Impact of International Organizations on Governmental OER Policies

PhD Research Presentation, Open Education Global Conference, 22-24 April 2015, Banff, Alberta, Canada

igorlesko@oeconsortium.org

Twitter: @igor_lesko

Unless otherwise noted, Impact of International Organizations on Governmental OER Policies by Igor Lesko is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Acknowledgement PhD research made possible with support of the Global

OER Graduate Network (GO-GN)

http://oer-unescochair-ounl.ning.com/

&

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

- Registered PhD researcher at Open Universiteit (OU NL)- 2014-2018

- Member of GO-GN

- Working for the Open Education Consortium (former OCW Consortium) – www.oeconsortium.org since 2010

- Supervisory Team:

- Prof. Dr. Fred Mulder - Dr. Cable Green - Dr. Dominic Orr

Aim of the PhD Research

Explore how International Organizations (IOs) are influencing Governmental OER Policies around the world.

IOs & Governmental OER Policy examples

http://conference.ocwconsortium.org/2014/ai1ec_event/openingupslovenia/?instance_id=446 & http://www.ouslovenia.net/

www.openscot.net

http://www.che.ac.za/media_and_publications/legislation/white-paper-post-school-education-and-training (p. 54).

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?qid=1389115469384&uri=CELEX:52013DC0654

http://goo.gl/OVHiF http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/access-to-knowledge/open-educational-resources/implementing-the-paris-oer-declaration/

PhD Research Questions

• What OER policy instruments can be identified as being used by different IOs?

• What impact do IO OER policy instruments have on provincial, state

and national Governmental OER policies?

• What recommendations, if implemented, would lead to IO OER policy instruments more effectively supporting governmental OER policies?

Note: Impact of IOs will be examined during different stages of the governmental OER policy process and will include policy

development, adoption and implementation stages.

Courses of Action by Governments = Public Policy Instruments

Regulations

• Legislation (Sticks)

Econom

ic Means

• Provisioning of or taking away of resources (Carrots)

Information

• Transfer of knowledge: (Sermons)

(Bemelmans-Videc et al.; 1998)

Context: Why Focusing on Governmental OER Policies?

• In the context of widespread budget cuts, growing demand for education, and rising cost of education, governments are searching for new and innovative ways to address the growing demand for post-secondary education while making education more affordable, accessible, more responsive to the demands of the knowledge economy, and effective.

• Governments around the world have been proposing strategies or approving policies related to OER (Brazil, Canada, India, Indonesia, Netherlands, Scotland, Slovenia, South Africa, USA, etc.).

Context: Why Focusing on Governmental OER Policies ?

OER policies (at provincial, state and/or national levels) are needed in order to advance mainstreaming and uptake of OER practices

(openness in education agenda)

(Mulder, 2013; Bossu et al., 2012)

Why Focusing on Impact of International Organizations (IOs) on Governmental OER Policies ?

• IOs increasingly seen as policy actors as opposed to just policy advisors or mediators (Henry et al., 2001).

• National policymaking is still largely mediated by national politics and traditions

However • It is increasingly linked to globalized policy discourses, pressures

from Inter-governmental Organizations (IGOs), International nongovernmental Organizations (INGOs) and/or global policy networks (Rizvi and Lingard, 2010).

Why Focusing on Impact of International Organizations (IOs) on Governmental OER Policies ?

While there appears to be consensus about the influence of IOs on national policy making little is known about whether and how these IO’s

influences translate into concrete national policies or how they influence national policy making in general (Shahjahan, 2012;

Christensen, 2006).

PhD Research investigates IOs’ influences on governmental policies in the context of OER.

OER Policy Instruments – International Organizations (Working Definition)

Such OER policy instruments might include the following:

• Producing policy reports• Providing policy advice/support or analytical assistance• Sponsoring or organizing local, regional and international meetings/conferences • Organizing policy forums • Capacity building/training programs• Organizing specialized initiatives/programs• (Implementing Paris OER Dec) • Advocacy or awareness raising activities • Carrying out research activities• Publishing thematic reviews, working papers, case studies • Issuing guidelines or codes of practice • Issuing declarations and recommendations, (e g. Paris OER Declaration)• Enacting policies at IOs• Funding initiatives

Note: Policy instruments applicable to IGOs and INGOs were informed by a review of numerous resources (Balzer and Martenas 2004; Shuller and Vincent-Lancrin, 2009; Christensen, 2006). The wording of some policy instruments was modified in an attempt to create a more generic set of policy instruments that would be relevant to both IGOs and INGOs.

