Actor Atlas

The challenge of meeting the growing demand for higher education with limited increases in resources and with the ongoing rollout of ICT infrastructure into higher education institutions have created a unique situation. It has become increasingly important for educational institutions to support, in a planned and systematic manner:

• Development and improvement of curricula;
• Ongoing programme and course design;
• Organisation of interactive contact sessions with students;
• Development of quality teaching and learning materials; and
• Design of effective assessment tools for diverse environments.

OER can make a significant contribution to this process. Its transformative educational potential revolves around four linked possibilities:

1. Making educational resources easily available can contribute to transparency and the improvement of quality in the higher education system;
2. Building capacity for the creation of OER can be an attractive element in the professional development of academic staff;
3. OER can be used to optimize deployment of institutional staff and budgets; and
4. Involving students in the adaptation of OER engages them more actively in the learning process.