufl.libguides.com/oer/5rs
* Intellectual property and plagiarism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBhuAS6tL10 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMYTWCd0w1w
* Creative Commons licences: https://creativecommons.org/about/cclicenses/
* Creative Commons tool to choose a licence: https://creativecommons.org/choose/
* Open attribute builder: https://www.openwa.org/open-attrib-builder/
* Backdrop resource: CC in your country, https://network.creativecommons.org/?ref=global-affiliate-network , https://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/fr/2011/01/article_0002.html ,
* Backdrop resource: CC IGO,  https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo/deed.fr
* Backdrop resource: Wu, M. M. (2021). The Corruption of Copyright and Returning It to Its Original Purposes. ''Legal Reference Services Quarterly'', 40(2-3), 113-156. <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.1080/0270319X.2021.1966238</nowiki> ; https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3892269
'''Expected result''':
 
The report (about 700 words) uploaded on Moodle
 
'''Evaluation''':
 
This activity will be evaluated in a formative way and tutors will provide you with formative feedback on the process and the content.
 
=== Activity 4 ===
'''Learning outcome''':
* Find OERs
* Evaluate the quality of OERs
'''Detailed description''':
* From activities completed previously in the CAS or for a topic of your choice, browse different OER archives (list available from the resources) to find relevant OERs
* Use the google advanced search tool and the x5gon search tool to find relevant OERs
* Orally, evaluate identified resources with criteria from the [https://tecfa.unige.ch/perso/class/OE-General/ template] given in the resources
* Choose 5 OERs that are really relevant for your context and evaluate them thoroughly, selecting most appropriate criteria from the template given in the resources and fill out the excel table (available from the resources)
* Write a reflexive report on how you went about to complete this task – if you wish, you can use the template with guiding questions available from the resources
'''Time necessary''': 6 hours
 
'''Resources''':
* OER archive list: https://course.openmedproject.eu/lesson-3-2-finding-oer/
* How to use google advance search
* X5GON tool: https://discovery.x5gon.org/
'''Expected result''': 
 
'''Evaluation''':
 
This activity will be evaluated in a formative way and tutors will provide you with formative feedback on the process and the content.
 
==== Section 3: Open Educational Practices ====
 
===== Synchronous part =====


Introduction: Conceptual Understanding Open Education Resources
* 4-5pm: Introducing Section 3
Open Education Resources (OER)
* 5-6pm: Conference on formal and informal learning and micro-certification in Open Education
OER are teaching, learning and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use or re-purposing by others. Open educational resources include full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials or techniques used to support access to knowledge.” (Hewlett Foundation), (retrieved 18:55, 23 May 2007 (MEST) https://edutechwiki.unige.ch/en/Open_educational_resources). This is ideal and important for teachers and learners in Malawi.


==Open Education in Malawi==
* 4-6pm: Proactive regulation with regard to activities related to Section 3
Basically, Open Education in Malawi is relatively a new phenomenon. Teachers and learners including other education stakeholders hardly defines open Education in the country.  However, this paper adopts the definition by Cronin, C., & Maclaren, I. (2018) that Open education is defined broadly as encompassing resources, tools and practices to improve educational access, effectiveness, and equality worldwide.  An abiding theme throughout the history of open education, however, has been the difficulty in precisely defining the concept. Even at its earliest stages, the definition was difficult to pin down.
I agree that ‘Open education’ often carries the weight of describing not just policy, practices, resources, curricula and pedagogy, but also the values inherent within these, as well as relationships between teachers and learners. On the other hand, this paper agrees to the Cape Town Open Education Declaration (2007) that open education is not limited to just open educational resources. It also draws upon open technologies that facilitate collaborative, flexible learning and the open sharing of teaching practices that empower educators to benefit from the best ideas of their colleagues. It may also grow to include new approaches to assessment, accreditation and collaborative learning.


=== Asynchronous part ===


Tony Bates concludes it well that Open education is primarily a goal, or an educational policy. An essential characteristic of open education is the removal of barriers to learning. This means no prior qualifications to study, no discrimination by gender, age or religion, affordability for everyone, and for students with disabilities, a determined effort to provide education in a suitable form that overcomes the disability (for example, audio recordings for students who are visually impaired). Ideally, no-one should be denied access to an open educational program. Thus open learning must be scalable as well as flexible (What do we mean by ‘open’ in education? | Tony Bates)
=== Activity 5 ===
       
'''Learning outcome''':
==Why Open Education Resources is way to go for Malawi==
* Position yourself on the Open educator inventory
   
