Open Educational Resources (OER) and the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Zeynep Varoglu Programme Specialist,

ICT in EducationKnowledge Societies Division

Communication and Information Sector

Context

• ICTs leading to the explosion in the generation and collective sharing of knowledge

• Adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

• Development of Inclusive Knowledge Societies• freedom of expression and freedom of information;

• universal access to information and knowledge

• quality learning for all

• respect for linguistic and cultural diversity

Overview of Presentation

1. Definition of what aspects of OER contribute to SDGs overall

2. Examine specifically SDG 4, 5, 9, 10 and 17 with regard to OER

3. Outline how UNESCO’s OER actions support SDGs concretely

Open Educational Resources (OER)

Any educational resource/materials that may be freely accessed, reused, modified and shared

….openly available for use without paying royalties/licence fees

Image: http://foothillglobalaccess.pbworks.com/w/page/13095903/Open_Educational_Resources

http://www.globalkap.com/Industries/Legal

UN Commitments

• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that all people have basic inalienable rights and fundamental freedoms that include the right to receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers (Article 19) and the right to education (Article 26).

• UNESCO’s constitutional commitment to “the free exchange of ideas and knowledge” supports sharing of knowledge using technologies

Sharing Knowledge - Building Inclusive Knowledge Societies - OER

• Knowledge : information, understanding, skills, values and attitudes acquired through learning.

• Inclusive Knowledge Societies : Knowledge Societies are societies in which people have the capabilities not just to acquire information but also to transform it into knowledge and understanding, which empowers them to enhance their lives and livelihoods and contribute to the social and economic development of their societies.

• OER : An effective means to share knowledge widely, openly and legally, using ICT developments

GOAL 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promte lifelong learning opportunities for all

• Access to learning opportunities for all learners from primary, secondary, ECE, TVET, including those with disabilities

• Increase the supply of qualified teachers, including through international cooperation for teacher training in developing countries, including in LDCs and SIDs

Goal 5 : Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

• Ensure Women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision making in political a, economic and public life

• Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and development and the Beijing Platform for action and the outcome documents of their review conferences.

• Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources

• Enhance the use of enabling technology in particular information and communicate technology to promote the empowerment of women

Goal 9 : Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

• Enhance scientific research, upgrade the technological capabilities of industrial sectors in all countries, in particular developing countries, including by 2030 encouraging innovation and substantially increasing the number of researchers and development workers per 1 million people and public and private research and development spending

• Significantly increase access to information and communications technology and strive to provide universal and affordable access to the Internet in LDCs by 2030

Goal 10 – Reduce inequality within and among countries

• empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status

Goal 16 : Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainabledevleopment, provide access to justice for all and build effective accountable and inclusive instiutions at all levels.

• Ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms, in accordance with national legislation and international agreements

UNESCO Actions : OER & Agenda 2030

Capacity Building:

•Teacher training on the use of ICT using OER

Policy Support:

• 1st, 2nd World OER Congress,

•UNESCO Draft Recommendation Process

UNESCO Actions : OER & Agenda 2030

Capacity Building:

•Teacher training on the use of ICT using OER

http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0026/002657/265721e.pdf

ICT CFT Harnessing OER

National Activities

Curriculum Map : ID what/ where – involve all

stakeholders

Development of OER-based TT Tools

Organization of Pilot Training

Scaling up

International Actions

DisseminationTool

Sharing of Expertise

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UNESCO Actions : OER & Agenda 2030

Policy Support:

• 1st, 2nd World OER Congress,

•UNESCO Draft RecommendationProcess

2nd World OER Congress : Outputs & Follow up

The 2nd World OER Congress brought together some 500 stakeholders from over 100 Member States, including 14 Ministers of Education.

The 2 Outputs:

The Ljubljana OER Action Plan and

The 2nd World OER Congress Ministerial Statement,

39th General Conference of UNESCO (Nov 2017) :

• Resolution to start process for the development of a Recommendation on OER

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Ministerial Statement

• We the Ministers and their designated representatives of Bangladesh, Barbados, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Costa Rica, Croatia, Kiribati, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lithuania, Malta, Mauritius, Mauritania, Mozambique, Palestine, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates, in Ljubljana, Slovenia for the 2nd World OER Congress.

• Welcome the Ljubljana OER Action Plan 2017 that calls for actions in the following areas to support the mainstreaming of OER: the capacity of users to access, re-use, and share OER; issues related to language and culture; safety and security of content ensuring inclusive and equitable access; changing business models to support digital transformation according to public funding and legal frameworks; and the development of supportive policy environments.

• Call on all educational stakeholders to implement the recommendations of the Ljubljana OER Action Plan 2017 to increased international collaboration in the area of OER through a dynamic coalition to expand and consolidate commitments to actions, strategies and legislation in this area.

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Content: Ljubljana OER Action Plan

Capacity of users to access, re-use and share OER

Language and culture issues

Ensuring inclusive and equitable access to quality OER

Developing Sustainability Models

The development of supportive policy environments.

A UNESCO Recommendation on OER

A major catalyst for mainstreaming OER towards

achieving the

2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

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Thank you

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