Freda Wolfenden

The TESSA OER Experience: Building sustainable models of production and user implementation

This paper offers a review of the origins, design strategy and implementation plans of the Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa (TESSA) research and development programme. The programme is working to develop new models of teacher education, particularly school based training, including the creation of a programme webspace and an extensive bank of Open Educational Resources. This paper identifies key research findings and literature which informed the TESSA approach and activity design. Drawing on participant experiences in different development activities and data generated in development testing activities, I offer a personal account of the programme to date. The paper concludes by suggesting a pattern of resource making and design that could be adopted by other programmes serving parallel development needs. Editors: Andreia Santos (Open University, UK). Reviewers: Richard F. Heller (Peoples-uni.org, UK) and Andreia Santos (Open U., UK).

OER Adaptation and Reuse across Cultural Contexts in Sub Saharan Africa: Lessons from TESSA (Teacher Education in Sub Saharan Africa).

Over a period of three years a number of International and African based institutions collaborated to design and create a set of Open Educational Resources (OERs) to support school based teacher education as part of the TESSA project. Writing of the materials drew on case studies, experiences and existing resources from across the region using a highly structured template. These TESSA OERs were then adapted to be appropriate for each user setting and practices. It is this process - supporting the user community to harness and integrate OERs for their own systems and cultures, which is the focus of this article. The authors draw on a range of data to make explicit the kinds of knowledge, skills and support employed in the adaptation process and in particular the role of the structured template in supporting this process, and the problems encountered. The article suggests that OERs will only fulfil their promise if more attention is accorded to issues of user access and skills as well as the form of the OERs, their purpose and underlying pedagogy. Finally the paper offers suggestions for guidance to support other users in adapting OERs for their own context whilst maintaining the quality of the OERs and working towards self-sustaining communities of users.

Developing academics' assessment practices in open, distance and e-learning: an institutional change agenda

AbstractUniversities across the globe are attempting to change assessment practice to address challenges in student engagement and achievement. Integral to this objective are strategies to develop academics’ assessment practice. These frequently focus on attendance at formal Continuous Professional Development events and/or implementation of institutional blueprints. This editorial article uses a case study from the Open University (UK) to explore an alternative ‘communities of practice’ approach to the improvement of assessment arguing that academics’ professional expertise is best deepened through participation in authentic activities of teaching and scholarship. The discussion identifies what is involved in such an approach including the role of an enabling principles-based framework, the constraints on implementation and the implications for HE leaders.

‘Give courage to the ladies’: expansive apprenticeship for women in rural Malawi

Apprenticeship in developed and industrialised nations is increasingly understood and practised as learning which connects workplace activity and formal study. The concept of ‘expansive apprenticeship’ defines frameworks for workforce development where participants acquire knowledge and skills which will help them in the future as well as in their current roles; ‘restrictive’ apprenticeships limit opportunities for wider, lifelong learning. In developing world economies, apprenticeships are a traditional route to learning and employment, but tend to reflect a restrictive approach characterised by narrowly defined roles and weak educational outcomes. This paper examines the apprenticeship opportunities in a large scale Access to Teaching Scholarship in Malawi. The programme’s study materials and support structures are designed to move participants from restrictive to expansive contexts for learning and to develop hybrid roles as students, community workers and apprentice teachers. The authors examine data from the first cohort of participants and consider the extent to which the Scholarship offers an innovative model of expansive apprenticeship to address barriers to female continuing education and chronic teacher shortages in Sub-Saharan Africa.