A Transforming Asia: Challenges and Opportunities for Collaboration in Education Development and Open

Educational Resources

Jouko Sarvi Practice Leader for Education

Asian Development Bank

Regional Symposium on OER: Beyond Advocacy, Research and Policy

24 – 27 June 2014, Wawasan Open University, Penang

Presentation Structure

1. ADB’s support to education – overview, key themes

2. The context: a transforming Asia

3. Collaboration in education development and OER: challenges and opportunities

4. Some inquiries

• Education is among core operational areas in ADB’s Strategy 2020

• Mid term review in 2014: ADB to expand support to education

• Education by 2020: A Sector Operations Plan guides implementation

• Financing + knowledge + partnerships

ADB’s Support to Education – Overview, Key Themes

Examples of Knowledge Work

Public-Private Partnerships in

Education

Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and

Workforce Skills Development

An Annual International Forum

Higher Education in Dynamic Asia – Series

From Access to Participation

• Asia makes a strong case for shifting the higher education development agenda from the narrow perspective of access to widening participation and strengthening inclusiveness in higher education.

Knowledge Based Economy

Key Pillars:

- Economic

- Human resources

(role of education)

- Information

infrastructure

- Innovation

systems

Partnerships for Innovation in Education

Transforming Education for Impact

The Context: a Transforming Asia

• Accelerating to a middle income region: by 2020 only two low income countries

• Widening inequality

• Strong demographic trends

• Old distinctions (rich-poor/developed- developing countries; aid providers- recipients) breaking down

• Composition of development assistance & financing changing

• Collaboration for development: evolution of strategies and approaches?

Education landscape : What are the challenges and opportunities for taking OER

forward?

Secondary Education: Expansion and transformation of

basic education toward universal

secondary education.

Basic Education: Overall, enrollment

rates have improved

toward universal

primary education.

However, problems of

quality and completion

are persistent.

Higher Education: Countries expand and

diversify higher education to

support economic

development and improve

competitiveness.

Skills Development: From TVET to workforce skills

development, with greater role of

industry in training provision, to

improve relevance and cost-efficiency.

Demand for both cognitive and non-

cognitive skills (“soft skills”).

Lifelong Learning: Sound formal

education is necessary

but no more sufficient.

Boundaries between

formal, nonformal, and

informal learning

become blurred.

Advantage: long history with open universities and distance education

• Participation rates in OU provisions in Asia are perhaps the highest in the world

• Education technologies embraced and utilized

• Distance education provisions cut across all sectors of education.

Leading in cross-border collaboration and student mobility

• Evolution of education hubs: student, talent, knowledge/innovation

• 70% HE student mobility will be in Asia

• Crossborder collaboration evolving among students, faculty, institutions

• From physical to virtual mobility, facilitating direct collaboration in education (not merely access to education programs)

[Knight 2014]

Inquiry 1: OER drivers or outcomes?

• Equity (from access to participation, strengthening inclusive development)?

• Cost-efficiency?

• Change through education policy and/or pedagogical practice?

• Institutional change?

• Other drivers or outcomes?

Inquiry 2: Knowledge generation on and capacity development for OER?

• Should the focus shift more from collaboration in content development to collaboration in the use/utilization of OER?

• Is collaboration in OER more feasible in certain subsectors of education than others?

• Dynamics of collaboration in OER: e.g. among teachers, within institutions, between institutions? National level, regional level?

Inquiry 3. ‘Political economy’ of OER?

• Political economy of education development is evolving in the context of a transforming Asia.

• What opportunities does this present for taking collaboration in OER forward?

Thank you.