Content uploaded by Robert Schuwer
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Robert Schuwer on May 01, 2014
Content may be subject to copyright.
A preview of the PDF is not available
Wikiwijs: An unexpected journey and the lessons learned towards OER
Abstract and Figures
The Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science has funded a five years program to encourage the use,
creation and sharing of Open Educational Resources (OER) by teachers from various types of education.
This program is known as Wikiwijs. Ultimo 2013, the program has come to an end. As some of the assumptions at the start of Wikiwijs proved to work out in unexpected ways the lessons learned could fuel the next
steps in developing Wikiwijs. Besides, other national initiatives on opening up education1 may also benefit
from the lessons learned reported here.
The main conclusion from five years Wikiwijs was that to accomplish mainstreaming OER, the Wikiwijs
program should go along with other interventions that are more oriented toward prescriptive policies and
regulations. In particular: the Dutch government should be more directive in persuading executive boards and teachers on schools to adopt OER as an important part of educational reform and the acquisition of 21st
century skills.
Figures - uploaded by Robert Schuwer
Author content
All figure content in this area was uploaded by Robert Schuwer
Content may be subject to copyright.
... This is largely attributed to the inability of both teachers and learners to access key learning resources such as electronic textbooks (e-textbooks) and other online materials, including reliable internet connectivity (Atenas et al., 2014). Teachers and learners also contend with skills' gap and technical barriers for use and access to OERs, limited reward and time for development of OERs contents, inequitable access to bandwidth and connectivity, and unclear/restrictive institutional policies (Atenas et al., 2014;Schuwer et al., 2014). These circumstances explain why Harvard University's Faculty of Arts and Sciences adopted a policy to make scholarly work and materials freely available online for students', teachers' and the public's access (Schuwer et al., 2014). ...
... Teachers and learners also contend with skills' gap and technical barriers for use and access to OERs, limited reward and time for development of OERs contents, inequitable access to bandwidth and connectivity, and unclear/restrictive institutional policies (Atenas et al., 2014;Schuwer et al., 2014). These circumstances explain why Harvard University's Faculty of Arts and Sciences adopted a policy to make scholarly work and materials freely available online for students', teachers' and the public's access (Schuwer et al., 2014). ...
... The action by Harvard University set precedence in the United States on open educational resources (OERs) for other universities such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to begin its Open Courseware (OCW) initiative (Schuwer et al., 2014). These open access policies largely build on the OERs' definition as propounded by UNESCO's 2002 Forum on Open Courseware. ...
Research is an essential tool for the creation and advancement of knowledge for socio-economic development. Whilst individuals pursue different kinds of education in order to match international standards, employers are keen to recruit employees with needed skills for a competitive edge. Due to the newly existing educational technologies, individuals have been left with insatiable desire to learn more skills, yet, with limited resources. The advent of Open Education (OE) has led to mass retention, use/re-use, redistribution, revision, and remix of open educational resources (OERs) thereby transforming the learning and research landscape in higher learning institutions. This paper analysed the contribution of OERs and social justice (SJ) on research productivity in higher education institutions. A scoping review was adopted for this study to gather extant literature from relevant available databases with the aim of obtaining as much evidence as possible to make a clearer and succinct conclusion. Existing literature provides evidence that OER and SJ principles positively influence production of research outputs in higher education institutions. The main challenges hindering universality of OERs include economic, technical, legal, social, and infrastructural requirements needed for availing OERs to the beneficiaries including learners, educators, learning institutions and governments. Currently, there are many open and free-to-use resources and websites existing on the internet. There is however, need for attitudinal change towards OERs among students, academics, and scholars among other stakeholders if its optimum uptake is to be realized.
... Some country-specific OER platforms for schools have been developed, such as Wikiwijs in the Netherlands [8] or KlasCement in Belgium with an approach relying heavily on sharing materials [9]. e Norwegian OER Platform Nasjonal digital laeringsarena (English title: Norwegian Digital Learning Arena, NDLA) has been gathering experience with a large-scale OER model since 2006. ...
... e inclusion of linguistic minorities is of particular importance with regard to the heterogeneity within a country. NDLA has therefore developed materials for the 8 Education Research International ...
Inclusive education and the associated consideration of the diverse needs of students from different social, economic, and cultural backgrounds and different talents and disabilities are a worldwide challenge. This article shows how by addressing different user groups, state-funded platforms for open educational resources (OER) can contribute to the implementation of inclusive education. This is done using the example of the Norwegian platform NDLA, which has been providing open educational resources for upper secondary education in Norway since 2006. This paper is based on 13 expert interviews conducted with NDLA staff, cooperation partners, and members of the opposing schoolbook publishers union in 2017. The presented results focus on the diversity of learners, teachers, and platform staff and how this diversity is addressed. The presented results focus on the diversity of learners, teachers, and platform staff and how this diversity is addressed to ensure the best possible outcomes in learning and teaching. Finally, country-specific aspects that can be addressed by an OER platform are highlighted. In summary, the transferability of the Norwegian experience to other countries is discussed.