* Process the Open educator scale’s feedback to improve towards openness in education
Open Education need to be supported fully in Malawi because it encompasses resources, tools and practices that are free of legal, financial and technical barriers and can be fully used, shared and adapted in the digital environment. The foundation of Open Education is Open Educational Resources (OER), which are teaching, learning, and research resources that are free of cost and access barriers, and which also carry legal permission for open use.
* Localise competences frameworks on Open Educational Practices and OER
'''Detailed description''':
* Complete the Open educator inventory (available from the resources), make a screenshot of the recapitulative feedback that the system provides in the form of a blue table, and save the written feedback on how to improve as a pdf file
* Learn about Open Educational Practices (available from the resources)
* Read and understand two competences frameworks (available from the resources)
* Analyse the inventory’s questions, the table and the advices for improvement and write a short critical report, focusing on the relevance of this tool for your own profile and context
'''Time necessary''': 6 hours


Generally, this permission is granted by use of an open license (for example, Creative Commons licenses) which allows anyone to freely use, adapt and share the resource—anytime, anywhere. “Open” permissions are typically defined in terms of the “5R’s”: users are free to Retain, Reuse, Revise, Remix and Redistribute these educational materials(https://sparcopen.org/open-education/)
'''Resources''':
* Open educator inventory : http://rd.unir.net/pub/oef/login.php
* Course on Open Educational Practices: https://course.openmedproject.eu/module-5-open-educational-practices-oep/
* Wikipedia page on Open Educational Practices: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_educational_practices
* Competences framework Open Education: https://opengame-project.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/OpenGame-IO2-CourseCurriculumAndContent.pdf (pp.16-17)
* Competences framework Open Educational Resources: Voß, F., De Fries, T., Möbs, S., Pawlowski, J. M., Raffl, C., & Stoffregen, J. (2018). [https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/57177956/470660_1_En_8_Chapter_OnlinePDF-with-cover-page-v2.pdf?Expires=1639765568&Signature=aNQNd~QJPOv64FT3oU5E6N3exYwRnil1KN4QpuY1VDfKdlL8u3k4zUoL~wAs5jPCSlc1lIUdfD5XBry~xrFao5vUGna6-mXpBbk37v-P2arJ-2g3Rtxu7nDbWNVo A Competence Framework for Open Educational Resources: The Case of the Public Sector.] Springer, Cham.
* OpenGame Transferability Toolkit: https://opengame-project.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/OpenGame-IO5-Transferability_Toolkit.pdf
'''Expected result''':


* Inventory of Open educator completed
* Short critical report (about 500 words) entailing the result of the inventory and the advices for improvement as appendices
* An overall understanding of Open Educational Practices and competences framework for Open Educational Practices
'''Evaluation''':


In March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic was declared a national disaster in Malawi, the country’s Ministry of Education ordered the closure of all public and private schools and Schools. These prolonged school closures meant that millions Malawian children were out of formal schooling for over seven months i.e., the months when we had school closures. A recent education sector performance report indicated a drop in primary school enrolment of 414,895 between 2020 and 2021. COVID-19 could play a role. Hence this project was conceptualized during the global COVID 19 pandemic that led to the indefinite closure of all learning institutions. This project therefore solves the problem of lack of access to digital learning opportunities for higher education for Secondary learners as their teachers lacked digital learning and teaching skills as they were not aware of Open Education Resources (OER). This project is situated within the access to inclusive and quality education for all. 
This activity will be evaluated in a formative way and tutors will provide you with formative feedback on the process and the content.  
Rapid assessment was conducted during Covid 19 pandemic school closures which revealed that Teachers lack digital learning and teaching skills and had little knowledge on OER. This is in agreement with INEE minimum standards which stipulates that teachers and other education personnel should receive periodic, relevant and structured training according to needs and circumstances. Thus, ongoing teacher professional development on OER- and support is essential to ensuring that teachers are well equipped to handle the learning context, and should be provided in emergencies albeit in adapted modalities
Act now or never!! This report presents a prototype to all actors in Malawi that is Government of Malawi, UN Agencies, International Organisations, Local Organisations, all decision-makers, community leaders and Education stakeholders.  The times are tough and all actors are supposed to support Open Education and supporting Open Education Resources in building Teachers digital learning and teaching skills Competencies in Malawi Secondary Schools Project. This project will help learner continue learning during emergencies that is in short term and long term.  