Inter-governmental Organizations(IGOs) included in the Research

Commonwealth of Learning (COL)

European Commission (EC)

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

Organization Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF)

Organization of the American States (OAS)

United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

World Bank (WB)

International nongovernmental Organizations(INGOs) included in the Research

Creative Commons

OER Africa

OER Asia

Open Education Consortium

Open Policy Network

Foundations Included in the Research

Gates Foundation

Hewlett Foundation

International Development Research Centre

Open Society Foundation

Qatar Foundation

Saylor Foundation

Shuttleworth Foundation

Governments Included in the Research

1st Phase

Brazil Canada (Alberta and BC)

France India

Indonesia Mongolia

Netherlands Oman

Poland Scotland

Slovenia South Africa

USA (Washington + California)

2nd Phase (TBD)

Colombia China

Kenya New Zealand

Turkey

Governmental OER Policies & the Influence of IOs(CERI/OECD Survey of Governments) I

• Since 2014, Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) at the OECD has been investigating the potential and impact of OER to improve teaching and learning.

• A comprehensive report entitled, ‘Open Educational Resources – a catalyst for innovation’ will be published in 2015.

• As part of this process, CERI/OECD carried out a survey, in 2014, with governments around the world about their policy support for OER. This was followed by a policy seminar in January 2015 to discuss policy support options for OER.

• Two questions about the influence of IOs and in what ways were included in the survey

– Survey distributed to OECD member countries (34) and Key Partner countries (5)

Governmental OER Policies & the Influence of IOs(CERI/OECD Survey of Governments) II

Governmental Policy?

Countries

YES Austria, Belgium (Flemish community), Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Finland, France, Indonesia, Israel, Island, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States of America

NO Australia, Japan, Luxembourg, Latvia, New Zealand, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland

Source: CERI/OECD government survey – in forthcoming report

• Number of responses: 33 • 25 indicate that they have governmental policy to support OER production and

use.

Governmental OER Policies & the Influence of IOs(CERI/OECD Survey of Governments) III

Source: CERI/OECD government survey – in forthcoming report

11 out of 25 countries report a combination of indirect funding, codes of practice and information campaigns.

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

Indirect funding programmes

Codes of practice/guidelines onproduction and/or use of OER

Direct funding programmes forthe production of OER

Information campaigns directed atpromoting the production

and use of OER

Regulations or legislationsupporting the use of OER

Number of countries stating that they use policy instrument

Governmental OER Policies & the Influence of IOs(CERI/OECD Survey of Governments) IV

Influence of Organizations on the design and/or implementation of governmental OER interventions

Organizations National

(4)

International

(4)

National & International

(2)

Type or organizations

MinistriesLocal

experts/universities

EC, OECD, UNESCO + Chairs,

CC, OEC

Type of influence/ Policy instruments

used

Funding, information campaigns, declarations, recommendations, guidelines, policy advice, policy reports, etc.

Source: CERI/OECD government survey – in forthcoming report

10 countries responded to the questions: Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Denmark, Spain, Belgium, Finland, Israel, Portugal, Canada

What can we learn from this?(methodological considerations…)

Research Methodology I

With respect to International Organizations and Foundations:• Initial work: desktop research, identifying an initial set of OER policy

instruments, developing interview protocols. • Interviewing representatives from the IGOs, INGOs, and

Foundations on their OER policy instruments and associated impact.

• Interview analysis, validation, and dissemination of outcomes (including reports and journal articles).

Research Methodology II

With respect to Governments:• Intermediate work: desktop research, collecting documented

information on OER policy developments in the selected countries/states/provinces (through the key contacts), identifying the groups of government interviewees (through the key contacts), developing interview protocols, interview training (of the key contacts).

• Interviewing government representatives.• Interview analysis, validation and dissemination of outcomes

(including reports and journal articles).