... Eine der wenigen, breit angelegten staatlichen Initiativen im Schulbereichin den Niederlanden -wurde nach Beendigung der initialen Förderung nicht fortgeführt: Wikiwijs, als nationales Portfolio für Lehr-Lernmaterialien in der Schule von 2008 bis 2013 (mit user-generated content) aufgebaut, konnte trotz einer vergleichsweise substanziellen Nutzung nicht genügend politischen Rückhalt erzeugen (Schuwer et al. 2014 Petko et al. 2003). Ob eine Lehrperson im Unterricht Medien erfolgreich einsetzen wird, hängt jedoch massgeblich von der Vorbereitung ab. ...
Das Internet bricht etablierte Praktiken der Unterrichtsvorbereitung auf. Neue Akteure werden sichtbar und die Rolle der staatlichen Regulation wird infrage gestellt. Wie finden Lehrpersonen an Schulen Unterrichtsmaterialien und wie gehen sie mit selbst entwickelten Materialien um? Eine large-scale Untersuchung mit 1.960 Lehrpersonen aus Deutschland erfasst ihre Handlungspraktiken mit Blick auf die Informationsquellen und Formate der Kollaboration. Die Ergebnisse bestätigen vorliegende Befunde, wonach Lehrende Materialien aller Art in den Weiten des Internets – vor allem über «Google» – suchen. Sie sammeln, entwickeln diese für sich und tauschen sich kaum mit Kolleg:innen aus. Für die weitere Entwicklung eines informationellen Ökosystems für Bildung, das schulübergreifend einen Rahmen für Lehren und Lernen in Schulen schafft, gilt es, das Zusammenspiel der Akteure neu auszurichten. Neben der Bereitstellung von offenen Materialien durch private und staatliche Anbieter:innen kommt insbesondere der kollaborativen Erarbeitung und (Nach-)Nutzung eine besondere Bedeutung zu.
... As stated by Bozkurt and Gil-Jaurena, "comprehending the past, learning from experiences, and devising strategic roadmaps based on that knowledge is crucial for understanding the future and positioning oneself effectively in the academic landscape," (2023). My aim in sharing my college's OER program builds upon and implements the assertions put forward by Müller (2021), Schuwer (2014), Mallinson & Emil Krull (2015), and Harold & Rolfe (2019): that there is tremendous value in sharing experiences with OER programming in order to help other educators, administrators, and librarians streamline their own open initiatives, equipped with robust understanding of the successes, challenges, and reflections of other open endeavors. As Baas, Schuwer, van den Berg, Huizinga, van der Rijst, & Admiraal determined from their study, educators find OER initiatives to be more successful if there is a strong community of peers to share their knowledge and experiences with each other, leading to more sustainable programs (2023). ...
... Some country-specific OER platforms for schools have been developed, such as Wikiwijs in the Netherlands (Schuwer et al., 2014) or KlasCement in Belgium with an approach relying heavily on sharing materials (Pynoo & Van Braak, 2014, p. 321). The Nasjonal digital laeringsarena (English title: Norwegian Digital Learning Arena, NDLA) is standing out for its long-term experience (since 2006), its extensive funding (20% of the textbook budget) and maximum openness. ...
The article shows in which areas other countries can benefit from the work of the Norwegian platform NDLA (ndla.no). This assessment is based on interviews with 13 representatives of the platform, three cooperation partners and one representative of Norwegian textbook publishers. The experiences described refer to a large-scale Open Educational Resources (OER) platform for upper secondary education, which was founded in 2006. The contents and experiences of the interviews were categorised into four areas: creation process, consumption, context based decisions and peer-production. The openness of the colleagues through the interviews conducted allows –for the first time– insights into the structures, strategies and considerations of NDLA. In conclusion, the special potential of such a state funded OER platform for inclusive education and which aspects might be relevant for higher education is shown.
... While the Wikiwijs Project was primarily concerned with creating an infrastructure for Open Educational Resources (OER), it also clearly demonstrated the commitment of the Dutch government to realising a clearly defined and realistic approach to incorporating ICT into schools. However, even with all of the provision and support put in place not all teachers availed of the resources (Schuwer et al., 2014). One of the lessons learned from the project was that: more communication would have been helpful … to be persuasive in nature to convince various parties (school management, teachers, and so on) about the benefits and role that Open Educational Resources can have regarding educational reform and in acquiring 21st century skills. ...