== Project Goal ==
=== Activity 6  ===
'''Overall objectives'''
'''Learning outcome''':
* Identify the different forms of recognition and their respective interest for communities
* Discover how Open badge tools function
* Situate the micro-credentials approach
'''Detailed description''':
* Within this Module, you have received Open badges. Starting from one of them, analyse (with the template available in the resources) the different components of a badge and explain whether it is relevant for your context
* Read on the micro-credentials approach and master the elements (badges, backpack), the flow and use from the perspective of a learner, an employer and an educational institution
'''Time necessary''': 6 hours


Basically, the goal of the project is to Equip Teachers with the necessary Open Education Resources (OER) for digital learning and teaching skills to teach in an emergency context in Malawi.   Rapid assessment was conducted during Covid 19 pandemic school closures which revealed that Teachers lack OER and digital learning and teaching skills. Most of the teachers are Malawian Teachers from Different Tribes like Chewa, Sena, Ngoni and Tumbuka. Age differs amongst them ranging from 20 years old to 60 years old or more. Some are Special needs teachers. They have basic training on primary teachers’ professional development. They have limited capacity in digital learning and OER. Hence few are exposed to technology and incorporating it into the teaching process. Teachers speak different languages hence lessons will be in English. Due to difference in culture dress code will be formal dressing no miniskirts will be allowed during face-to-face meetings. Lessons will be starting from 2:00pm to 5pm so that teachers are able to support learners during class session in the morning. On the other hand, Sundays and Saturdays there will be no lessons to allow religious ones go pray. Muslims are taken care of as classes start at 2pm.  
'''Resources''':
* Badgr: a tool to create badges ; video badgR, https://www.adobe.com/fr/express/create/badge
* West, R. E., Newby, T., Cheng, Z., Erickson, A., & Clements, K. (2020). Acknowledging All Learning: Alternative, Micro, and Open Credentials. In M. J. Bishop, E. Boling, J. Elen, & V. Svihla (Eds.), ''Handbook of Research in Educational Communications and Technology: Learning Design'' (pp. 593-613). Springer International Publishing. [https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-36119-8_27 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36119-8_27]
'''Expected result''':


==Project Learning Outcomes==
The template provided to analyse an Open badge completed with your analysis
 
I. Teachers will be able to acquire digital profession competencies like ICT and Media competency through Open Education resources


II. Teachers will point out the characteristics of digital Pedagogical competences for developing digital learning and teaching competencies by using Open Education Resource
'''Evaluation''':


III. Teachers will apply technical knowhow on Open Education Resources and build stakeholder capacity to create, access, use, adapt and redistribute OER
This activity will be evaluated in a formative way and tutors will provide you with formative feedback on the process and the content.


== Main ressources ==                    
=== Section 4: Project ===
* https://edutechwiki.unige.ch/en/Open_Education : Open Education page on EduTechWiki
Section 4 addresses the following general objective: Script an Open education project for your context and implement a part of it.
* https://edutechwiki.unige.ch/en/Open_educational_resources : Open Educational Resources page on EduTechWiki
* Moodle: slides and recording of synchronous sessions
* Discussion and interactions: Mattermost CAS DLE channel


