Ensuring OE policy reaches the intended audience and its improvement over time

 Introduction

OE has the power to meet all the four policy parameters of NEP — Access, Equity, Quality, Affordability, and Accountability. First, however, all stakeholders involved in OE policy drafting and implementation need to understand the potential OE has for promoting equitable and inclusive quality education, widening the distribution of high-quality educational resources, and opening lifelong learning opportunities for all. Then, monitoring and evaluating the policy after the launching and implementation stages to improve the OE/R policy within a "living system." So, ultimately, with proper planning, endorsement, and implementation, OE/R could be leveraged to address challenges in achieving the targets of Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) in different local contexts.

How to ensure an OE policy reaches the intended audience

"An effective policy must go beyond the rational, technical approach and recognise that an intervention works within a 'living system' that can promote or inhibit the real impact of any policy. So the launching phase aims to streamline processes and to prepare for the development of the next generation of OER policy." Thus, key stakeholders must take ownership of the policy implementation. They should:

·         select the most relevant implementation approach to ensure the masterplan works together to achieve policy success;

·         adopt effective communication strategies to engage and interact with the audience;

·         establish a community of practice within the teaching and learning institutions to encourage the adoption and production of open education resources;

·         ensure that this process of OE/R is monitored and evaluated (for improvement) and

·         be passionate, motivated, and engaged to act, partly through changing their behaviours and embracing OE/R.

There are three approaches:

o   The top-down approach to public policy can consider all the success factors necessary for good practice, so it should afford a more systemic approach. The apparent advantage of this approach is using the tools of regulation, coercion, and resource-allocation to push certain activities and behaviours. However, one disadvantage of this approach is that it might be blind to OER practices already occurring in the field, so users cannot harness them or learn from them.

An example of a top-down approach in the case of Brazil is http://aberta.org.br/continuingstory/, where the "top-down approach was adopted at the start while neglecting the potential for bottom-up support of existing initiatives."

o   The bottom-up approach starts by supporting practitioners in the field, often through one-off funding for a limited period. The clear advantage of this approach is that it can benefit from the self-directed motivation of the initiators and their networks and is very focussed on specific contexts in the field. On the other hand, a disadvantage is that this approach lacks a systematic view of the whole policy implementation process, focusing on their context of practical implementation in the field (e.g., in their institution or community).

In Canada, the case of the Open Textbook Project shows how critical bottom-up initiatives Eight Patterns of Open Textbook Adoption in British Columbia

o   A Mixed approach- this approach will take account of the advantages and disadvantages of each approach. First, key stakeholders must take ownership of the policy implementation and are motivated and engaged to act, partly through changing their behaviours. Secondly, the change process must be coordinated and controlled so that all elements of the masterplan can work together to benefit policy success.

Therefore, the best approach to ensure the OER Policy reaches the intended audience, in my opinion, is to use a mixed approach that will take account of the advantages and disadvantages of the top-down and bottom-up approaches.

The case study of Namibia

The Namibia Open Learning network Trust (NOLNeT) adopted the mixed implementation bottom-down approach in Namibia.

The Ministry of Education endorsed the OE/R policy and provided leadership to ensure the policy was implemented at the national level. As a result, the OER policy was introduced across all levels of the education sector to the regional directors. Then, the process was carried out in phases; partner institutions, technical and vocational centers, and secondary and primary schools. OE/R funding was allocated to each partner institution based on their activities, such as developing their institutional OE/R policies. Key stakeholders provided direction and leadership in implementing the OE/R policy and monitored the implementation of the policy at the national level. 

How to improve OE/R policy over time

A Monitoring and evaluation tool could be developed to control the policy implementation and execution. In addition, institutions could conduct guiding workshops to ensure policy provisions were all understood and implemented. A last strategy was to design a survey for data collection to reporting progress on implementing the policy to the Ministers of Education. Facilitate joint projects that could enable opportunities to share and thus create a culture for sharing. Communities could facilitate joint training activities (workshops, etc.) to share and learn from promising practices at different institutions to improve their practices for the following OE/R policy implementation process.

Conclusion

Hopefully, these strategies shared will guide all stakeholders in the education community to develop an OE/R policy, endorse, launch, implement (and revise it) to transform their education and training systems to more effectively meet SDG 4.