There is a significant movement towards digital learning internationally. However, policymaking in Ireland regarding the use of ICT in education, specifically second-level education, has been lacking. Students' experience of technology at school varies hugely. The current debate has become device focussed rather than content focussed. This paper examines how the lack of clear policy by the Department of Education and Skills has led to resistance by many stakeholders in embedding the use of technology into schools, and particularly teaching and learning.
... Belikov and Bodily (2016), based on 218 US faculty responses regarding OER, found that primary barriers to the adoption of OER are the need for more information, lack of discoverability of OER repositories, and confusing OER with digital resources. A five-year program in the Netherlands called Wikiwijs was intended to encourage the use, creation, and sharing of OER by teachers from various education levels (Schuwer, Kreijns, & Vermeulen, 2014). The results suggest that for mainstreaming, OER has to be affiliated with other interventions that are focused on prescriptive policies and regulations. ...
The concept of open educational resources (OER) is becoming increasingly prominent in education. However, research circles around defining OER, content and forms of OER, technological features of OER, and the importance of the issue or lack thereof. Vital aspects such as the notion of the adoption of OER by educational practitioners remain underdeveloped. In order to shed light on the question of how to adopt OER in education, the article presents findings of a meta-study which critically reviewed 25 state-funded OER projects located in Germany. All projects aimed to anchor OER across educational areas, such as school, higher, continuing, and vocational education. The meta-analysis disclosed a mixed bag of results. Although interest and willingness to deal with OER can be confirmed, reservation is rooted in the complexity of the topic and especially the legal concerns. However, the findings demonstrate that OER can by no means be ignored in the context of teaching and learning in a digital world. Integrating OER as an aspect of existing educational training should, therefore, be encouraged. Concerning future design recommendations, to conflate OER with other pressing issues and to simultaneously emphasise its added value explicitly is a promising approach. Moreover, establishing central contact points in educational institutions to accompany and monitor actors on their path to OER appears to be necessary. Notwithstanding the concrete measures, any strategy must operate persistently at both levels, institutional and practical, embracing all relevant stakeholders.
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted livelihoods on different fronts and at varying degrees globally. The global education sector was one of the key sectors that bore the heaviest brunt, particularly in the teaching and learning delivery modes. For instance, digital educational technologies became vital methods for teaching and learning. In response, a number of initiatives were adopted by countries to lend insight into how to cope with the emergent challenges, as well as how to alleviate the challenges brought about by the pandemic for post-COVID-19 recovery and growth. In this paper, we explore the contribution of industry and academia to post-COVID-19 recovery and growth, with a special focus on education technologies (ICT)'s adoption and promotion of entrepreneurial efforts in Africa. To attain the paper's objective, we used a scoping review approach to obtain crucial literature from credible and relevant databases to demonstrate and deliver succinct, stronger, clear, and clarified findings on the areas of focus. Additionally, we visited websites of certain international organizations that supported sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically focusing on responses targeting the education sector. The findings highlighted in this paper reveal that both academia and industry have a significant contribution to building back better efforts for a post-COVID-19 recovery and growth. Such efforts operate within the realms of adoption and adaptation of technology in the education sector, and increased emphasis on involvement in entrepreneurship practices. The paper also offers salient recommendations on how to better improve academia and industry's involvement in post-COVID-19 recovery and growth efforts.
Some decades after being introduced to all social spheres, the “new” Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are a fixed feature in current citizenship education. This chapter highlights and discusses some of the opportunities – as well as some challenges – with regard to citizenship education and new media in formal education. Digital media, for example, offer a variety of possibilities of enhancing interactivity and of voicing one´s opinion. Additionally, citizenship education can make use of these tools by allowing for a “testing” and “trying out” of political action within the small scale. Still, digital media in citizenship education also bear some challenges that educators should take into account. For example, the expectation that all students – as the so-called digital natives – are competent in using digital media, may reproduce further exclusions for groups of people that don´t have access to or (yet) have the competencies of using these new tools. One major function of citizenship education therefore is to aim for the inclusion of all groups of people and to make use of all options to reach learners by the means of new media. Additionally, this chapter introduces some examples of good practice – with a focus on formal education – that make use of applying digital media within citizenship education.
Learning in Nigeria is considered to have taken a new dimension as the Distance Learning Centre (DLC) of the University of Ibadan has created wider access to learning through the application of mobile technology to learning with particular reference to mobile phones use for the teaching and learning process. By this, the Centre seeks to achieve one of the major objectives of the Nigerian National Policy on Education, which is the provision of equal educational opportunities to all citizens at different levels of education. The paper therefore presents the attendant challenges of introducing such an innovative idea to learning at the University of Ibadan using a sampled population of 201 in a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) held among learners under the Distance Learning platform to establish the benefits and problems of using mobile phones for learning in the University of Ibadan.