===Structural variables===
The aim is to develop a training sequence for a target audience on a topic of your choice. The training sequence should be designed using Open educational resources and practices and award badges for participants who complete the training successfully. In other words, you will capitalise on activities performed throughout the module to transfer it on a complete project of your choice.  
This project builds on the ASPI model (Peraya et Jaccaz 2004) which aims to describe dimensions and variables that can affect each process in the design, development, implementation, evaluation and maintenance of innovative distance or hybrid learning. In March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic was declared a national disaster in Malawi, the country’s Ministry of Education ordered the closure of all public and private schools and Schools reopened five months later. 
These prolonged school closures meant that millions Malawian children were out of formal schooling for over seven months. A recent education sector performance report indicated a drop in primary school enrolment of 414,895 between 2020 and 2021. COVID-19 could play a role. 
Hence this project was conceptualized during the global COVID 19 pandemic that led to the indefinite closure of all learning institutions. This project therefore solves the problem of lack of access to digital learning opportunities for higher education for Secondary learners as their teachers lacked digital learning and teaching skills. This project is situated within the access to inclusive and quality education for all. This project depends on Malawi Institute of Education, Ministry of Education, Technical and Vocational Education and Training to provide expertise. The networks and collaborations involved in this project include African Network for Higher Education in Emergencies (AHEEN), Malawi Education in Emergencies technical working Group and National Education Network. 
In addition, the external partners that the project will partner with include Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO), Ministry of Education, UNICEF, UNESCO, The Polytechnic among others.  There are also two autonomous institutions which greatly contribute to education in the country. The Malawi National Examination Board (MANEB), which oversees examinations and the Malawi Institute of Education (MIE), which has in recent years played a leading role in curriculum and material development and in-service teacher education. Other Institutions include the Centre for Educational Research and Training (CERT) which is a unit attached to the University of Malawi that was established to undertake educational research studies.
===Variables related to functions and roles of actors===
On the other hand, successful Open Education and OER will rely on the Malawi National Commission for UNESCO which is a national organization that links government ministries in the fields of education, science, culture, and communication. The Commission provides some training for education personnel in various fields of management. It also helps to solicit funding and to involve the Ministry in UNESCO programmes that have a bearing on the development of education in Malawi. The Malawi National Library Service has responsibility for promoting, establishing, equipping, and managing national libraries hence key in OER. Ministry of Education and Malawi Institute of Education (MIE), will develop curriculum and material development and in-service teacher education in OER; digital learning and teaching. They will also identify National OER and digital learning and teaching Trainers. UNICEF will be the potential donor.
The Teachers will have to attend 95% of the module content, attempt all the formative and summative assessment in order to proceed to the next module and get certification. National Trainers will deliver content, the administrators and technicians will work collaboratively to make sure Teachers have access to the project dashboard and module contents. The instructional designers will support the entire team on the mode of delivery, both virtual, face-to-face, and group work. Project managers will be responsible for the overall management, delivery and success of the project 
Quality control is key hence the roles and functions of networks and collaborations involved in this project is key hence need for vetting the appropriateness and viability of the module contents for the project. 
===Individual Variables=== 
The roles of each actor will be explicitly defined. Transparency and accountability will be enhanced and attempts will be made at harmonizing every actor’s expectation. Ownership will be promoted and all Actors will be made to feel part and parcel of the project through consultations and active participation by all the stakeholders. Therefore, will analyze Actor’s views if they are good and resonate with the project goals, they will be embraced and work together. 
Contrary Politics is everywhere especially when different actors are involved.  The resistance the project is likely to face includes all teachers wanting to be included for the project to kick off, inability to communicate in English for some Teachers, lack of digital gadgets to access the modules, and fear of the unknown, but it is expected that the project will receive a lot of assistance from UNICEF and UNESCO. Further the key actors and the government of Malawi among others will provide financial assistance, multi-media, e-portfolios or work study Probably the project expects to get technology mediated learning support that include access rights given to Facilitators of the training and Teachers to available resources including sharing protocols, content management systems, edutechwiki tutorials or workshops, online applications like google apps, Beekee apps, jamboards, use of virtual simulations, use of virtual reality games on war to deliver content. Other relevant educational technologies used in the project will include multi-media, e-portfolios or work study electronic books/exercises, interactive, collaborative online tutoring and automated evaluation and feedback per module.


===Organizational variables Open Education Resources===
The project represents one activity, assessed in a summative way.  
Further the organogram will be managed by the Project managers in collaboration with key actors like Ministry of Education that’s Key Government officials. The project will use both face-to-face and open distance digital learning pedagogies. The project will also leverage on VSO digital resources including animations, videos, podcasts, online modules on kaya, Learning Management System, focusing on equal access to basic quality education. The project will also use e-learning with materials on simulations and games, videoconferencing, e-portfolios, automated evaluation and feedback, activities and tutoring, blended learning with videos, face to face sessions in groups and with instructors’ guidance.  The course designers and instructors will ensure that learners attend classes 95% of the modules, and attempt both formative and summative assessment respectively. Teachers will not access the next module unless they pass the previous module and submitting all the assignments in time.  


===Constraints of Open Education Resources and distance Learning=== 
=== Synchronous part ===
This kind of training delivery is associated with a number of constraints, both pedagogical and non-pedagogical such as poor connectivity, the unreliability of electricity supply, the limited digital skill for both the Teachers as learners and some tutors and facilitators.  The other one is lack of access rights to important online modules, lack of a well-designed framework for both formative and summative assessments/evaluations for the course, inadequate digital gadgets, and lack of funding. These issues can be overcome through participatory approaches and good coordinated roles and support throughout the project. 
 
===Pedagogical variables===
The project will follow the Cognist Constructivism pedagogical approach where learners will be given realistic practical sense of subject matter taught. By the end of the course, learners who are Teachers should be able to:
 
• Prepare digital teaching documents
• Appropriately use digital gadgets.
 
• Effectively conduct teaching using appropriate teaching methods
 
• Prepare and conduct appropriate assessment of learners’ progress
The course will follow blended learning modality.  The pedagogical scenarios favored for the project include those that the learners are familiar with, usable, easy to learn and available, reliable and socially acceptable. Therefore, include open distance learning using interactive multi-media such as zoom with a package of breakout rooms for different groups and tasks, WhatsApp, Signal, mass texting and video conferencing. E-portfolios, wiki pages, electronic books/course materials, simulations, automated evaluation and feedback, as well as self-paced studies by students.   
The program will take 6 months to complete, including the summative and formative assessments, with a duration of two months per module for learners. Learners will have a duration of a week to finish formative and summative assessments after the units. There will be options on some units for learners to choose different learning paths. 
On the other hand, human materials and resources available will include Learners, teachers, administrators, technicians, developers, researchers, instructional designers, project managers, change agents; whose roles are collaborative as per the project organogram and an integral part of the project. 
 
