Investigating perceived barriers to the use of open educational resources in higher education in Tanzania

The past few years have seen increasingly rapid development and use of open educational resources (OER) in higher education institutions (HEIs) in developing countries. These resources are believed to be able to widen access, reduce the costs, and improve the quality of education. However, there ex...

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Autores principales:	Joel S. Mtebe, Roope Raisamo
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Athabasca University Press 2014
Materias:	Open Educational Resources eLearning OER in Tanzania OER Higher Education Sub-Saharan Africa Special aspects of education LC8-6691
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/59e2494aa069459cb122a13e205857e5
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:59e2494aa069459cb122a13e205857e52021-12-02T18:03:24ZInvestigating perceived barriers to the use of open educational resources in higher education in Tanzania10.19173/irrodl.v15i2.18031492-3831https://doaj.org/article/59e2494aa069459cb122a13e205857e52014-04-01T00:00:00Zhttp://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1803https://doaj.org/toc/1492-3831 The past few years have seen increasingly rapid development and use of open educational resources (OER) in higher education institutions (HEIs) in developing countries. These resources are believed to be able to widen access, reduce the costs, and improve the quality of education. However, there exist several challenges that hinder the adoption and use of these resources. The majority of challenges mentioned in the literature do not have empirically grounded evidence and they assume Sub-Saharan countries face similar challenges. Nonetheless, despite commonalities that exist amongst these countries, there also exists considerable diversity, and they face different challenges. Accordingly, this study investigated the perceived barriers to the use of OER in 11 HEIs in Tanzania. The empirical data was generated through semi-structured interviews with a random sample of 92 instructors as well as a review of important documents. Findings revealed that lack of access to computers and the Internet, low Internet bandwidth, absence of policies, and lack of skills to create and/or use OER are the main barriers to the use of OER in HEIs in Tanzania. Contrary to findings elsewhere in Africa, the study revealed that lack of trust in others’ resources, lack of interest in creating and/or using OER, and lack of time to find suitable materials were not considered to be barriers. These findings provide a new understanding of the barriers to the use of OER in HEIs and should therefore assist those who are involved in OER implementation to find mitigating strategies that will maximize their usage. Joel S. MtebeRoope RaisamoAthabasca University PressarticleOpen Educational ResourceseLearningOER in TanzaniaOERHigher EducationSub-Saharan AfricaSpecial aspects of educationLC8-6691ENInternational Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, Vol 15, Iss 2 (2014)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Open Educational Resources eLearning OER in Tanzania OER Higher Education Sub-Saharan Africa Special aspects of education LC8-6691
spellingShingle	Open Educational Resources eLearning OER in Tanzania OER Higher Education Sub-Saharan Africa Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Joel S. Mtebe Roope Raisamo Investigating perceived barriers to the use of open educational resources in higher education in Tanzania
description	The past few years have seen increasingly rapid development and use of open educational resources (OER) in higher education institutions (HEIs) in developing countries. These resources are believed to be able to widen access, reduce the costs, and improve the quality of education. However, there exist several challenges that hinder the adoption and use of these resources. The majority of challenges mentioned in the literature do not have empirically grounded evidence and they assume Sub-Saharan countries face similar challenges. Nonetheless, despite commonalities that exist amongst these countries, there also exists considerable diversity, and they face different challenges. Accordingly, this study investigated the perceived barriers to the use of OER in 11 HEIs in Tanzania. The empirical data was generated through semi-structured interviews with a random sample of 92 instructors as well as a review of important documents. Findings revealed that lack of access to computers and the Internet, low Internet bandwidth, absence of policies, and lack of skills to create and/or use OER are the main barriers to the use of OER in HEIs in Tanzania. Contrary to findings elsewhere in Africa, the study revealed that lack of trust in others’ resources, lack of interest in creating and/or using OER, and lack of time to find suitable materials were not considered to be barriers. These findings provide a new understanding of the barriers to the use of OER in HEIs and should therefore assist those who are involved in OER implementation to find mitigating strategies that will maximize their usage.
format	article
author	Joel S. Mtebe Roope Raisamo
author_facet	Joel S. Mtebe Roope Raisamo
author_sort	Joel S. Mtebe
title	Investigating perceived barriers to the use of open educational resources in higher education in Tanzania
title_short	Investigating perceived barriers to the use of open educational resources in higher education in Tanzania
title_full	Investigating perceived barriers to the use of open educational resources in higher education in Tanzania
title_fullStr	Investigating perceived barriers to the use of open educational resources in higher education in Tanzania
title_full_unstemmed	Investigating perceived barriers to the use of open educational resources in higher education in Tanzania
title_sort	investigating perceived barriers to the use of open educational resources in higher education in tanzania
publisher	Athabasca University Press
publishDate	2014
url	https://doaj.org/article/59e2494aa069459cb122a13e205857e5
work_keys_str_mv	AT joelsmtebe investigatingperceivedbarrierstotheuseofopeneducationalresourcesinhighereducationintanzania AT rooperaisamo investigatingperceivedbarrierstotheuseofopeneducationalresourcesinhighereducationintanzania
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Investigating perceived barriers to the use of open educational resources in higher education in Tanzania

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