Key contacts will:– Help identify relevant governmental OER policy developments– Provide support in approaching a group of appropriate and representative

government interviewees – Conduct the interviews with the chosen government representatives in several

countries

Research Methodology III

• Developing recommendations based on lessons learnt in the study.

• Final work: compiling the journal articles that have been published or will be published, composing dissertation, dissertation submission and defense.

Research Methodology – Overall Summary

• Protocolled interviews with representatives from IOs will serve to identify OER policy instruments at IOs level and to explore the intended and observed impact of such instruments on national OER policy making (answering research question 1) – slide 24.

• Protocolled interviews with government representatives will serve to analyze the (perceived) impact of the IO OER policy instruments on governmental OER policies (answering research question 2) – slide 25.

• Based on the findings from research questions 1 and 2 the study will provide recommendations that would lead to IO OER policy instruments more effectively supporting governmental OER policies (answering research question 3) – slide 26.

Thank you for your attention!

igorlesko@oeconsortium.org

Twitter: @igor_lesko

References

• Balzer, C., and Martens, K. (2004). International higher education and the Bologna process: What part does the European Commission play. epsNet 2004 Plenary conference on political science after the EU enlargement, Prague, June. http://www.epsnet.org/2004/pps/Balzer.pdf.

• Bemelmans-Videc, M.-L., Rist, R. C., & Vedung, E. (Eds.). (1998). Carrots, Sticks, and Sermons: Policy Instruments and Their Evaluation. Transaction Publishers.

• Bossu, C., Bull, D. & Brown, M. (2012): The Open Education Movement in Australia: The Need for Political Leadership. Retrieved from https://oerknowledgecloud.org/?q=node/537/visitors

• Christensen, K. R. (2006). International Nongovernmental Organization: Globalization, Policy Learning and Nation-State. Intl Journal of Public Administration (29): 281-303.

• Dhanarajan, G. & Abeywardena, I.S. (2013). Higher Education and Open Educational Resources in Asia: An Overview: In G. Dhanarajan & D. Porter (Eds.), Open Education Resources: An Asian Perspective (pp. 3-18). Vancouver: COL and OER Asia.

• Henry, M., Lingard, B., Rizvi, F. and Taylor, S. (2001.) The OECD, Globalization and Education Policy, Oxford: Pergamon Press.

References

• Hewlett Foundation (2013), White Paper: Open Educational Resources: Breaking the Lockbox on Education. http://www.hewlett.org/blog/posts/open-educational-resources-breaking-lockbox-education

• Hylén, J., Damme D. Van, Mulder, F. and D’Antoni, S. (2012), “Open Educational Resources: Analysis of Responses to the OECD Country Questionnaire”, OECD Education Working Papers, No. 76, OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/5k990rjhvtlv-en

• Mulder, F. (2012). The LOGIC of national strategies for Open Educational Resources. In: Trend Report OER 2012. SURF SIG OER, Utrecht, 72-75. Retrieved from http://www.surf.nl/en/knowledge-and-innovation/knowledge-base/2012/trend-report-on-open-educational-resources-2012.html

• Mulder, F. (2013). The Logic of National Policies and Strategies for Open Educational Resources. IRRODL, 14(2) 96-105. Retrieved from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1536/2505

References

• Ngugi, C. N. & Butcher, N. (2011). Promoting Open and Distance Learning: A Focus on Open Educational Resources. Retrieved from http://events.aau.org/userfiles/file/corevip11/papers/neil_butcher_n_catherine_ngugi_Promoting_ODL.pdf

• OECD (2007), Giving Knowledge for Free: The Emergence of Open Educational Resources, OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264032125-en

• Rizvi, F. and Bob, L. (2010). Globalizing Education Policy, New York: Routlege • Shahjahan, R. (2012). The Roles of International Organizations (IOs) in

Globalizing Higher Education Policy. In Smart, J.C. and Paulsen, M.B. (Eds.), Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research. DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-2950-6_8. Springer

• Schuller, T. and Vincent-Lancrin, S. (2009). OECD Work in the Internationalization of Higher Education: An Insider Perspective. In Bassett, R.M. and Maldonado, A. (Eds.), International Organizations and higher education policy: Thinking globally, acting locally? (pp. 65-81). New York: Routlege.