===Learning Activities - OER===
Teacher Participants (Learners) will be expected to use digital tools and engage in collaborative learning through group work exchanges; simulations on different scenarios on module content, power-point and video presentations, creation of a digital project and participation in learning activities. Learning will be evaluated based on active participation in the learning activities during the course, including participation and contribution in group work, and ability to use technology in delivery of course assignments through explicit learning scenarios. 
In addition, a zoom link for the zoom meetings room accompanied by an access code and passcode will be available for the learner-learner, learner-instructor, and learner-system and instructor system during the project life cycle, helping learners for their group work and individualized group discussions whenever there will be need. Other than that, the tools that are foreseen to support various activities on various knowledge dimensions such as factual, conceptual, procedural, metacognitive, reflective practice through simulations, projects, case studies, participation, social presence, and reflective practice, presentations include wiki page, WhatsApp the self-moderated Moodle platform, Beekee, video conferencing among others. 
The students will learn through zoom video calls, Beekee, group work and interactions with the instructors. Technical support will be available to students with regard to access to the learning platform, recorded lessons, and learning resources. 
===Economic variables===
Funds to finance the initial activities of the project are estimated at 25% of the total project budget and will be financed by Government of Malawi through the Department of Disaster
Management.                           
However, the long-term funding of the project (75%) will come from UNICEF. Digital Learning and Teaching in Emergencies Response Proposal has been formulated and submitted to UNICEF for funding and it is at final review stage, just pending approval by UNICEF. 
Additional costs that could be introduced in the project include costs for the production and publication of videos for the project, costs for internet, gadgets for the meeting, transport costs for the students to the cybers for connectivity.


===Political variables=== 
* 4-5pm: Introducing Section 4
The Malawi Government through Ministry of Education is support of this Project because it improves the quality of education in the Country through offering digital learning and teaching trainings to educational officials.  Going forward there will be overwhelming support for the project by the government, local political authorities.   
* 5-6pm: Conference on Open Education in emergencies


===Ideological variables=== 
* 4-6pm: Proactive regulation with regard to activities related to Section 4
The project promotes Secondary School in Malawi to have digital learning and teaching expertise to be able to effectively deliver lessons during emergencies. Hence the project intends to promote values of digital literacy, dignity and knowledge application. The graduates from the project should be skilled citizens able to effectively conduct teaching professionally.   


===Evaluation of the learning project and instructional design===
=== Asynchronous part ===
Certainly, the Project offers formative assessment before every unit within the module, and summative assessment at the end of the module to measure the learner’s achievement, capabilities and skills acquired. This will be the trend unless a participant has attempted the previous formative and summative assessments in a module, they will not be able to access the next module. The course facilitators will address any technical issues. Ongoing, there will be need to make changes due to past evaluations and review the rubrics for the assessment and test their viability in testing learners’ achievement throughout the Project. 
 
===Reflection and lessons learned OE and OER===
Limits
This kind of training delivery is associated with a number of constraints, both pedagogical and non-pedagogical such as poor connectivity, the unreliability of electricity supply, the limited digital skill for both the Teachers as learners and some tutors and facilitators.  The other one is lack of access rights to important online modules, lack of a well-designed framework for both formative and summative assessments/evaluations for the course, inadequate digital gadgets, and lack of funding. These issues can be overcome through participatory approaches and good coordinated roles and support throughout the project.  This is the reason why OER is timely to solve the constraints mentioned in Malawi.
 
==Next steps==
The program will take 6 months to complete, including the summative and formative assessments, with a duration of two months per module for learners. Learners will have a duration of a week to finish formative and summative assessments after the units. There will be options on some units for learners to choose different learning paths. 
On the other hand, for smooth implementation of the project and sustainability there is need for human resources available like teachers, administrators, IT technicians, developers, researchers, instructional designers, project managers, change agents; whose roles are collaborative as per the project organogram and an integral part of the project. 
===Why Adopt Open Education Practice in Malawi===
The Malawi educational sector suffers from numerous factors including Covid 19 and the HIV/AIDS pandemic which has decreased the number of teachers in schools and parents ability to send their children to school. Secondly Malawi is a poorest Country and government funds are insufficient in providing the necessary desks, school materials and technology for the classroom. Thirdly the low poverty levels prevent parents from affording an education for their child hence Open Education is a way to go. Fourthly there is the brain drain due to the higher pay and better job opportunities offered abroad and finally the inequalities in provision between urban and rural areas as well as by gender and social class. The solution is Open Education Practices and OER.
Basically, Open Education Resources in Malawi would help to provide a decent education for everyone, for their future. Open Education would improve quality and access to education which is necessary for this country to be able to dig itself out of poverty. Surely, we all know that Education is one of the main factors to higher incomes, also better healthcare and a sustainable economy. Honestly the country needs OER to (1) improve its teacher education development so that it can provide trained professionals to teach children, (2) OER will help Malawi to be able to provide students with proper educational materials and technology so that they can have better resources to learn from and (3) Further there is a call for the country to develop OER capacity building and Open Education (OE) policy development to encourage enrollment in higher education. Unfortunately Linked to Malawi’s education is poverty and “linked to the pervasiveness of poverty is the issue of food insecurity, which is yet to be resolved” (ADB).