This study briefly outlines the structure of the Brazilian education system and suggests how OER could be beneficial within the context of the national priorities for education, to include the National Education Plan (PNE). It also presents an overview of OER and digital educational resources initiatives in the country. The overview of OER is a product of a comprehensive but non-exhaustive desktop research in which most of the government and non-government open-digital-content and OER initiatives as well as the motivations underpinning them are discussed.
Scholars are increasingly being asked to share teaching materials, publish in open access journals, network in social media, and reuse open educational resources (OER). The theoretical benefits of Open Educational Practices (OEP) have become understood in the academic community but thus far, the use of OER has not been rapidly adopted. We aim to understand the challenges academics face with in attempting to adopt OEP, and identify whether these are related to or stem from the functionalities afforded by current repositories of OER (ROER). By understanding what academics and experts consider good practices, we can develop guidelines for quality in the development of ROER. In this article we present the findings from a study surveying academics using OER and experts who develop and/or work with ROER. We conclude by suggesting a framework to enhance the development and quality of ROER.
In this article, we report on a study that investigated the motivational (e.g. intrinsic motivation) and dispositional variables (e.g. attitudes) that determine teachers’ intention to use or not to use digital learning materials (DLMs). To understand the direct and indirect relationships between these variables, we replicated a study in which self-determination theory (SDT) and the theory of planned behaviour/integrated model of behaviour prediction (IMBP) are combined and a distinction was made between global level psychological needs, and contextual level as well as situational level motivational constructs. Using a sample of 1273 teachers, our preliminary findings support the findings of the previous study. The combined model potentially provides us with a more comprehensive explanation of teachers’ volitional behaviour regarding their use of DLMs in their pedagogical practices than would be possible on the basis of SDT or IMBP alone.
Information and communication technology (ICT) can enable, support, and reinforce the introduction of new pedagogical practices that comply with the educational demands of the twenty-first-century knowledge society. However, despite this potential and despite the delivering of skills-based professional development and the increase in the level of ICT infrastructure, teachers are more often reluctant rather than willing to use ICT. This article reviews existing literature to 1) select a theoretical model that is suited to explain this, and 2) uncover important variables at various levels, including the individual and school organisation that should be included in the model. As a result, it adopts Fishbein’s Integrative Model of Behaviour Prediction (IMBP). This model forces the explicit consideration of dispositional variables including attitude, self-efficacy and subjective norm that are the direct and indirect antecedents of intentional ICT usage and real ICT use. Rather than concentrating on general ICT usage, IMBP is concerned with the use of specific ICT tools, such as digital learning materials. The authors believe that IMBP as a diagnostic tool will shed more light upon the issues surrounding teachers’ ICT usage.
When people encounter problems in translating their goals into action (e.g., failing to get started, becoming distracted, or falling into bad habits), they may strategically call on automatic processes in an attempt to secure goal attainment. This can be achieved by plans in the form of implementation intentions that link anticipated critical situations to goal-directed responses ("Whenever situation
x arises, I will initiate the goal-directed response
y!"). Implementation intentions delegate the control of goal-directed responses to anticipated situational cues, which (when actually encountered) elicit these responses automatically. A program of research demonstrates that implementation intentions further the attainment of goals, and it reveals the underlying processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
In this chapter we focus on the issues of human autonomy and self-determination. In line with classic existentialist thought, we argue that people vary considerably both in the degree to which they experience autonomy or authenticity and in the degree to which they attempt to act in accord with, or run from, authentic motives. The evidence, derived largely from self-determination theory (SDT), suggests that variations in autonomy have functional import and that knowledge concerning autonomy is practical--it can be used to promote (or diminish) the expression of human potentials and psychological well-being. Indeed, the evidence could not be clearer that autonomy is not a mere illusion. We specifically address the philosophical status of autonomy and its viability as a scientific construct. We begin by tracing the historical connections between existential and phenomenological thought and the central concepts of SDT. We then provide a necessarily cursory review of the evidence concerning the importance of human autonomy for optimal functioning. Following this we address current controversies concerning autonomy, including the recent claims that will is illusory, that the self is a ghost, that awareness is irrelevant, and that autonomy is neither causally potent nor a universal concern. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This book describes the reasoned action approach, an integrative framework for the prediction and change of human social behavior. it provides an up-to-date review of relevant research, discusses critical issues related to the reasoned action framework, and provides methodological and conceptual tools for the prediction and explanation of social behavior and for designing behavior change interventions.
This 4th edition of the text introducing the Precede-Proceed model provides extensive links (via www.lgreen.net) to the research and theory on which it has built since previous editions. A 5th edition is in progress, featuring new published applications of the model in community, school, and healthcare settings.