* This paper agrees with SPARC(https://sparcopen.org/what-we-do/active-policy/) on Why Open Education is important. Textbook costs should not be a barrier to education. The price of textbooks has skyrocketed more than three times the rate of inflation for decades. Resources that would otherwise go to purchasing textbooks can be redirected toward technology, improving instruction, or reducing debt.
=== Activity 7 ===
'''Learning outcome''':
* Synthesise and capitalise on previous activities to design an Open Education project
* Leverage resources to design a project with efficiency
'''Detailed description''':


 Students learn more when they have access to quality materials. The rapidly rising cost of textbooks in higher education has left many students without access to the materials they need to succeed. Studies show that 93% of students who use OER do as well or better than those using traditional materials, since they have easy access to the content starting day one of the course.
The project is composed of five steps:
 Technology holds boundless potential to improve teaching and learning. Open Education ensures that teachers, learners and institutions can fully explore this potential. Imagine a biology textbook that incorporates COVID-19 in the chapter about viruses, or a math tutorial that incorporates local landmarks into word problems. Imagine a lecture attended by hundreds of thousands of people across the globe, or a peer-to-peer exchange between Canadian students learning Mandarin with Chinese students learning English or French. All of this and more is possible when the pathways for technology in education are fully open.
# Define the project, i.e. describe the resources; set objectives; specify target audience; design learning activities; choose learning environment; specify assessment
 Better education means a better future. Education is the key to advancing society’s greatest goals, from a building a strong economy to leading healthy lives. By increasing access to education and creating a platform for more effective teaching and learning, Open Education benefits us all.
# Find relevant OER for your project, i.e. either re-using those identified during Activity 3 or new ones
# Script activities with Open educational practices, specifying the roles of the different stakeholders, again, you may reuse what you have produced in Activity 4
# Reflect and design evaluation criteria to create an Open badge
# Publish and share your project on an Open platform
Detailed information will follow in due time.  


In a nutshell Malawi has the following six reasons to adopt OEP as I have been equipped through University of Geneva.
[[Category:Digital learning in emergencies]]
Our Malawian Teachers and Learners will be able to be Sharing; there is freedom to create, share, reuse knowledge. OEP enhances transparency - capacity to trace the knowledge construction process and underlying values; transparency in the process (admission, expectations, assessment, etc.)
OEP also helps collaborative knowledge construction that is towards collective intelligence and taking into account the diversity of knowledge systems. On the other hand there is deconstructing power structures in the educational environment that is voice given to everybody. This entails shifting from a model of planned scarcity to one of abundance to which all participate ideal for poor countries like Malawi where education is very expensive.
One important thing is that OEP encourages personalized learning where learners have authority to determine their learning needs and learning path. This is very ideal in times of crisis like the COVID 19 lockdowns as learning can continue. OEP/OER ensures Learner empowerment as they are involved and act as active full-fledged stakeholder in each step of the learning. 
On the other hand

Latest revision as of 14:12, 20 December 2022

Sub-pages for Module 4 of CAS Digital Learning in Emergencies:

General information

This page is part of: * CAS Digital Learning and Emergencies webpage

Scenario for Module 4

Overall objectives (these objectives are valid for the scenario given as an example below). You may pick only one of them, you may also create a new one, like writing an OE policy for example.

Open Education in Emergencies Contexts: Comparative and International Perspective

  1. Be aware of Open Education and Open Science recommendations and related concepts
  2. Become familiar with Open Educational Resources
  3. Develop Open Educational Practices
  4. Scenarise an Open project for your context and implement part of it

Organisational information

  • Module dates: 25 April - 25 May 2022
  • 2 ECTS = 50 learner working hours in total
  • Synchronous meetings: Monday 25.04.2022, 13:30-15:30 (Geneva time); As of Week of May 2nd, Monday and Thursday, 4-6 pm. Participants can join either day, according to their questions and advancement in the module
  • Evaluation: Participants who complete all the activities with an acceptable commitment will be awarded the 2 ECTS

Main ressources

Participants' user page & productions

Participants' productions

Within this module, participants had the responsibility to choose their learning path - of course they have been accompagnied and one example scenario with relevant activities has been shared upfront (point 6 below).

As a result, we have very interesting and diverse learning experiences:

  • Also from South Asia, Zubair, after gaining an overiview of Open Education, wanted to find some OER for secondary levels in maths and science, identified some and evaluated them. His work is accessible from CAS Digital Learning in Emergencies/module4-Zubair
  • From the Middle East, Enas and Manal, have chosen to work on a project to design a training to support teachers in crisis contexts, looking for specific OER and awarding a badge in the end. Their work is accessible from CAS Digital Learning in Emergencies/module4-Enas&Manal
  • Mesfin has worked on a topic similar to that of Margaret and Lucy, building teachers' capacity with regard to psychological first aid in emergencies contexts. His work is not accessible on-line.
  • Veronicah has worked on the development of accessible OER to be used by children with disabilities. Her work is accessible from CAS Digital Learning in Emergencies/module4-Veronica
  • Augustin's aim was to get an overview of Open Education, advantages and disadvantages of OER and assess the situation in his context. His work is not accessible on-line.

Participants' user page

You may also access through the user page:


Sections 1 to 4 below outline an example of scenario if you find that designing your own scenario is too challenging - part of these activities might inspire your module design.

Example of scenario

Section 1: Open Education and Open Science

Synchronous part

  • 4-5pm: Introducing Module 4 and Section 1
  • 5-6pm: Conference by xx on the use of UNESCO’s OER framework in MENA region
  • 4-6pm: Proactive regulation with regard to activities related to Section 1

Asynchronous part

Activity 1

Learning outcomes:

  • Identify key ideas of leading recommendations towards Open by UNESCO
  • Comment UNESCO’s Open Educational Resources (OER) recommendation

Detailed description:

  • Read the blog post by Paul Stacey available from the resources and identify how the different Opens are entangled
  • Download both recommendations on Open Science and on OER from the resources and read them carefully
  • Identify why OER are present in both recommendations
  • Choose one passage of either recommendation and annotate it, i.e. commenting on what is relevant and/or challenging for your own context
  • Contribute to the collaborative annotation with your own comment of the chosen passage

Time necessary: 6 hours

Resources:

Expected result:

  • Some draft work (e.g. screen capture, photo if you worked on paper) to demonstrate how you went about with the annotation task. Please deposit these traces on Moodle
  • A draft of your individual comment of the part that you have chosen on a notepad saved on your computer
  • A collaborative EduTechWiki page with all the comments

Evaluation:

This activity will be evaluated in a formative way and tutors will provide you with formative feedback on the process and the content.

Activity 2

Learning outcomes:

  • Demonstrate mastery of key concepts of the Open movement
  • Draft a policy towards Open Education and/or Open Science appropriate for your context

Detailed description:

  • From the resources, access some policies and read them critically, identifying what could be reused for your own context
  • In your context, identify if a policy for e-learning exists and at which level (national? institutional?)
  • With the help of the Lumen tool, explain how you can weave in the existing e-learning policy, some Open elements or design a new policy

Time necessary: 6 hours

Resources:

Example of policies:

Tools to help you draft your own policy:

Expected result:

  • An initial draft of a policy for the Open that makes sense in your context either using one template or a combination of templates, existing policies, etc.
  • A short report (300 words) to explain the choices you made for the policy and what would be the next steps to refine this policy
  • Please deposit one document containing your report and the policy on Moodle

Evaluation: This activity will be evaluated in a formative way and tutors will provide you with formative feedback on the process and the content.

Section 2 : Open Educational Resources

Synchronous part

  • 4-5pm: Introducing Section 2
  • 5-6pm: Conference by a lawyer + Open + MENA / Africa
  • Proactive regulation with regard to activities related to Section 2 and particularly finding and evaluating OER

Asynchronous part

Activity 3

Learning outcome:

  • Present the 5R characteristics of OER in your own words
  • Describe the different Creative Commons (CC) licences and their specificities
  • Discuss the relationships between the 5R and CC licences with the backdrop of given resources

Detailed description:

  • Explore the different resources with regard to CC and the 5R and take the quiz
  • Consult the backdrop resources
  • Write a report on the possibilities of using CC licences (which of the CC licenses is best suited to your context) or other Open licences for educational purposes in your context

Time necessary: 6 hours

Resources:

Expected result:

The report (about 700 words) uploaded on Moodle

Evaluation:

This activity will be evaluated in a formative way and tutors will provide you with formative feedback on the process and the content.

Activity 4

Learning outcome:

  • Find OERs
  • Evaluate the quality of OERs

Detailed description:

  • From activities completed previously in the CAS or for a topic of your choice, browse different OER archives (list available from the resources) to find relevant OERs
  • Use the google advanced search tool and the x5gon search tool to find relevant OERs
  • Orally, evaluate identified resources with criteria from the template given in the resources
  • Choose 5 OERs that are really relevant for your context and evaluate them thoroughly, selecting most appropriate criteria from the template given in the resources and fill out the excel table (available from the resources)
  • Write a reflexive report on how you went about to complete this task – if you wish, you can use the template with guiding questions available from the resources

Time necessary: 6 hours

Resources:

Expected result:

Evaluation:

This activity will be evaluated in a formative way and tutors will provide you with formative feedback on the process and the content.

Section 3: Open Educational Practices

Synchronous part
  • 4-5pm: Introducing Section 3
  • 5-6pm: Conference on formal and informal learning and micro-certification in Open Education
  • 4-6pm: Proactive regulation with regard to activities related to Section 3

Asynchronous part

Activity 5

Learning outcome:

  • Position yourself on the Open educator inventory
  • Process the Open educator scale’s feedback to improve towards openness in education
  • Localise competences frameworks on Open Educational Practices and OER

Detailed description:

  • Complete the Open educator inventory (available from the resources), make a screenshot of the recapitulative feedback that the system provides in the form of a blue table, and save the written feedback on how to improve as a pdf file
  • Learn about Open Educational Practices (available from the resources)
  • Read and understand two competences frameworks (available from the resources)
  • Analyse the inventory’s questions, the table and the advices for improvement and write a short critical report, focusing on the relevance of this tool for your own profile and context

Time necessary: 6 hours

Resources:

Expected result:

  • Inventory of Open educator completed
  • Short critical report (about 500 words) entailing the result of the inventory and the advices for improvement as appendices
  • An overall understanding of Open Educational Practices and competences framework for Open Educational Practices

Evaluation:

This activity will be evaluated in a formative way and tutors will provide you with formative feedback on the process and the content.

Activity 6

Learning outcome:

  • Identify the different forms of recognition and their respective interest for communities
  • Discover how Open badge tools function
  • Situate the micro-credentials approach

Detailed description:

  • Within this Module, you have received Open badges. Starting from one of them, analyse (with the template available in the resources) the different components of a badge and explain whether it is relevant for your context
  • Read on the micro-credentials approach and master the elements (badges, backpack), the flow and use from the perspective of a learner, an employer and an educational institution

Time necessary: 6 hours

Resources:

  • Badgr: a tool to create badges ; video badgR, https://www.adobe.com/fr/express/create/badge
  • West, R. E., Newby, T., Cheng, Z., Erickson, A., & Clements, K. (2020). Acknowledging All Learning: Alternative, Micro, and Open Credentials. In M. J. Bishop, E. Boling, J. Elen, & V. Svihla (Eds.), Handbook of Research in Educational Communications and Technology: Learning Design (pp. 593-613). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36119-8_27

Expected result:

The template provided to analyse an Open badge completed with your analysis

Evaluation:

This activity will be evaluated in a formative way and tutors will provide you with formative feedback on the process and the content.

Section 4: Project

Section 4 addresses the following general objective: Script an Open education project for your context and implement a part of it.

The aim is to develop a training sequence for a target audience on a topic of your choice. The training sequence should be designed using Open educational resources and practices and award badges for participants who complete the training successfully. In other words, you will capitalise on activities performed throughout the module to transfer it on a complete project of your choice.

The project represents one activity, assessed in a summative way.

Synchronous part

  • 4-5pm: Introducing Section 4
  • 5-6pm: Conference on Open Education in emergencies
  • 4-6pm: Proactive regulation with regard to activities related to Section 4

Asynchronous part

Activity 7

Learning outcome:

  • Synthesise and capitalise on previous activities to design an Open Education project
  • Leverage resources to design a project with efficiency

Detailed description:

The project is composed of five steps:

  1. Define the project, i.e. describe the resources; set objectives; specify target audience; design learning activities; choose learning environment; specify assessment
  2. Find relevant OER for your project, i.e. either re-using those identified during Activity 3 or new ones
  3. Script activities with Open educational practices, specifying the roles of the different stakeholders, again, you may reuse what you have produced in Activity 4
  4. Reflect and design evaluation criteria to create an Open badge
  5. Publish and share your project on an Open platform

Detailed information will follow in due time.

Retrieved from "https://edutechwiki.unige.ch/mediawiki/index.php?title=CAS_Digital_Learning_in_Emergencies&oldid=77282"